I am resurrecting something from my past postings that has extreme credence today because it gives an historical context to what we are experiencing today. Original posting of first half was December 2013.
Addendum Guide to Progressives.. Posted 6/24/15
This has become even more self evident since I first wrote this piece in December 2013 as we can see the threat clearer at this point in their attempted takeover;
Guide to Progressives And The Progressive Golden Age In America
I want you to consider this about the current Progressive push to reassert themselves somewhat into the original mold they developed during their "Golden Age" from the 1890's to the 1920's. During that time frame they gained massive support from the public, many of whom were second generation children of Irish Refugees from the famine, and children of the Scots who came here because of the clearances. They were being abused like their parents were by the Lords of the old country.
Because the progressives portrayed themselves as fighting against the same callousness towards the workers by the Robber Barons of that era, the Second generation was eager to rid themselves of the same actions from the Barons as the Lords displayed. Those Barons put profits ahead of an employee's basic safety, because they believed that workers were infinitely replaceable, and anyone who contested that was automatically considered one of the 'good guys' by the abused.
Progressives use the same tactics today with the poor and downtrodden of our generation. They promise everything but in the end they only steal the wealth and deliberately keep the poor held down and dependent to the progressives for their daily bread.
This public persona contrived by the progressives worked well for them, but only until the public realized how they were destroying the Republic. The realities of the movement derogate the actual loss of freedoms and rights Americans have, and acting as if they should not exist. This is because the basic 'Philanthropic Progressive', lauds praises and compliments on themselves, and are to a person, guilty of believing themselves to be the final authority on everything that is good and necessary, and create legal requirements for everyone to follow their desires mindlessly.
The overriding similarity among Progressives then and now, is they actually believe they know what is better for everyone than the "mere mortals" themselves know and the believe they have the right to enforce their beliefs. To do that they set up Progressive oriented Governments that want to control their people from cradle to grave for their own good. Notwithstanding, the profits from the labors of all the 'little people' go to the elites primarily.
They try to change the minds of everyone, encouraging them to break away from the Free, Independent, Moral, Work Ethic Spirit that made America Great, into one of utter dependence on the Central Government to provide everything 'freely' to all, and risk losing everything should anyone disagree with their orders from on high. How they plan to accomplish this is cleverly never spoken of, but it is done through total redistribution of wealth, and iron fisted control over society. This in turn is disingenuous because it destroys all incentive to do better, to innovate, or even to complete necessary tasks. It destroys the basic American respect for Liberty and Independence, and most importantly Self Respect. After taking those things away Progressives automatically Replace it with a Nanny State. Think Communist Russia under Stalin or China under Mao when you think of a 'Progressive' Nanny State.
One thing to always remember;Progressive Socialism also has a Right and Left side track, just like our Republic has Left and Right Factions in Government. Hitlerian Fascism is the Right side Track of Progressive Socialism, and Stalinist or Maoist Communism is the Left side track of Progressive Socialism when it's taken to it's logical conclusion. Another overriding factor about Socialism is, the practitioners have no compunctions about using outright lies and mis-direction combined and recruiting people to their way of thinking with a false philosophy of telling the people they can do anything they want to do, with no bad consequences to themselves for their actions.
Actually the Original American National Political Leaders for the Progressive movement were; Theodore Roosevelt, Robert M. LaFollette Sr., and Charles Evans Hughes on the Republican side and William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, and Al Smith on the Democratic side. From the 1890's through the 1920's movement flourished as the way to purify the Government and break down the Machine Bosses like Tammany Hall for example. Even Prohibition played a part and one of the obscured reasons it passed was to break the power structures of the Bosses which was usually based in the saloons. The 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th amendments were amendments that were pushed by the Progressives to permanently fix their reforms into law.
Between the Presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, 1901 through 1921, most of the Federal Regulatory agencies came into being because of the Progressives. Prior to 1910 they made a push into education (to begin to entrench their way into all schools ). This was the era when Progressive Scholars began taking over research universities. Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, Michigan, California, and Wisconsin were targeted for Progressive Ideology based Modernization with the specific goal being, to make them into the Progressive idea of 'Scientific' Social Sciences like History, Economics, and especially the new field of Political Science. All these 'innovations' were incorporated into School systems with a new 'Ideological Professionalism' based on existing international models of progressive scholarship.
In actuality during the golden age of Progressivism ( 1890's - 1920's) they got their hands into everything with their philosophy, and changed America from the Republic it was, to the beginnings burgeoning Democracy by doing it. When the magazines and newspapers of that era began exposing the political corruption, Roosevelt gave them the nickname of "Muckrakers" to try and discredit them to the public. Maybe this is the underlying reason the progressives have taken control of most of the media today?
The Progressives Agendas encompassed these things then and still do now, however they are more insidious and sophisticated now;
"Progressive Modernization Ideology" This included inroads into Science, Technology, and Especially Education ( to indoctrinate the subsequent generations into their philosophy), Intervention into economic and social affairs, and promoting the illogical concept of the efficiency of Government intervention.
"Progressive Philanthropic Ideology" This is where the Elites took notice of the movement and joined in for their own reasons, and hiding those reasons through what they named 'a duty to society' where they gave money ( with tenuous strings attached) to Colleges, Hospitals,Libraries, Museums, Social Betterment ( whatever they thought that was it was). In effect they set up and controlled the foundations and business oriented operations we know today. None of this was actually charity though, and that let them operate with tremendous power Internationally as benevolent and powerful entities.
"Progressive Democracy Ideology" Here's the rub, ostensibly the Progressives promoted the concept of Democracy to the public originally to circumvent the political bosses and assume their power over the people. However you would not get them to admit that even among themselves except behind closed doors. They wanted more direct rule by an uninformed and highly manipulable public, who they could talk into doing exactly what they wanted them to do, because the Progressives always did and always will believe they knew what was best for the people, more so than the people did for themselves.
This culminated in the passing of the 17th Amendment Ratified in 1913. That Amendment took the power of the Legislatures away and gave it to the Progressives under the false Flag of reducing the power of political bosses. The progressives succeeded taking it for themselves, all in a benevolent way of course, to better help the people.
They were not idle at the State levels either. This was a concerted effort to change politics in America with the Progressives always leading the charge. The State 'Reforms' they initiated were "Initiative" "Referendum" and "Recall". the Initiative and Referendum allowed citizens to directly introduce, propose, and approve laws in the State. The recall provision, gave citizen voters the power to recall elected officials.
About half of the States today have some form of this because it was pushed into their State Constitutions by the Progressive's influence over the masses. The Progressives looked at it as a way to negate the influence of countering the so called 'Influence of Large Corporations', and supplanting it with their Progressive Influence.
"Progressive Municipal Reform Ideology" With this concept, the Progressives began a major reorganization of City and State Governments. They began by getting Progressive Mayors elected to City Governments, and also getting Progressive Governors elected at the State level to facilitate the reorganization of State Governments. A good example is Robert LaFollett of Wisconsin who began the process of using the State University ( Remember the education push the progressives made) as the major source of ideas for change.
" Progressive Family and Food Ideologies" Progressives knew the importance of convincing families to be the foundation for their Progressive Agenda for America, and American Society. America could not be changed until the basic concept of how families viewed themselves and how their position in society could be changed to the better because of the Progressive Model.
The progressives used their influence in government to gradually change and strengthen acceptance of the progressive concepts into the family unit. This was not enough to satisfy the progressives. They took over the existing public assistance programs and formed them into what we see today, as welfare programs that keeps generations trapped and subjugated to control their votes, for a continuous progressive handout of redistributed wealth.
They established Juvenile Courts complete with the laws that took away parental control and vested it in the State. They set up standards for pure Drugs, Water, Milk, Foodstuffs, and established Federal agencies to enforce those standards. They even began to censure Motion Pictures and Movie houses because they deemed them Unsafe and Unclean environments ( see how they believe they know what is best for us mere mortals and then force it on us). Doing that then, planted the seeds for things like the EPA, Dept of Education, and all the other Federal Agencies we must contend with today.
"Progressive Eugenics Ideology" This is where it gets very dangerous for the average person. The Progressives embraced this philosophy because they believed in their God like Delusions about their infallibility, and that they were the ones designated to "Improve" the Genetic Traits and Quality of the human population. This heinous philosophy advocated promoting that "Improvement" by encouraging higher reproduction rates among the people they deemed had the best traits ( usually of their own ethnic group), and heavily suppressing even to to extinction, the reproductive rates of those they deemed had undesirable traits (usually racially based decisions, citing mental inferiority). See how the Progressives tried to institute this program here, years before Hitler instituted it in Germany.
"Progressive Constitutional Change Policy" The Progressives tried to hedge their bets by attempting to insert their reforms in the body of amendments to the Constitution, instead of in Federal Law to do it. That was because the Federal Laws could be declared Unconstitutional at a later date, or they could be repealed by a later Congress. They knew it would be much harder to repeal an Amendment to the Constitution, so they instigated for the proposal of the 16th Amendment because the income tax they wanted to impose was ruled Unconstitutional by the Supreme Court before the 16th amendment existed, and for the 17th Amendment for the direct election of Senators, knowing they would abridge State Powers and quietly, reduce the Power of the People to seriously influence the Federal Government. Due to Sentiments against the Germans during WWI, they were able to pass the 18th Amendment for prohibition. The final Progressive Amendment passed was the 19th Amendment for Women's suffrage proving that not even dyed in the wool Progressives can be totally evil.
"Progressive Prohibition Reasoning" In another spectacular failure of the Progressives who believe even until today that they can legislate morals and social behavior,tried to do that through the Volstead Act. progressives helped pushing it through Congress to prohibit the manufacture sale and transportation of alcohol, and did not prohibit drinking. The underlying reason was to break the political machine bosses by attacking the seat of their continued power, the Saloons. Prohibition was basically a movement by Protestants and was embraced by the Progressives to gain their votes, and to weaken the political saloon based big city political machines whose power the progressives wanted to take over. In retrospect we can thank the progressives for setting up and entrenching the Criminal mobs we have today.
"Progressive Education Initiatives" Basically it was grab the children when they are young and indoctrinate them with the Progressive Philosophy. It worked out then to projecting their public persona of trying to improve the living standards through educating the youth of America so they could get better paying and more prestigious jobs, The progressives pushed hard to reform schools and their curriculum to their standards as modernization of the schools ( they are doing this again through Common core Programs today). The progressives created the Department of Education at the Federal Level and that took the regulatory power away from both parents and the States. Up to 1910 big city schools numbers expanded considerably, and after rural school systems followed suit. By 1940 half of American teens had a high school diploma, and that along with WWII and the GI Bill, resulted in a rapid growth of the educated middle class which became the prime support of the progressives.
"Progressive Medicine and Law Initiatives" The progressives made inroads into the medical profession through a report ( Flexner Report) sponsored by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation ( remember Carnegie was one of the first Elites to embrace progressiveism for power and profit) . The Flexner Report was compiled by Abraham Flexner in a book length study bewailing the poor state of medical schools and their teaching practices, and advocating for a unified and government controlled system, in typical progressive fashion, to correct the perceived problems.
By the way, Abraham was not a doctor, he was a secondary school teacher. The report was basically responsible for the closing of a multitude of smaller schools the average man could afford to attend for a higher education, and focused National Funds on medical schools associated with Universities like Harvard. Leaders like the Mayo brothers supported the essence of the report and it gained traction.
It also affected the Legal Profession, and the American Bar Association set up the Association of American Law Schools in 1900 establishing national standards and replacing the time honored practice of apprenticing under attorneys to study law and gain proficiency in it, and requiring using progressive standardized School settings for learning, as was done with the medical profession. Progressives really like the national control bit don't they?
"Progressive Social Sciences Experiments" The Progressive Scholars ensconced in pivotal positions in Universities like Harvard, Michigan, Johns Hopkins,etc., worked to modernize those places utilizing the modern progressive disciplines. The progressive goal and and game plan, was to change them into models of progressive social sciences of history,political science,political correctness, and economics. This professionalization required the universities to create new career tracks making hiring, with promotion dependent on meeting the international models of scholarship the progressives cherished.
"Progressive Economic Policy Experiment" the golden age of progressives was basically prosperous with only two minor glitches; the panic of 1893, which was basically a Deep Depression ( this was when the attitudes began to change toward the Progressive agendas, and the Small Businesses, Farmers, and Labor Organizations, began looking to the Federal government to act in their interests) and the panic of 1907 basically affecting financiers. These two issues did weaken the economy and stressed Wilson's policies creating federal deficits resulting in changed fiscal policy ( imposition of the Income Tax and the Federal Reserve ). This continued until WWI. I find it very strange that Progressive policies that precipitate a fiscal crisis precede world wars and police actions that are not called wars. Progressives constantly argued for more government regulation of businesses.
This was the era of greatly expanded Federal Government control where agencies were formed like The Interstate Commerce Commission. In 1877 the ICC was formed as an agency to regulate the railroads. The Progressives expanded it to encompass trucking,interstate bus lines,common carriers, and telephone companies and in 1995 was disbanded and its functions transferred to the expanded jurisdiction of the Surface Transportation Board which is exempted from certain Federal State and Local Laws unlike it's predecessors early years ICC regulations took a Federal Court Order to become effective.
The Sherman anti-trust Act, the Clayton Anti-trust Act and the Federal Trade Commission were all conceived and created during the Progressive era ostensibly for the protection of the consumers but in effect to control business practices. Here is where we find out that much of the substance of the Sherman and Clayton acts were developed and animated by the Progressive Supreme Courts to effectively legislate from the bench. The Neill-Reynolds meat inspection report that was one of the reports used to justify the creation of the Food and Drug Administration which took the regulatory power away from the States.
"Progressives and Labor Unions" It can be said that Labor Unions are a progressive movement or the child of progressives and they created great numbers of supporters for the progressive agendas. In 1906 the Labor Movement joined into a working political alliance with the bastion of the progressives, the Democratic Party. The main focus was in the large industrial cities where the labor unions wanted restrictions on the judges who ruled on labor disputes mostly or wholly on the side of business. The Democrats progressive political machine facilitated those demands, thus securing a large voter base for progressives to retain their power. the real breakthrough for the Progressive/Labor Movement cause was the passage of the Norris-LaGuardia Act of 1932.
"Progressive Immigration Policy Ideology" After 1896 Immigration grew until WWI and the influx of unskilled workers stopped suddenly and resumed in 1919. Labor Unions turned to the progressive leaders and and asked them to place restrictions on immigration especially Chinese and other Asians. the unions did this because those people would work for lower wages and the unions efforts to raise wages were thwarted. the leveling factor was the rapid growth of industry that needed the large numbers of workers that could be trained for the menial jobs in those industries.
In the 1920's the progressives and the industry realized that the influx needed to be restricted to a manageable level, even the progressives who believed in eugenics were involved as were the prohibitionists and protestants who wanted to again curtail the "Saloon Power " of the political bosses. the Progressives were in fact racists and that was ingrained in the movement from the start and pushed to the fore Front by Wilson. But I digress.
The progressives of that generation pushed the "Americanization" of the immigrants with their programs pushed through the public school system they had essentially taken over decades before. Immigration restrictions continued after WWII as a national policy. Recently the Progressive faction, in an attempt to again dominate the voting public, has recanted and tried to reform immigration policy back to an open door policy, in hopes of capturing generations of voters to keep them in power. As can be seen the Progressives have no real loyalty to any program, but will back anything that will keep them in power.
Comment: I reiterate, we must demand the State Legislatures Petition for an article V Convention if we are to reverse the destructive progressive agendas.
The Tradesman
2015 addendum to this treatise;
Reasons to oppose Progressive agendas.
I stridently oppose the Progressive Agendas, but we are at a crossroads right now. We have abdicated our parental responsibilities about properly educating our children in actual American history and instilling in them the need to pay it forward as it was paid forward to us. Even Reagan said that the principles of Freedom and Liberty are not passed down to our children and are needed to be reaffirmed in every generation. I think of the Patriot Act and the monitoring by the NSA, the restrictions on our basic God Given freedoms, and the seemingly random enforcement of draconian laws and regulations. I see that caveat has not been heeded for at least two generations now, possibly three. I see how much we threw away to pursue Hedonistic pursuits instead of riding herd over our Elected Officials.
The elementary school children since 1960 have been taught an increasingly propagandized lies. this stems from the original infiltration of agents of both Lenin and Stalin who were tasked to infiltrate the universities and to gradually twist everything towards a world wide Socialist State. Fortunately I had a Father and other Relatives who served in both World Wars and were taught a much less propagandized version of American History. I even had a relative that remembered what America was like just after the Civil War because he grew up during those years.
I was usually in trouble in school because I often challenged the 'Official History' I was being taught.I was able to back up my claims that the history being taught from the late 40s was incorrect because I had an Encyclopedia that was printed before 1876. It contained many items that were being denied and twisted by the 'Official' history books.
I had partially believed what I was being taught without question until my relatives started correcting me on things that they were taught prior to the books my school used. All of my peers in school generally believed the official texts but I didn't and was vocal about it. That made me an outsider and the subject of many taunts and cat calls during my schooling, and not only from the kids either.
I know from personal experience that the Government can and does re-write history to conform with the current political agendas of the Elites controlling the Government from the shadows. The Government can and does tell as many lies as it wants to. The thing the Government can't do is erase the memories of those who have lived through the periods in history that the Government wants to change. Unless of course they are going to take a page out of the darkest days of the Soviet Union and meld it with the techniques espoused in the book Nineteen Eighty Four to incorporate in the FEMA camps we know little or nothing about.
The main thing we must realize is that the Progressive agenda does not support anyone but the Elites that have originated it strictly for their own benefit. The progressive 'Hook' is promising people safety and security. Eisenhower said; "If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom." - Dwight D. Eisenhower. So, I ask you, do you really want America to become a Prison? Ben Franklin summed it up even more clearly; "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin.
Any time the Government comes to us and says 'We must temporarily suspend some of your Constitutional Liberties' we must remember; If we restrict Liberty even temporarily to gain a measure of Security, We Will Lose Both! As Franklin said, our security lies in our Strength both in numbers and in wealth.
When we were young we believed all the things we were taught about patriotism self sacrifice for the common good and we went off to war to experience horrific trials and even death in many instances. We did this because we really believed we were doing it to protect those loved ones we left behind and to insure our way of life would not be lost to history. Belief like that is what makes heroes out of common men and women, it also sustains ones sanity in a world where human life is cheaper than the objective.
When we were younger we readily accepted the rules we were taught to live by and not to question them closely. It was considered unpatriotic to question then just as it is considered extremely unpatriotic to question the machinations of Government now. We have all seen the upsetting of our cherished principles and the topsy turvy way the Progressives have reversed the beliefs in the last 70 years. Now we are faced with international terrorism and that is the watch word for the Elites to continue stripping our Liberty and Freedom from us.
I wonder how a rational Freedom Loving people, can remain so blind, and stupidly march in lock step to the tune of the Elites have created for their self gratification of attaining even more power? The Elites want to set up a world wide Oligarchy since the Monarchies have fallen. they will accept no less than totalitarian power over the "mere humans' of the world. This is the threat we face. Evil self centered men who do not care about the fate of the to them "Mere Humans" and use them as cannon fodder to attain their nefarious goals. To use an analogy they are the spiritual Sons of Satan.
I am going to take a turn off the path for a bit and talk about the horrible treatment the Government gives to it's veterans. These are the same people that in most cases have volunteered their lives to defend the Nation and even the corrupt politicians who use then fear them. As I see it, the truth is once they have trained these men and women to be killers, they don't want them to come back. For the most part these people have lived outside the rigid controls the politicos have held over the civilian populations. the politicos know that free mindset is one of the things that revolutions are made of. Once you have been in combat more than once, you will not be cowed by the empty threats about consequences the politicos use to keep the masses in line. 'nuff said on that.
Lately, the American people have been seeing bits and pieces of their faith in the causes proposed by the progressives fall apart in the harsh light of reality. It never ceases to amaze my just how any why people are so easily led. Our belief system is a combination of what our parents first teach us, they it goes on to the schooling, and from there society has the admixture of differing points of view that settles out to our perceived moral codes what the Elites perceive as the operational codes they want other mere mortals/people to live by.
Why don't we think for ourselves? Why do we take everything the "Leaders" say at face value without even checking to see if it's true or if it would be harmful to our Nation and Society? Why do we uncover a Scandal,make noises about how terrible it was and then just willingly accept the next scandal until it's publicly disclaimed as a fraud? Why don't we demand the perpetrators be punished with jail time if the scandal is so big that affects all of us?
Ask yourselves this question; How honest is everybody? Governmental leaders (honesty is an oxymoron and disability with them). Our school teachers ( how indoctrinated were they by the schools they went to to become teachers?). Even our parents ( how many of them pass on the falsehoods they learned as children?). How much of History is factual ( how much is revised by the winners? I would say all of it). This leads us to the ethics promoted by the Progressive Master Race (in their own minds that is.). What set of moral codes are universal and generally help promote a livable society, and which ones were created by the Elites to further their personal agendas.
Why are the ones who see through all the deceptions by the Elites discredited as fools and even dangerous to our nation? What about the generations of our veterans that have had their nation fundamentally changed from what they were promised it would remain but only if they decided to defend the principles that it was supposed to be built on? We must challenge and remove from power the vile creatures who have originated this travesty, and all those who have come after them. they deserve no place of honor in our history, they deserve revulsion.
Any and all who perpetuate the self centered progressive myth, those who work either consciously or unwittingly,any and all who are helping it to persevere are stained by it's innate evil must be eradicated from positions of power and influence not only in the United States but the entire world. Like a systemic infection that threatens the life of the body, their influence must be eradicated completely.
To make it clear, I am not against normal human compassion,nor am I against helping those that need it. I am against those who use the acts of human kindness towards others to perpetuate their own power and place. We must help each other and do it in such a way that all people, except those who are physically or mentally incapable of ever helping themselves, learn to function on their own and learn to rely on themselves first and foremost.To do less is to subject those being helped into a system that is virtual Slavery to the Elites agendas.
Beware, We are losing to the progressives and need to ramp up our protests to restore the Republic!!!
2020 follow up to the 2015 addendum;
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, we can now see ever more clearly, what the end game goal has been all along. The "progressive faction", contrary to what they project themselves as champions of the downtrodden masses, are nothing more than their attempt to finally create an Oligarchy here in America, then extend it throughout the world. If we don't stop it here, we will never stop it.
The Tradesman 2021
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