Liberals Progressives

Liberals have a bad name. They don't want it any more. Now they want to be called "progressives." What is progressivism? Ronald Pestritto and William Atto have written in American Progressivism that "it is an argument to progress, or to move beyond, the political principles of the American founding. It is an argument to enlarge vastly the scope of national government. Criticism of the Constitution formed the background of the entire movement." Redistributing private property in the name of social justice was a key principle. Obviously, the Constitution stood in the way.

Our Constitution is all about upholding individual liberty and property. It makes clear that our individual rights were conferred upon us by our Creator, not by our society. Abraham Lincoln agreed, saying that Jefferson's Declaration was applicable to "all men at all times."

In the nineteenth century most Americans who wanted advanced degrees went to Europe to get one (mostly to Germany). In contrast to our Constitution, which limited our government by checks and balances, the Germans critiqued our ideas of individual rights and called for a sharp increase in governmental power.

Another obstacle in the way of progress was, in the minds of progressives, traditional Christianity. The state was to be worshipped as a god, given undivided attention. Instead of salvation in the next life, the Social Gospel, as promulgated by Walter Rauschenbusch the theologian of the Social Gospel, "man would now be judged by the degree to which he merged his life with the divine purposes of the kingdom of God on earth," write Pestritto and Atto. "We shall have to resocialize property," Rauschenbusch reasoned.

Jane Addams was the most prominent advocate of social justice. Prohibition, severe restrictions on new immigration, and forced sterilization of "mentally deficient" inmates in Indiana were among the accomplishments of the social reformers of the early 20th century.

State control and regulation was also pushed by educator/philosopher John Dewey. Dewey opposed any attempt to teach "transcendent" principles. The state essentially replaced the function of the church in education, with a new secular faith in democracy.

Herbert Croly "contrasted a government based on law to a government based on faith in the people's ability to rule themselves," write the authors. "The founders' Constitution, by contrast, elevated law - that is, legal protection for individual rights, even against the will of the majority."

Woodrow Wilson detested the separation of powers. The framers of the Constitution feared the tyranny of the majority. For progressives, the presidency became the agent of progress in national politics. The establishment of a substantial bureaucratic apparatus became a means of facilitating government by educated experts. Administration, as the founders envisioned, was to be confined to the executive branch. But the progressives wanted legislative and judicial activism as well, including the regulation of private business. Thus, the writers show how policymaking power shifted away from popular institutions and was given to educated elites by presidents Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilsons, both progressives.

It appears to me that there are clearly similarities between progessives Roosevelt and Wilson on the one hand, and our current president, on the other. Wilson viewed the president as the originator of the national political agenda. Barack Obama appears to be in that mold. The 16th amendment, levying an income tax on American workers, was ratified during Wilson's presidency. Wilson also took measures to reorganize and regulate the banking system by signing the Federal Reserve Act.

In their foreign policies, Wilson and Roosevelt, although there were some clear differences, were both willing to intervene forcefully: Roosevelt to expand colonially, and Wilson to spread his vision of ideal government. After entering World War I Wilson called for "peace without victory,"a war to end all wars," and "to make the world safe for democracy."

So, you see, this progressivism thing is not new. There is history dating back to the late nineteenth century. Studying that history can be instructive, as we attempt to understand where our new president is leading us.