"At its core," John Halpin writes, "progressivism is a non-ideological, pragmatic system of thought grounded in solving problems and maintaining strong values within society." Progressivism is practical and driven by the values that define America morality and have made our country stronger and better. It's a dynamic concept giving the leadership of an up-and-coming generation of politicos - you - the tools to make this nation's future brighter for all.
So, while conservatives fear change, Progressives see the world as ever changing and we welcome that change. And while conservatives will dispute this...it's true, progressives don't simply ask "How can government help this situation," but "with the tools we have, both public and private, how can we solve this problem?" Isn't that what conservatives say about themselves?
Many here say President Obama is a Pragmatist, Yes, good thing. Progressives are pragmatic and flexible. Has Obama been different than Bush when he realizes he needs a change of strategy and doesn't fear changing course? Do we want a president who can do just that? Progressives are "free of ideological structures that tie leaders to strict policy courses". Why would conservatives fear this kind of progressive leader?
Conservatives who claim they are the real patriots are so wrong. They accuse progressives of being un American, unpatriotic, when the truth is progressivism is about pragmatism and FAIRNESS, very American wouldn't you agree?
Conservatives accuse progressives of lacking morals, the truth is progressives encourage personal and moral responsibility. We believe in maximizing human freedoms and helping the members of our society achieve their full potential.
We believe power, wealth, and information must flow freely rather than be concentrated in the hands of a few so that ALL citizens have the means to contribute.
So, by now if you rightwingers are reading and trying to digest this truth, lets compare conservatives of today's society to progressivism.......
Progressives encourage personal and moral responsibility, and promote respect for ethical values.
Compare that with the false and empty chants of compassionate conservatives, who gladly engage in reckless and unjustified war; deny gays, lesbians and transgendered Americans their rights as citizens; condemn working families to a cycle of poverty; and err on the side of big business over public health and nature's untouched beauty. These are the same 'principled' conservatives who whole-heartedly defended the most crooked legislator in decades, Tom DeLay.
Progressivism is a living tree of pragmatic problem solving....
Progressives have to stand up and define the future of the progressive movement, founded firmly on the principles that make this nation great.......
Progressivism is uniquely American
While some may think that to be a progressive means to be in favor of big government, in fact a true progressive would say they believe in “power to the people.” They see the government as the elected representation of the people and feel that the government ought to be more responsive to the needs of the people.
Progesssives platform includes social justice, pacifism, environmentalism, and human rights. They believe in the democratic process via more direct voter control and they champion consumer rights.
The Progressive Magazine, founded by Robert LaFollette in 1909, is considered to be the primary voice of the Progressive movement. That magazine is still published monthly today, and recently celebrated its 100th anniversary bash in Madison, WI.
Current Progressive editor Matthew Rothschild has taken over LaFollette’s role (with a few editors in between) as the “voice of the Progressive movement.” In his “Editor’s Note” in the anniversary issue (April, 2009), Rothschild called the magazine “the articulation of a mission.” Then he went on to quote LaFollette’s words from the first issue of the publication:
In the course of every attempt to establish or develop free government, a struggle between Special Privilege and Equal Rights is inevitable. Our great industrial organizations [are] in control of politics, government, and natural resources. They manage conventions, make platforms, dictate legislation. They rule through the very men elected to represent them.LaFollette then went on to say that the “battle” against corporate takeover of government “will be the longest and hardest ever fought for Democracy.” That was 100 years ago. Progressives today are still fighting that battle.
100 years ago! Now tell me conservatives, why do you despise the progressives, it makes no sense...
52 comments:
They despise them because they can....lol
Conservatives hate anyone who isn't just like them.... who doesn't believe how they believe and who doesn't follow the same ideological perceptions of how things should be.
They believe in "free enterprise" except when they need government intervention...as in the gulf right now.
There is much more.. but you get my drift I am sure.
Great article Sue...
thanks Annette. I'm just tired of the lies and accusations by the holier than thou conservatives. They hate our drive and capability to make this country great, and we will do it!
Great post Sue, I agree totally and I dare them to come up with any coherent ideas which do not center around their delirious religious fantasies, to counter the ideas of this post.
I have one question which none of them seem intelligent enough to answer...what happened to the Flaming Chariot...did they just park it on cloud nine? I haven't seen it since...maybe that guy crashed it...everyone drank alcohol in those days...DWI?
Great post, Sue. You hit the nail on the head...conservatives are protecting the rich and corporate interests that feather their nests, and it makes great sense to use the smokescreen of patriotism to cover the dirty, oily tracks left by the GOP.
Hope you don't mind of I link to this piece - you said it all so well! Great job, GF!
thanks Tee and MommaP! We have heard enough criticism from the rightwingers, it's time to stand and be proud! When they describe us you can see they don't have a clue what they are talking about! So I hope they do come by and read, AND LEARN the facts!
BTW, the topic on C-Span this morning was progressives and a republican from the south called in and said he was finally seeing the light. He admitted to Reagan's tripling of the debt, Clinton's surplus being blown by W, and he wondered why so many Dem's were fighting each other and didn't fully get behind President Obama. This guy was seeing the truth finally of what the republican party has done to America, how exciting, now we need millions more just like him to come on over!
MommaP you flatter me as always! ;-)
Tee I'm reading the book and loving it! :-)
And 20 years from now the conservatives will take credit for the programs the prgressives initiated despite their objections. Terrific post, lady.
It's not that conservatives fear change they don't want the change progressives want because what is the end result? The government taking from one and giving to another so the government can pick the winners and the losers?
Government is responsible for certain things but you want them to have endless power and authority.
People should fear that because once they have that sort of control it will be given to whatever government is in place.
This is already the land of opportunity. Every "citizen" has the right to make what they want of their lives.
You want more government but how much more? It will become endless .
No matter how much we allow government to expand we will always have winners and losers.
Oh speaking of expanding government NY state is now deciding on whether or not they will allow nurse practitioners to practice on their own due to the shortage of doctors we will be seeing and all the new added people to the health care rolls.
That's the government you want so enjoy it,coming to a town near you soon. Hey but it's better than nothing right?
"At its core," John Halpin writes, "progressivism is a non-ideological, pragmatic system of thought grounded in solving problems and maintaining strong values within society."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Progressivism put this great nation on the road to hell. Starting with racist Woody Wilson, progressives have been nibbling away at foundations freedoms like termites and rodents, until finally, we are ready to collapse.
If your utopian ideas had produced an upward trend in education and not produced ever-increasing debt, I might take this seriously.
my 2 conservatives commenter's just proved beyond a reasonable doubt they did not read the post! LOLOL! Just shows ya they can not accept the fact progressives rule baby, yea we RULE!!
lisa, progressives are NONE of the things you spouted off, and silverfish, who and what is collapsing?? You people are so mired in your own stupidity it's frightening. Don't forget Ronnie and his tripling of the debt, don't forget Clinton and his economic genius, and we must never forget Bushie and his desperate attempt at the presidency and his economic collapse of a nation. Our nation is in peril because of REPUBLICANS, and we all know it!
that is the friggin truth Leslie!! Thanks!
Sure, Sue. Ignore Greece, ignore California. All is well! Keep spending!
Germany is reducing social programs because they have to bail out Greece.
stop comparing us to other countries. FOCUS people FOCUS....
How much from the defense budget would you cut Silverfiddle? Give me a number. If you just spout the same old word "waste" you will once again prove yourself to be nothing but the deluded right wing schill I've always known you to be.
Truth, silverfish left a comment on another post about ending the wars would not amount to a pile of beans if we still have to put out big bucks for social programs....wonder how many years from now he'll start collecting that good 'ole SS?
....wonder how many years from now he'll start collecting that good 'ole SS?
that he paid into undoubtedly
exactly lisa, we do pay into it therefore when it's time to collect, what's the problem? But we still have wingers wanting to destroy the program.....
Troof: I would cut at least 10% across the board. However, a 100% cut in discretionary spending would do nothing to address the structural debt.
BTW, in the Clinton 90's, DoD was the only government agency that took an actual budget cut. We thought it would be the end of the world, but it actually made us better and forced us to throw out the dead wood.
Every agency should have the same experience.
But just as you say that most people on the right don't understand most progressives, I don't think you understand most conservatives. There are whackadoos on both sides. There are extremes on both sides. I think we'd do more good to try and understand each other and work together, rather than fight and blame each other all the time.
Most conservatives I know, are mostly liberatarian in their way of thinking:
Libertarians are committed to the belief that individuals, and not states or groups of any other kind, are both ontologically and normatively primary; that individuals have rights against certain kinds of forcible interference on the part of others; that liberty, understood as non-interference, is the only thing that can be legitimately demanded of others as a matter of legal or political right; that robust property rights and the economic liberty that follows from their consistent recognition are of central importance in respecting individual liberty; that social order is not at odds with but develops out of individual liberty; that the only proper use of coercion is defensive or to rectify an error; that governments are bound by essentially the same moral principles as individuals; and that most existing and historical governments have acted improperly insofar as they have utilized coercion for plunder, aggression, redistribution, and other purposes beyond the protection of individual liberty.
That's how I feel anyway.
progressives have been nibbling away at foundations freedoms like termites and rodents,
Which side expanded the freedom of women to live their own lives their own way? Which side pushed to free black people from onerous and often murderous discrimination? Which side has stood up for the freedom to terminate a pregnancy? Which side fought to free gay people from "sodomy" laws and is now fighting for their freedom to marry?
And on and on. And which side fought every step of the way against all those expansions of freedom?
We're the ones who are on the side of freedom. There's a reason why it's called "liberalism".
Mrs. M: There are whackadoos on both sides.
Can anyone give me an example of a prominent nutjob figure or two on the left? I'm not being sarcastic -- this is a serious question.
Before some conservative says "Obama is crazy to support socialized medicine" or some such thing, I'm not talking about policy disagreements. I'm talking about the genuinely nutty reality-denial stuff like creationism or global-warming denialism or believing that Obama was born in Kenya. Is there anything on the left equivalent to that that anyone of any prominence believes in?
Conservatives think this country is great. Progressives think it should be great.
mrs.m, that term wackadoo has been used here before by an anonymous hatefilled commenter, weird huh?
anyway. I find libertarians in blogland to be the most judgemental and hateful of all the different parties. I don't see liberals bashing conservatives in general for what their beiefs are, I see lberals defending their beliefs to the conservatives. BUT I see conservatives in the most hateful ways trashing liberals and trouncing on them like they are a piece of garbage. THAT IS how the right feels about liberals. Like we are not worthy to share your airspace. So when you say I don't understand conservatives, OH YES I DO. I see libertarians as hateful teabaggers who believe Obama was born in Kenya. Thats how I feel...
Infidel I can't think of a lefty wacko but I'm sure some rightie will come by with an answer.
Actually the people the right would call wackadoos are those who are opinionated but not liars, and they are not fabricators for the sake of hurting a political party. They just happen to be people who the right disagrees with but to them they are wackadoos. They are light years from comparison to the wackos on the right. I have a few names in mind but I'll wait and see if silverfish or RN come by with some.
K, nice to have you here! Progressives will continue working hard to make this country a great place to live, a place where ALL mankind is welcome!
lisa, my blog and I'll decide if your rants are truthful or fabricated bullshit. If I decide they are not up to par I will delete. You are not in a Fox.com chatroom...
K, Progressives think this country is great too. They just believe that it can also be greater.
Sue, what a fantastic post. In my humble opinion, this is your best yet.
Isn't it ironic that the righties accuse progressives of taking from one and giving to another so the government can pick winners and losers? That's what the conservative movement has done for years. Corporate welfare has dwarfed discretionary spending on individuals. 82% of the current national dept was run up during GOP administrations, and that massive dept has been spent to give the rich all the benefits of socialism, while the middle class and poor have to make do with free enterprise.
As this chart shows, over 80% of the deficit was created by or during the Bush Administration. The chief culprits are two unfunded wars, the unfunded Medicare Part D program, the bailout, and a reduction of tax revenues caused by recessions. I don't recall conservatives expressing a great deal of concern at the time.
Jerry, you are right. I stand corrected.
SILVERFIDDLE wrote: "Progressivism put this great nation on the road to hell."
But SILVERFIDDLE says it with such sanctimony...
He wrote this in the comment section on a conservative blog:
"I have been asking the folks in Left Blogistan to provide one shred of evidence supporting the contention that Obama is smarter than the average citizen.
Shaw came the closest, citing his college record. BFD. She just described hundreds of thousands of people.
He's written no scholarly papers, he hasn't invented anything or planned and implemented a great plan that saved something. He's got nothing, and liberals are idiotic for lapping this crap up without a shred of critical thought."
If there is a sillier comment in Blogistan, I don't know where we'll find it.
SILVERFIDDLE and his pals believe that since Mr. Obama didn't "invent" something he's not smart--of course he's written scholarly papers and has been in the process of implementing many plans since he was inaugurated--and he co-authored legislation while he was a Senator. But don't tell these people, it'll spoil their sanctimony.
It is very likely that people like SILVERFIDDLE never denigrated GWB, or Palin, or any other conservtive for not having "invented" anything.
Imagine what a "scholarly paper" from Palin would be like?
It is apparent that there's more going on in the conservatives' minds than just criticizing this president because he didn't invent anything. I wonder what it is.
I spent some time over at Jo Joe Politico's blog where he's still stuck on the noncontroversy over Mr. Obama's birth certificate. Joe at Jo Joe Politico said to me that maybe Mr. Obama is a citizen, but he hasn't seen the long form birth certificate and he wasn't present at Obama's birth, so how can he be sure. And he's even cast doubts on whether or not Mr. Obama legitimately holds a degree from Harvard Law School, since he hasn't seen proof of that either.
What's going on here?
SILVERFIDDLE doubts that Mr. Obama is smart--Mr. Obama's graduation from one of this country's--hell the world's-- most prestigious educational institutions doesn't mean diddlysquat to him. Hell anyone apparently can get into Harvard and graduate magna cum laude. Just ask Sarah Palin. She probably got accepted, but then decided to go to an open entry community colleges--5 of them--instead--that's waaaaay more difficult than getting an education from Harvard--everyone knows that!
As I said--look past the silly rhetoric around this particular president, and we'll discover what is really eating their asses.
Oh! Did I write "ass?" How uncouth!
BTW, Sue, here's a photo of President Obama that is posted at the conservative blog where SILVERFIDDLE recently made his comments.
As I said. A lot of these conservatives aren't angry about Mr. Obama's not having "invented" anything or not having shown his "long form" birth certificate, or his Harvard Law School education.
This picture that is probably on more than one conservative blog and in more than one conservative email inbox will illustrate what they're really angry about and fearful of. And it's pretty disgusting.
Everyone keeps saying how smart Obama is. I am merely asking for evidence.
I love how you all change the subject to the birther issue, that I never brought up. Instead of producing evidence, you start talking about Palin. That woman lives rent-free in your heads 24/7...
TC that means alot, Thank you! This post was born out of the ridiculous ranting by Malcontent, Silverfiddle, Linda, lisa, and many more on the right who hate progressives/liberals for no legitimate reason. They use assumptions and lies to come to a conclusion that is simply false. They accuse the left of all the things they themselves are guilty of then call us brainless?? Damn, I've just had enough!
Shaw I don't know how you can stand that buffoon Joe! The things these righties blog about are hysterical! I was lurking at a libertarians blog and she has posted our commie president IS NOT a citizen and must be impeached IMMEDIATELY, she writes to her patriot comrades such as Mal. OMG, It is toooooo friggin funny. But also scary cuz these morons are DEAD serious!! There is no getting thru a brickwall so I give up..
Shaw that picture proves they are PIGS!
SILVERFIDDLE:
You need evidence for how smart Mr. Obama is?
How 'bout this.
He got himself elected president of the most powerful country in the world, when 4 years before, no one knew who he was. And he ran against a politician who has been around since Noah built his ark.
That's just for starters.
I didn't say you brought up the Birther issue. I used Joe as an example of the Right's obsessions around this president, in addition to your ridiculous claims that Obama has shown no evidence of his intelligence.
Palin doesn't live in our heads. The more she's out there flapping her gums, the more we love it. Go Sarah Go!
And we most certainly want the lipsticked half governor pitbull to run against Mr. Obama.
LOL!
Sue,
That photo shopped picture of Mr. Obama as a pimp tells us all what the reall "issues" are around our first bi-racial president.
They do protest too much when they say they're not racist. Then look at what they use to mock Obama.
Their hatred of Obama is about his race. They prove it when they run racist pictures like malcontent does on his blog.
very true Shaw, but they will deny til they are blue in the face...
This from Howard Fineman...
the reason we elected him (Barack Obama) was, in part, precisely because of his cool, sometimes almost chill, demeanor (coupled with his evident intelligence, studiousness and unflappability).
It was such a refreshing change to have a candidate for president with an impressive intelligent mind. One who was very thoughtful in his approach to the needs of America and her people. His compassion comes from community organizing which is admirable to say the least and a sore, jealous spot for righties. They are jealous of his intelligence, his love for America, his compassion for the people, all of it. They can't let it go, they are hell bent on breaking this president but it won't happen, instead they are killing themselves.
I wonder what Ticky Dick invented.
yea and how about Saint Ronnie or Dubya?? What kinda law degree did they have and what did they invent besides stupidity? Sorry silverfinger that's a lame one ya gave us to ponder...
I crack myself up, I had to get out of bed for that one... good night my friends...
Dubya could not get into law school at the University of Texas. But his daddy got him into Harvard Business School. And look at what a great job he did to this country and what a terrifically fabulous condition it was in when he left office after 8 gruesome years of his CEOing it into the ground.
This is a good and worthwhile discussion. Frodo is better for having read it. He is, however, extremely disappointed. He wanted to comment on the "fuck word."
Maybe next time.
yes Shaw and I don't believe any future GOP(God-forbid)president would be any different. They are stuck in a mindset of how this country should be run and they are sticking to it.
Frodo you can comment on the F word, its just a comment in my header :-)
YVW, Sue. I said it, because I meant it. I understand you frustration. Imagine mine back in the days when I was saying that the US would be bogged down for years if we invaded Iraq, and that the evidence for WMD didn't ring true.
I know TC, those righties put us through hell and always will! :-)
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