Classic Liberal Blog

Over the last 100 years or so, America has experienced a progressive movement which has changed America in ways that a growing number of people (like me), find both disturbing and destructive.

What was once the "land of the free," has been consumed by collectivism, redistribution of wealth, and broke our system of checks and balances in favor of a more powerful (and expensive) State ruled by a single branch - the Executive. The most notable culprits in promoting this progressive vision are - Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

America's political process, system of economics, and culture has been changed so much by this progressive long-march, many have forgotten what it is that was lost. Let's review:

America's Founding Principles

We are a land of liberty where natural rights of individuals precede and supersede the power of the state.

We are a constitutional republic in which government power is limited and employed for the purpose of providing legitimate public goods rather than for the benefit of insiders and narrow interest groups.

We are a free market in which persons, individually or collectively, have the natural right to sell goods and services to willing buyers, and in which the individual pursuit of economic opportunity benefits all.

And we are a free society where citizens solve social problems not only through government but also by working together in families, neighborhoods, churches, charities, and other private, voluntary organizations.

In his book "We Still Hold These Truths: Rediscovering Our Principles, Reclaiming Our Future," author Matthew Spalding further defines these principles as follows (from article linked below):

• Individual liberty is the prime right and main objective of the American people.
• Government derives its powers only from the consent of the governed, whereas the people derive their rights from the Laws of Nature and Nature's God.
• A democratic republic can succeed only if the people have moral character grounded in religious faith.
• Property is sacrosanct; commerce is the foundation of our prosperity.
• There should be no privileged classes; all stand equal before the law.
• The rule of law emanates from our Constitution. It is the supreme law of the land and shall remain so forever. It may be altered only by a laborious process that requires the support of an overwhelming majority of the people.
• Liberty is not the same as license; ours is to be an ordered liberty.
• Family, community and religious and civic associations form the bedrock of our civil society and it is to them that our citizens look primarily for satisfaction, guidance and succor.
• The Declaration of Independence put us in command of our fortunes and established that the USA is an exceptional creation in human history. Nations should look to us for guidance, not the other way around.

The Progressive Assault on America

Spalding explains how "progressive thinking was profoundly shaped by two revolutionary concepts: relativism and historicism." The former is the notion that there are no eternal truths or permanent principles; thus it is wrong to be guided by an ancient document (the Constitution) unless it is reinterpreted continuously in light of modern ideas. The latter concept teaches that not only are ideas relative, but their meaning is determined by their moment in time. "The problem with the American Founders, the new thinkers argued, is that they did not understand and account for the lack of permanence and the constant flux and change in all things."

As a result, we changed our political process, system of economics, and culture to adhere to a new set of principles instead (from above article):

• Equality of outcome takes precedence over individual liberty.
• Government discovers new rights all the time and then grants them to the people.
• Religious faith belongs to the past; it has been superseded by reason and science.
• Property is ultimately the province of government; business must be subservient to government.
• The people's lives are best guided by "experts" – federal bureaucrats whose regulations have the force of law.
• In addition, law is what the President, Congress and especially the Supreme Court say it is, not what the Founders wrote in the Constitution.
• Distinguishing liberty from license is not a useful exercise as long as the people get what the government deems is good for them.
• Government is far more important than family or community. The latter are transient; while a benevolent government is the true bedrock of society.
• America is one of many nations. Moreover, it has a checkered history. It has no special role to play in the world saga.

Our new principles stand in sharp contrast to our founding principles, the results of which we can witness in the government created global economic crisis we're experiencing today for example. A crisis that should be of no surprise to anyone.

Yes, I said "government created." This is what collectivism hath wrought.

Neither good, nor evil intentions have the power to suspend the laws of economics and/or the nature of human behavior. This is why collectivism (and all utopian schemes) always fail. Concentrated State power, excess regulation and law, income taxation, and the redistribution of wealth can only lead to impoverishment, despair, and 100 million deaths. History provides the irrefutable proof.

There's simply no such thing as collectivism with a happy face. Yet the progressive march for "change" continues on, not only in America, but across the globe too.

Progressive Death

Consider what else we know about progressives, evident from a track record of roughly one hundred years: They consistently advocate more and more centralization of power through collectivism and wealth redistribution. Inescapably, this leads to a progressively powerful state, one composed of widening regulations and agencies and departments -- launched mainly under the presidencies of Wilson, FDR, LBJ, Carter, and now Obama -- fueled by a (literal) progressive federal income tax that in less than thirty years skyrocketed from 1% (1913) to over 90% (1940s). It is a one-way expansion of power sliding almost entirely toward the national government.

Needless to say, this is, as a matter of plain fact, fundamentally antithetical to America itself -- that is, our republic as conceived by its founders. The American system is based on limited government, on eschewing a single federal Leviathan, on limited taxation, and on circumscribed control over the citizenry. Of course, to the progressive, this means that the Constitution itself is unsuitable, as it too must always evolve; the Constitution is always a work in progress, never good enough, and certainly not etched in stone. (It's exasperating when progressive presidents like Obama and FDR wrap themselves in a publicly professed love for the Constitution. This is rhetorical pabulum -- mere cynical public relations.)

As for those of us who are conservatives, who basically define ourselves by a shared vision with the American founders as expressed in sacred political documents like the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and, among others, the Federalist Papers, progressivism is a political nightmare. For conservatives, the public knows more or less where our goalpost sits: it was erected circa 1776. We believe that America got the framework right long ago.

As one of our few truly conservative presidents, Calvin Coolidge, put it in an extraordinary speech flagged by my colleague John Van Til, we seek "to reaffirm and reestablish those old theories and principles which time and the unerring logic of events have demonstrated to be sound." We believe that the ideals of 1776 must be maintained.

What Can We Do?

The key to answering that question, derives from understanding who it is we refer to as "we." Remember, the government is, and always was, "them." As stated above:

We are a land of liberty where natural rights of individuals precede and supersede the power of the state.

This means that we must turn to our families, friends and local communities for solutions, not to the federal government. Further more, it means that the federal government must be stripped of its extra-constitutional powers. For as along as the federal government reigns supreme, individual and property rights are subordinated, and thus civil society perishes.

It is both private property and individual rights which provide the only conflict-free resolution to the problems we face. Because these natural rights allow us to foster what Edmund Burke described as "the little platoons" of civil society - our families, friends, churches, neighborhoods, private businesses, and charities.

These are the genuine sources of social peace, justice, and economic growth. And they cannot be fostered by government, whose only available tools are the use of violent force and legitimized theft. A government, even with the best intentions, can only tear the "little platoons" of civil society apart.

The only solution to our woes then, is to return to the founding principles of America - respect for individual and property rights, adherence to the checks and balances on government power, and the Rule of Law, not man - so we can foster our "little platoons" of civil society, once again.