I have been thinking about how so many of the problem we have today have been created by government, especially the Federal Government, involvement in our lives. Wherever I look what I see is that the problems we have today, when I investigate and look at the history of the problems, what I find is that government in trying to solve a minor problem, has created a larger problem and then tries to fix the new problem with more government involvement. This process is like treating anemia with bloodletting and when it does not work, instead of stepping back and trying to figuring out what truly is going on, just letting out more blood. It will not work and eventually will kill the patient, which is what I believe is happening now in the US.
So what is a progressive policy and how do they come about. A progressive policy is one that is supposedly designed to move society forward and in a direction that makes it better for all. That would seem to mean that it would create a society that is richer, healthier, and in every way better then what we have today. The problem is that while the ideal is achievable, the time frame that the progressive have in mind is not. They want what they want now, and allowing society to evolve naturally to the ideal condition is not an option. Also those that promote these policies tend to get frustrated with having to take the time and energy to convince those that disagree with them.
They also tend to have a view that society is a machine like system, which can be controlled by just setting the right switches in the right places, and given enough time and money they will get it right. The problem with this is that society is not like a machine, it is not only a dynamic system that is in constitute change, it is a chaotic one that is unpredictable. Throwing a switch or changing a setting can have unforeseen results, that can and will cause more problems in the future.
So when you have people that believe they know the solution and we all will agree with them if we listen and were as smart as them, with the belief that society can be controlled like a machine, you end up with people who write and implement progressive policies. Now since these policies are designed to make people do things which they might not agree are good for them, but are good for society as a whole, the policies must by design limit freedom. People who believe in these policies are not concerned with that, because they know that the choices they are limiting are the wrong choices. So the issue is to identify the progressives in society and their policies, so that we can fix the problems they have caused.
Before we start, I want to propose that there are three types of people in society. There are those that have a desire to lead, and there are those that have a desire to follow. It is these two types of people that the progressive policies appeal to. The ones that want to lead, like the progressive policies because it make the people dependent on them, thus easier to lead. The ones that have a desire to follow, like the progressive policies because it means they do not have to take responsibility for themselves, those that lead have already taken on that responsibility. It is the third group that has no use for progressive policies, because they are a group of people that want to take responsibility for their lives, and also have no desire to take on the responsibility for the lives of others. So even if they exhibit the traits listed below, they will not act on them, except in their personal lives, which will not cause anyone else any problems.
The first thing to look for in a progressive is the belief that they are superior to everyone else around them, especially those that disagree with them. They also believe that this superiority is what gives them the right to lead society out the darkness to greatness, and justifies their desire for power. So you can see this can be a person like Al Gore, who believes that he and those that agree with him are right. Or it can be a radical religious leader, like those in the Taliban, that believes that our problems are caused by sinners in society. Or it can a politicians that calls those that disagree with them stupid, dangerous or worst. See they can not have dissent about what they want to do, because of the fallacy in their second identifying trait.
The second identifying trait is that they believe they have the only correct solution to the problem to be solved. In some cases they believe they and those that follow them are the only ones that see the problem. Everybody else is too stupid or do not wish to solve the problem, because not doing so benefits them. Since they have the solution to the problem, there is really no need to discuss the issue or listen to other views. Doing so will only cloud the issues further and make implementing the solution harder. They also do not have the patience or believe the problem is so dire, that taking the time to convince us idiots that they are right, will take too long. This is why they believe that systems of government that place the power in the hands of the elites like them are so great. It eliminates public debate and makes things run smoother. This leads into the third attribute of a progressive, which is they ignore evidence that does not support their position.
See if they acknowledge that their solution have failed in the past when they have been tried, that admission will then destroy the preceding beliefs that they hold true. So they tend to not acknowledge the problems that history has shown their same policies have caused in the past. They will say that what is being said is a lie, or some sort of distortion of the truth. If they are forced to acknowledge it they will then start making excuses, such as those previous policies did not have enough support, and if they did have the support required, those bad results would not of happened. They will blame others for the falling of the policies, for example they will claim the policies were sabotaged. In all cases their response will basically fall back around to that the problems with their solution being reported were not caused by the solution, it was instead that the solution was not able to be implemented correctly. They will then argue that the only way to implement the solution correctly, is with more money, and more rules that keep the wrong choices from being made. This leads us to the way to identify a progressive solution to a problem.
A progressive policies can be identified by several traits. They all center around the certainty that the policies are never the problem, instead the problem is that the policy has not been implemented correctly because of several reasons. First there was not enough money put towards solving the problem, thus more money is always going to be needed. This leads to the lost to more and more property rights, as that property is seized to support the policies. Second, there are those that are purposely working around the limits the policy has put in place, and thus more rules and regulation are need. This leads to lost of more and more freedoms, as these rules limit what can and can not be done. Thirdly the policy is being, sabotaged by those that spread falsehoods about those policies, this leads to more censoring of speech, to correct those errors. So right there we have three true litmus test to identify a progressive policy, by the rights being violated by the implementation of the policies. Government will take more and more property from the citizens, so as to provide more resources to those policies, violating the right to property. Second, the government will introduce new laws limiting the actions that people can take, this will limit the liberty of the people. Thirdly the government, will try to silence those that speak against these policies. Most of this will be done by ridicule and personal attacks, but can quickly move into actual government actions taken against those that do not support the policies.
In the post, of this series, to follow I am going to look at policies in various areas of society that the Progressive have identified as not working correctly. We try to identify some of the policies that they put in place that caused these problems and will also look at how and why these policies meet the above criteria. And then, finally we will look at what we can do to repair the damage they have done. The first area I want to tackle is the education system in this country.
Independence Caucus