The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Collected Chirps on Progressivism and Progressives

The following are a series of Chirps I have written that examines the meaning and history of Progressivism and its impacts on American Governance and Society.

08/13/23 Repeating History

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
  - George Santayana

American Progressivism started in the late 19th century and flowered at the beginning of the 20th century. The Presidential Administration of Woodrow Wilson was when it began to be incorporated into American governance. After a brief pause in the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression in the United States brought forth even greater Progressivism under the Administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). It was under the FDR Administration that Progressivism became entrenched in the American government. To this day, we have Progressivism baked into American governance.

Yet, the administrations of President Wilson and Roosevelt had a dismal record on Civil Rights. Using a Democratic interpretation of the Constitution (as I have written in my article "A Republican Constitution or a Democratic Constitution"), and sometimes just ignoring or dismissing our American ideals and ideas as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, Progressives began a campaign to indoctrinate Americans into a Progressive ideology of governance and societal culture. A history of their efforts during the Wilson Administration is examined in the books:

• Over Here: The First World War and American Society 25th Anniversary Edition by David M. Kennedy
• The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I by Thomas Fleming

Using grandiloquent statements and the Progressive Myths of History while at the same time using economic fears and World War I war-mongering, President Wilson and his Administration trampled upon Americans' Civil Rights to achieve their political goals and policy agendas. Thus, a campaign of fear and intimidation ensued, in which they violated the right to Freedom of Speech and the Press, along with the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Many people were imprisoned for dissenting from the administration's opinions, and many more were intimidated into silence for fear of imprisonment. Those that they could not imprison were smeared and demonized with innuendo and rumors of being unpatriotic and even un-American. They whipped up the American public to support and even assist them with their efforts. Thus, a dark period of Civil Rights abuses descended upon America. It was only after World War I when the American people were war-weary and no longer in economic fear, did the American public repudiate these efforts and elected a series of Republican presidents to bring back “normalcy”.

Alas, we have forgotten this history, and a little over 100 years later, we are repeating it in the fears of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the warmongering of the Ukrainian-Russian war. Much of what President Wilson’s Administration's Civil Rights abuses entailed are being attempted by President Biden’s Administration. It is chilling to read this history of the Wilson Administration and realize that the same tactics they utilized are being utilized by the Biden Administration. It is, therefore, imperative the American public repudiate these Civil Rights abuses of the Biden Administration and return to “normalcy”. A “normalcy” that should also repudiate the Progressive ideology of governance, as the Progressive ideology is antithetical to our "American Ideals and Ideas" and our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All".

Thus, my next several Chirps will be about Progressivism and Progressives. Hopefully, my readers will have a better understanding of this political movement and can make better judgments about this ideology and its political agendas and policy goals.

08/14/23 What is Progressivism?

In a book by Ronald J. Pestritto, America Transformed: The Rise and Legacy of American Progressivism, he examines this question at the beginning of Chapter One, ‘A Primer on Progressivism and the Progressive Era’:

“What is progressivism? The chapters in this book will lay out its characteristics in detail, but to begin we can think of it as an argument to move beyond the political principles of the American founding. It is an argument to enlarge vastly the scope of the national government for the purpose of responding to a set of economic and social conditions which, progressives contend, could not have been envisioned at the founding and for which the founder’s limited, constitutional government is inadequate. Whereas the founders posited what they held to be a permanent understanding of just government, based upon a permanent account of human nature, progressives have countered that then ends and scope of government are to be defined anew in each historic epoch. They have coupled this belief in historical contingency with a deep faith in historical progress, suggesting that, due to historical evolution, government was becoming less a danger to the governed and more capable of solving the great array of problems besetting the human race. Historically, these ideas formed a common thread among the most important American thinkers from the 1880s into the 1920s and beyond, manifesting themselves in the writings and speeches of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Herbert Croly, John Dewey, Robert La Follette, and several others.”

He further states in Chapter One:

“Wilson, in reflecting what it meant to be a progressive, wrote of government as a “living thing” which was to be understood according to” the theory of organic life”. This “living” notion of a constitution, Wilson contended, was far superior to the founders’ model, which had considered government a kind of “machine” which could be constantly limited through checks and balances. As a living entity, the progressives reasoned, government had to evolve and adapt in response to changing circumstances. While early conceptions of national government had carefully circumscribed its power to the perceived threat to individual liberties, progressives argued that history had brought an improvement in the human condition, such that the will of the people was no longer in danger of becoming factious. Citing a whole new host of social and economic ills that called out for a government remedy, progressives took this doctrine of progress and translated it into a call for a sharp increase in the scope of government power.”

Thus, Progressives believe that the powers of the national government, and especially those of the president, are plenary (full in all respects), not enumerated (specify individually)—as defined by the Constitution.

Dr. Pestritto also points out that a plenary power requires an administrative state “whereby a large, unelected bureaucracy is empowered with significant governing authority.” Such an administrative state would be run by administrative experts who are appointed and which are drawn from the educated classes. To be effective, such administrative experts would need to share a common ideology and ideas of the Progressive goals of the government. These administrative experts would combine aspects of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial functions of government in the creation and administration of regulations to govern almost all the functioning of society.

This, then, is the core ideology and ideas of Progressivism, which is antithetical to our Founding Fathers' ideology of the Declaration of Independence and the ideas of the Constitution of the United States, which the Founding Fathers regarded as necessary to preserve our "Natural, Human, and Civil Rights". In our Founding Fathers' ideology and ideas, our rights supersede government, while in the Progressives' ideology and ideas, our rights derive from the government, and these rights can evolve and adapt and be created or discarded as necessary in solving what they believe is the great array of problems besetting the human race.

08/15/23 The Ideology is the Same

The 20th century in America saw the rise of Progressivism that morphed into modern Liberalism and then once again became Progressivism. However, the core ideology of Progressivism and Liberalism is the same ideology. This ideology was based upon the ideas of President Woodrow Wilson in the early 20th century regarding his concept of government. A concept that was antithetical to the Founding Fathers' concept of government (which President Wilson admitted in his many speeches and writings). Unfortunately, much of this ideology is baked into modern governance in America. This has been poignantly pointed out in an article by Ronald Pestritto, “Woodrow Wilson: Godfather of Liberalism”, which illuminates the Progressive/Liberal ideology of governance.  

This tactic of renaming an ideology when it has become unpopular, without changing the ideology, is often utilized by Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders. In doing so, they often utilize "Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning", "Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors",  "Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness", and “The Perversion of the English Language” to achieve this renaming. A renaming in which they try to cloak the shortcomings or failures of their ideology and also hope to dupe the American public into believing they have changed for the better.

It is not for the better that they do this renaming but for the continuation and furtherance of their ideology. An ideology that runs counter to our Founding Father's American Ideals and Ideas. An ideology that is an infringement on our Natural, Human, and Civil Rights. An ideology that would transform our Constitution from a republic to a democratic political theory of governance, as I have written in my Article, A Republican Constitution or a Democratic Constitution. An ideology that often relies on bribery, intimidation, or despotism upon the American people to achieve its goals. Therefore, it is an ideology that needs to be opposed and overturned in our governance to ensure our American Liberties and Freedoms.

08/16/23 American Progressivism

American Progressivism started in the late 19th century and flowered at the beginning of the 20th century. The Presidential Administration of Woodrow Wilson was when it began to be incorporated into American governance. After a brief pause in the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression in the United States brought forth even greater Progressivism under the Administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). It was under the FDR Administration that Progressivism became entrenched in the American government. After a World War II pause progressivism came back to the forefront in The Great Society of President Lyndon Johnson. To this day, we have Progressivism baked into American governance.

As I mentioned in my Chirp on “08/14/23 The Ideology is the Same”, Progressivism is an ideology that runs counter to our Founding Father's American Ideals and Ideas, and that is an infringement on our Natural, Human, and Civil Rights. An ideology that, as President-elect Barack Obama once stated, desires to “fundamentally transform” America. However, Progressives are often opaque in defining the ideology of Progressivism, and they often cloak their ideology in expressions of high-sounding morals or pithy statements that lack little substance of what their ideology entails. There is also little taking into account the consequences or repercussions to society of instituting their ideology, as they believe that the lofty goal of Progressivism is a sufficient reason to institute their ideology. Consequently, it is difficult to determine what are the basic tenets of Progressivism.

A book by Ronald J. Pestritto, America Transformed: The Rise and Legacy of American Progressivism, examines the tenets and history of Progressivism and its impacts on American governance and society. As the publisher states about this book:

“The America of the modern administrative state is not the America of the original Constitution. This transformation comes not only from the ordinary course of historical change and development, but also from a radical, new philosophy of government that was imported into the American political tradition by the Progressives of the late nineteenth century. The new thinking about the principles of government-and open hostility to the American Constitution-led to a host of concrete changes in American political institutions. Our government today reflects these original Progressive innovations, even if they are often unrecognized as such because they have become ingrained in American political culture. This book shows the nature of these changes, both in principles and in the nuts and bolts of governing. It also shows how progressivism was often at the root of critical developments subsequent to the Progressive Era in more recent American political history - how it was different than the New Deal, the liberalism of the 1960s, and today’s liberalism, but also how these subsequent developments could not have transpired without the ground laid by the original Progressives.”

Once you have read this book, you will understand the core ideology of Progressivism and the reasons for their support of various political agendas and policy goals.

Progressivism also relies on the facts and truths of science and history to buttress its arguments. Rather than state all the facts and truths, they pick and choose tidbits of “facts” and “truths”, then surround them with their ideology. In doing so, they are corrupting science and history to buttress their ideology and creating Myths of Science and History, which they propagate. It is many of these Myths of Science and History that I have written about in my Chirps and Articles, and is the subject of my Chirp on “08/19/23 The Progressive Myths of Science and History”.

08/17/23 Grandiloquent Statements of Progressives

Grandiloquent statements, lofty in style and puffed up with vanity, are a staple of politicians, commentators, and activists. The Grandiloquent statements by Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders are often appeals to fundamentally transform America to what they perceive for the better, while the grandiloquent statements by Conservatives and Republican Party Leaders are often appeals to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers and the preservation of their "American Ideals and Ideas". Thus, there is a dichotomy between these grandiloquent statements.

However, Progressive grandiloquent statements are often an attempt to propagandize and spur their supporters into action, and these statements are often bereft of practical goals or ends that are achievable, as often they require a change of human nature or based on an ignorance of economics. In addition, these grandiloquent statements by Progressives often provoke bitter disputations that divide Americans, and they often have an attitude of intellectual and moral superiority that postures their opponents as intellectually deficient or morally injudicious.

My new Article, “Grandiloquent Statements”, examines grandiloquent statements and their impacts and repercussions on society and government. In the past and present, we have seen Progressive grandiloquent statements in abundance to fundamentally transform American society and governance. Regrettably, what we can all learn from history is that Progressive grandiloquent statements rarely achieve their intent, and often they often wreak havoc on America and the world. Thus, we all should beware of Progressive grandiloquent statements and look for The Devil is in the Details of all grandiloquent statements.

08/18/23 The Administrative State and Limitations of Knowledge

Many Progressive politicians (since the start of American Progressivism) have called for an administrative state to be administered by experts free from politics. Such an administrative state is an impossibility, as for an administrative state to function properly, it requires that the administrators (i.e., “Experts”) have a thorough and complete understanding of diverse subjects.

The first is that they need to understand the limits of knowledge (i.e., a). That we know what we know, b). That we know what we don't know, and c). That we don't know that we don't know). It is not possible for anyone, or any group of people, to fully know a) as what they know may be incorrect, or b) as what we think we don’t know may be incomplete, and c) is an impossibility because we don’t know of what is not known.

The next is to understand economics, as money makes the world go round. However, nobody thoroughly understands economics, including economists, as economics is not a precise nor fully developed science. Without an understanding of economics, it is impossible to predict the economic impacts of a governmental decision, which leads to the final point.

Finally, how can anyone account for the "The Law of Unintended Consequences", as they are unintended and therefore unknowable beforehand? Unintended consequences always occur from any administrative action, and these consequences can be neutral, positive, or negative and may have serious repercussions of an unexpected benefit, an unexpected drawback, or a perverse result on society.

The lack of understanding of these subjects will always lead to improper decisions by the administrators. Their decisions, at best, are a guestimate of the impacts of their decisions and rarely does the best occur.

As for politics, it cannot be separated from administration, as politics is bound to human nature, and there is no accounting for human nature. They also cannot predict the response of the populace to their administrative actions, which reinforces The Law of Unintended Consequences. These administrators often have an ideology or the ideas of Progressivism, which is political by the very nature of Progressivism. Thus, administrators are always political and make decisions based on their political viewpoints.

The claim that these administrators will act in the best interests of the people begs the question:

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best?"
- Thomas Sowell

Even the most noble or virtuous administrator does not have the knowledge or wisdom to make such decisions on what is best, and people often disagree on what is best. Also, having someone decide what is best often requires despotism to enforce what they believe is best, or at the very minimum, requires silencing those that would disagree with their decisions. Thus, an administrative state violates the Natural Rights of the people.

This is why an administrative state of experts determining public policy is not possible or desirable.

08/19/23 The Administrative State and Principles of Governance

The previous chip on “08/18/23 The Administrative State of Experts – Part I” dealt with issues of a general nature about the administrative state. However, there are issues with the principles of government in an administrative state.

The key principle at work in the development of the administrative state is the destruction of the separation-of-powers constitutionalism and its replacement by the separation of politics and administration. Additionally, Progressives believe that the administrative state should operate quasi-independently, with only nominal oversight by Congress and the Judiciary. Presidential authority should only be for the nominations of the management of the agency, but there is no authority for the President or Congress to remove the management or personnel within an agency.

Progressives also believe that for an agency to operate with maximum efficiency in its regulation of an industry for the purpose of the well-being and general welfare of America, it is necessary for rulemaking, investigatory, prosecutorial, and adjudicatory powers to be combined and at its disposal. Thus, the entire enterprise of the modern administrative state owes its existence to the abandonment of the separation of powers as an operative constitutional principle and its replacement by a system separating politics and administration.

This destruction of the tenant of the separation of powers—the prohibition of combining the functions of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government—has resulted in the modern administrative state. Administrative agencies routinely combine all three governmental functions in the same body and even in the same people within that body. Thus, we have a government within the government. Professor of Law Gary Lawson at Boston University School of Law has given an example of this in the functioning of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC):

“The Commission promulgates substantive rules of conduct. The Commission then considers whether to authorize investigations into whether the Commission’s rules have been violated. If the Commission authorizes an investigation, the investigation is conducted by the Commission, which reports its findings to the Commission. If the Commission thinks that the Commission’s findings warrant an enforcement action, the Commission issues a complaint. The Commission’s complaint that a Commission rule has been violated is then prosecuted by the Commission and adjudicated by the Commission. The Commission adjudication can either take place before the full Commission or before a semi-autonomous administrative law judge. If the Commission chooses to adjudicate before an administrative law judge rather than before the Commission, and the decision is adverse to the Commission, the Commission can appeal to the Commission.”

This, of course, makes the Commission an independent authority unto itself, with no appeal outside of the Commission as to its actions. Consequently, they are a government within a government unresponsive to any outside authority.

08/20/23 The Administrative State and Practical Difficulties

The previous chip on “08/19/23 The Administrative State of Experts – Part I” dealt with issues of the principles of government in an administrative state, but there are also practical difficulties that occur in an administrative state. The practical difficulties in an administrative state are the conduct of the people within the administration. The largest difficulties are Regulatory Capture, Consent Decrees, and Bureaucratic Inertia and Arrogance.

Regulatory Capture explains how governmental regulatory agencies actually operate in the real world, rather than how they were supposed to operate when they were authorized:

“Regulatory Capture is an economic theory that says regulatory agencies may come to be dominated by the industries or interests they are charged with regulating. The result is that an agency, charged with acting in the public interest, instead acts in ways that benefit incumbent firms in the industry it is supposed to be regulating.”

“Regulated industries devote large budgets to influencing regulators at federal, state, and local levels. By contrast, individual citizens spend only limited resources to advocate for their own rights. This is an extension of the concept of concentrated benefits and dispersed costs of regulation, public policy, and collective action in general, described by economist Mancur Olsen.”

“In many cases, the regulators themselves come from the pool of industry experts and employees, in part due to the complex and specialized knowledge needed to regulate an industry, and may also then return to work in the industry after their government service. This is known as the revolving door between government and special interests. In some cases, industry leaders trade the promise of future jobs for regulatory consideration, making revolving doors criminally corrupt.”

“Regulatory agencies that come to be controlled by the industries they are charged with regulating are known as captured agencies, and agency capture occurs when that governmental body operates essentially as an advocate for the industries it regulates. Such cases may not be directly corrupt, as there is no quid pro quo; rather, the regulators simply begin thinking like the industries they regulate, due to heavy lobbying.”

 - From the article Regulatory Capture at Investopedia.com

Consent Decrees are an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case), and most often refer to such a type of settlement in the United States. The plaintiff and the defendant ask the court to enter into their agreement, and the court maintains supervision over the implementation of the decree in monetary exchanges or restructured interactions between parties. It is similar to and sometimes referred to as an antitrust decree, stipulated judgment, or consent judgment. Consent decrees are frequently used by federal courts to ensure that businesses and industries adhere to regulatory laws in areas such as antitrust law, employment discrimination, and environmental regulation. There are many advantages and disadvantages to using the consent decree, as outlined in the Wikipedia section on ‘Effects’ of a Consent Decree.

The core issue is the scope of the consent decree. Does a consent decree require Congressional approval if its scope falls outside of the delegated powers of the Executive or Judicial branches of government? Many consent decrees require actions by the government and the other parties to the consent decree that seem to be the prerogatives of Congress to be legitimate under the Constitution.

As important and as useful as the tool as consent decrees are, they can also be abused in the hands of governmental bureaucrats. They are often utilized to advance a government policy not instituted by Congress, most often when an activist group sues the Federal government. Many times, governmental regulatory agencies utilize a consent decree to advance their own agenda outside the bounds assigned to them by Congress. And many times, Congress takes no action, and the Executive Officers approve of these consent decrees, as they can hide behind the contentious policies of consent decrees rather than directly vote upon or implement these policies. And when this occurs, the result is often more Federal powers over the people of America without their consent. Sometimes these consent decrees fund activists’ groups as part of the financial settlement of the consent decree, which often begets more lawsuits and consent decrees.

Bureaucratic Inertia and Arrogance are a problem in all governments, but in an administrative state, it is a larger problem. A larger problem because in an administrative state, the management and personnel of government agencies are immune to corrective actions, or removal, by forces outside of the agency. When you are an authority unto yourself, you create and enforce your own procedures and conduct yourself as you see fit and at a pace that is of your own choosing. Those outside of your agency that you become involved with must be submissive to your conduct if they require your services. As a result, this is not, as President Lincoln so eloquently put it, “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”, but “government of the bureaucrats, by the bureaucrats, and for the bureaucrats”.

08/21/23 The Administrative State and Constitutional Issues

The Administrative State is built on three main pillars, each of which clashes with core constitutional principles. As Ronald J. Pestritto has stated in his book America Transformed: The Rise and Legacy of American Progressivism, these are:

“The first pillar was the congressional delegation of discretionary and regulatory power to the executive—especially to an enlarged national administrative apparatus which, it was contended, would operate under the advantages inherent in expertise and specialization. The second pillar was the combination of powers—legislative, executive, and judicial—into single entities within the administrative apparatus, thus benefitting from the efficiency of centralizing all core agency functions in the same set of hands. The third pillar was the insulation of administration from political control.”

Previous too, and during the first term of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Supreme Court resisted such pillars and often declared them, or parts of them, unconstitutional. However, by the appointment of new Supreme Court Justices and intense political pressure on the Supreme Court, President Roosevelt, in his second term, was able to sway the Supreme Court to his view of a Progressive government. Since that time, the Supreme Court has often ruled in favor of the Administrative State and its authorities, duties, and responsibilities. However, in recent times we have seen some pushback by the Supreme Court on the pillars and excesses of the Administrative State.

This pushback is why in today’s America, the appointment of Justices and Judges have become such a contentious affair. The Progressives realize that if the pillars of the Administrative State are constricted or dismantled by Supreme Court decisions, then the governmental concepts of Progressivism will come tumbling down.

But it is not only the Supreme Court decisions that have enabled the rise of the Administrative State but also Congress’s supine acceptance of the Administrative State. In an effort for expediency and to avoid controversial decisions that could impact elections, Congress has often delegated powers to the Administrative State that are Constitutionally delegated to the Legislative Branch of government. Thus, we have seen a breakdown of the separation of powers and the checks and balances that were built into the Constitution to ensure the proper roles of the branches of government. This breakdown has also had a nefarious impact on Americans' "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All".

There is no doubt that the Constitutional principles of government, as espoused by our Founding Fathers, conflict with the governing principles of Progressivism, especially in the concept of an Administrative State.

The issues and concerns of an Administrative State on the limitations of knowledge, the principles of government, practical difficulties, and constitutional issues are why an Administrative State is not possible nor desirable. Consequently, a means must be found to reign in the Administrative State and have it operate within our Constitutional principles.

08/22/23 Progressives and Systematic Lies

The three great progressive Presidents of the 20th century, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson, systematically lied to the American public, especially when it came to war. The extent of their lying is revealed in two books and an official government report. These are:

The Illusion of Victory: America In World War I by Thomas Fleming
The political history of the American experience in World War I is a story of conflict and bungled intentions that begins in an era dedicated to progressive social reform and ends in the Red Scare and Prohibition. Thomas Fleming tells this story through the complex figure of Woodrow Wilson, the contradictory president who wept after declaring war, devastated because he knew it would destroy the tolerance of the American people, but who then suppressed freedom of speech and used propaganda to excite America into a Hun-hating mob.

The New Dealers' War: FDR and the War Within World War II by Thomas Fleming
Acclaimed historian Thomas Fleming brings to life the flawed and troubled FDR, who struggled to manage WWII. Starting with the leak to the press of Roosevelt's famous Rainbow Plan, then spiraling back to FDR's inept prewar diplomacy with Japan and his various attempts to lure Japan into an attack on the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific, Fleming takes the reader inside the incredibly fractious struggles and debates that went on in Washington, the nation, and the world as the New Dealers, led by FDR, strove to impose their will on the conduct of the War.

The Pentagon Papers, officially titled Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. Released by Daniel Ellsberg, who had worked on the study, they were first brought to the attention of the public on the front page of The New York Times in 1971. A 1996 article in The New York Times said that the Pentagon Papers had demonstrated, among other things, that Lyndon B. Johnson's administration had "systematically lied, not only to the public but also to Congress."

These systematic lies were done to maneuver the American public into accepting a war in which there was much public sentiment against these wars. During the course of these lies and the cover-ups of these lies, they often violated the Civil Rights of the Americans who opposed the wars. They also engaged in vituperative rhetoric against their opponents, and many times persecutions and prosecutions against their opponents. In doing so, they whipped up mob passion against their opponents and warmongering against the nations that they wanted to wage war against.

These systematic lies betray an attitude amongst progressives in which they do not trust the American public to make a wise decision. They believe it is acceptable to engage in these systematic lies if it is for the good of America and Americans. As Progressives believe that as they are more intelligent, better educated, and morally superior, they are, of course, always correct. Therefore, they believe that their policies are what is best for all Americans. Consequently, it is acceptable to them to engage in systematic lies to implement what they believe is best for America and Americans. In this, they have forgotten or did not know:

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best?"
- Thomas Sowell

In the Progressive mindset, they believe that only they know what is best, and they should be the only persons to decide what is best. As such, systematic lies are acceptable if it is for the best for Americans and America.

Alas, these systematic lies of Progressives are not limited to war, for once you adopt this mindset, it is acceptable to engage in systematic lies in all agendas and policies that you believe are best for Americans and America. Thus, their mindset also applies to domestic and international affairs, and so it is acceptable for them to engage in systematic lies in all arenas to implement their Progressive ideology and ideas upon America.

08/23/23 Progressives and Fearmongering and Demonization

Since the time of the founding of the modern Democrat Party in Andrew Jackson’s time, they have engaged in "Identity Politics" and disdainful rhetoric in order to win elections to obtain and retain power. Disdainful rhetoric is nothing new in politics and has occurred throughout American history. Identity Politics has also occurred throughout American history, but it was usually based on nationality, religion, or race. Most of the time, the disdainful rhetoric occurred during the election cycle and cooled off (but never went away) between elections. However, with the rise of Progressivism, this changed.

Progressive started to differentiate on the basis of political ideology (with an attitude of Us vs. Them, Good vs. Evil, Right vs. Wrong, etc.) and turned to fearmongering and demonization rather than disdainful rhetoric. They also extended their attacks into the personal realm; in that they not only attacked the politics of their opponents, but they also attacked the personhood of their opponents. Reputational, financial, and judicial harm to their opponents was not only a goal to drive them from politics but as a warning to others that opposed them that they would personally harm them if they exercised their Freedom of Speech and Assembly in opposing progressives.

In doing so, they often utilized the tentacles of government in these attacks that violated the Civil Rights of their opponents. Indeed, many historians and lawyers have commented that the administration of President Woodrow Wilson was the greatest assault on Civil Rights since the post-Civil War. The administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt also engaged in Civil Rights violations but in a more clandestine manner. President Lyndon Banes Johnson’s administration also engaged in Civil Rights abuses, but often in a ham-handed way that the American people looked down on.

As fearmongering and demonization became effective in advancing Progressivism, they became part and parcel of Progressive tactics. And, as Progressives obtained dominance in the Democrat Party, it became part and parcel of Democrat Party electioneering and governance, as I have examined in my Chirps on "03/27/21 Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself" and "02/06/21 How Does Temporary Becomes Permanent?". We have also seen a dramatic increase in the weaponization of government (a form of Civil Rights abuse) by the Democratic Party to obtain and retain power for the furtherance of Progressivism, as I have examined in my collected Chirps on "The Weaponization of Government". Thus, we have entered into an era of "Divisiveness in America" and a loss of "A Civil Society" in America through the utilization of fearmongering and demonization by Progressives.

Many Progressives proclaim that both sides do it. Of course, both sides do it, as in the human experience, both sides do everything. That is the nature of humankind. Whenever there is an issue confronting our society, the extremes of both sides of the issue will often use the same methodologies and techniques to attack the other side. So therefore, the statement that both sides do it is irrelevant. The question is whether the mainstream and/or leadership of each side of the issue both do it and how much attention they pay to the extremes. In my experience, this is most obvious when dealing with Conservatism versus Progressivism or Leftism, Republican versus Democrat, Left versus Right, etc. What we should be asking is, 'Are the mainstream and/or the leadership of each side doing it?’. When you see one side or the other paying more heed to the extreme of their side or engaging in extreme deeds or words of their own, you need to weigh the balance. In weighing this balance, you need to not only make a determination of the number of words and misdeed incidents but also the tone of the deeds or words. If the balance is heavily tilted to one side, then the phrase 'Both Sides Do It' is not an equalizer but an excuse to continue the extreme deeds or words by the one side engaged in these extreme words or deeds.

Rather than convincing the American public as to the rightness of their ideas, Progressives have used fearmongering and demonization of their opponents to stampede the American public into accepting their Progressivism. A stampede that is driven by the forces of Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Doxing, Hate Speech, Identity Politics, LGBTQIA+, Modern Feminism, Wokeness, and Hyper-Partisanship, in an attempt to institute a Herd Mentality in support of Progressivism. Such a stampede impacts our "American Ideals and Ideas" and has negative repercussions on our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All".

08/24/23 Progressives and Education

The American people have always believed in the importance of education, and schooling for children is part and parcel of our society. Indeed, America was one of the most literate countries in the world throughout most of its history. Education, until the Progressive era, was often provided privately by communities or by religious groups, which often discriminated against its student body by race and/or religion. Gradually, public education became a Local and State government prerogative as nowhere in the Constitution is education mentioned. This is because our Founders believed that this was a State, local government, or community issue that was delegated to them by the Tenth Amendment. This is the way it was until the latter part of the 20th century when the Federal government became alarmed about the quality of education across States and local jurisdictions, as well as the inequity of racial discrimination in public schooling resources.

Progressives were concerned about education from their beginnings and supported public education and public funding for all children. John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American Progressives in the first half of the twentieth century and a leader for progressive public education. Indeed, much of modern public education was founded upon his ideas about public education.

As much as the progressives were concerned about the quality and universality of public education, they also foresaw that public education was a means to propagate their Progressive ideology and ideas on children and, thus, future voters. In all of this, they began to reform the ways and means of public education and the principles and methods of instruction (pedagogy) of teaching. College curriculums for prospective teachers were instituted, and State licensing of teachers became a legal requirement to teach. Much of these college curriculums incorporated Progressive ideology and ideas in the education of prospective teachers, with the repercussions of many teachers including progressive pedagogies in their teaching of students.

Because of Constitutional issues, these reforms occurred at a State and local government level and remained so until the latter part of the 20th century. In the latter part of the 20th century, the Federal government became concerned about the Civil Rights of public education for black and poor students in America, then began to become more involved in public education to redress the Civil Rights inequalities of public education in America. Thus, the era of Modern Education began in America.

Despite increased federal involvement in the funding and statutes for public education since then, the quality of Public Education has not improved much, and in many cases, it has become worse. My article on "Public Education" discusses many of the issues and concerns regarding public education in today’s America, while my other article, "Indoctrination versus Education", addresses the issues of the manipulation of public education for Progressivism goals.

Many of the problems in modern public education can be traced back to the implementation of progressive ideas in education. As more Federal government involvement in modern education occurred, the focus of Modern Education became more on the indoctrination of Progressive ideas and ideology and less on the dissemination of knowledge, truths, and rational thinking, along with the skills and abilities to function in modern society. Thus, modern public education has deteriorated the quality of the education that a student receives to the detriment of the students.

Thus, modern education fails to provide a good education for its students, it fails to provide a good environment for its students, it fails to prepare its students to become productive and contributing adults, they fail the parents of the students, and they fail the taxpayers who fund these schools. And these failures are the consequences of implementing Progressive ideologies and ideas in public education.

08/25/23 The Progressive Myths of Science and History

In my Chirp on “08/16/23 American Progressivism”, I note that Progressivism relies on the “facts” and “truths” of science and history to buttress their ideology. However, they pick and choose tidbits of facts and truths and surround them with their ideology rather than elucidating all the facts and truths. In doing so, they are corrupting science and history and creating myths of science and history, which they propagate to an unknowing public.

These scientific mythologies abound in "Activists and Activism", and almost all activism that relies on scientific truths is mostly scientific mythology. Many of these same activists also use their scientific mythology in a grandiloquent manner:

 “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit.”
 - W.C. Fields

They also propose government actions with far-reaching consequences and have forgotten the aphorism:

 “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”
 - Alexander Pope

Thus, their scientific mythology is fraught with danger if it is believed to be scientific truths.

This is most especially true in Environmentalism and Climate Freezing, then Climate Warming to Climate Change activists. These activists have not only selectively used science, but in some cases, they have fabricated science based on their interpretation of the science, not to mention that their predictions have always been wrong. They have also confused Scientific Consensus and Settled Science with scientific truths, which all good scientists know is no substitute for scientific proof. They have also tried to institute an Orthodoxy in Science, which is anathema to the progress of science. They are also basing their scientific myths on computer modeling and/or statistics, without consideration of the problems of computer modeling or statistics, as I have written about in my Article Beware of Computer Modeling and Statistical Processing. In doing so, they are creating scientific myths that they use as a foundation for their activism.

The Progressive's history of America is also mythology, with the facts, truths, and meaning of American history being selective, reinterpreted, and convoluted to fit their ideology. They have created entire historical bailiwicks dedicated to their mythology. Bailiwicks such as Critical Race Theory, Equity Theory, Intersectionality, and The 1619 Project which are not only factually and historically incorrect, but the holders of these beliefs attempt to justify these beliefs to institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) (a Progressive ideal) rather than Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All (an American ideal), the comparisons of the two ideologies that I have Chirped on "04/05/22 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)". Many Academics and Scholars in America (and in the world) have been gripped by the lofty ideals of Progressivism. Thus, the entire history of Progressivism in the 20th century has been rewritten or ignored by Progressives and many Historians to paper over Progressivism failures and the negative repercussions of their agenda. In doing so, they are creating historical myths that they use to advance their Progressive agendas.

Alas, Progressive Myths of Science and History are doing great harm to American society and governance. If you believe these myths, then you are making ill-informed decisions that can only negatively impact American society and governance. Decisions as to which politician to vote for, which policy issues to support, and which advocacy organizations to financial support are poor decisions if you base them on mythology. Consequently, you must sort out the facts and truths of science and history, ignore the mythology, and use your head rather than your heart when making these decisions. Otherwise, the future of America bodes ill, as a belief in mythology only leads to poor or calamitous decisions.

08/26/23 The Manifest Destiny of Progressivism

Manifest Destiny was a cultural belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America. There were three basic tenets to the concept:

• The special virtues of the American people and their institutions.
• The mission of the United States is to redeem and remake the West in the image of the agrarian East.
• An irresistible destiny to accomplish this essential duty.

This Manifest Destiny was accomplished by the end of the 19th century by the hard work and efforts of Americans, but it was not foreordained. After this was achieved, America and Americans began to search for another Manifest Destiny. Americans are often idealistic and need a greater purpose for their lives and destinies. Given the social-economic problems of the late 19th and early 20th century, they began an idealistic search for solutions to these problems. From religion to politics to economics, they began an examination of possible solutions to these problems. One of these proposed solutions was Progressivism.

The originators and supporters of Progressivism attempted to take on the mantel of Manifest Destiny for their ideals and ideas. In doing so, they adopted many attitudes that their ideals and ideas were the only future course of history and that they were on the ‘Right Side of History’. But the Right side of history is an oxymoron; as there is no right or wrong side of history, history is just what has occurred in the past. Progressives believe in historical trends while ignoring that history has often diverged from a trend by circumstances and/or the actions of powerful or influential people or scientific or technological discoveries and innovations. After all, except by hindsight, who could have foreseen a historical trend that led to the Industrial Revolution or the Information Age, or the fall of civilizations that changed history, or leaders that changed history?

The fall of the Roman Empire led to the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages, which reversed the historical trends of Europe and the Middle East. The same could be said for the fall of other civilizations that have occurred throughout history. Leaders such as Alexander the Great, Constantine, Muhammad, Charlemagne, Napoleon, Hitler, and many others have changed history. If Muhammad or Napoleon had never been born, or if Hitler had died in the gas attack he suffered in World War I, then the history of Europe and the Middle East and humanity would have been significantly different.

There is also no historical accounting for great scientists and artists such as Newton and Einstein, Beethoven and Da Vinci, and many others that changed history within their domains. Individual business leaders arose, such as Andrew Carnegie (steel), Andrew Mellon (finance, oil), Cornelius Vanderbilt (water transport, railroads), J. P. Morgan (finance, industrial consolidation), John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil), Henry Ford (automobiles), and Howard Hughes (multiple industries) that changed American society in the past, and modern Americans such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Roger Ailes, Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs, and Warren Buffett that changed how society operates today.

Progressives might respond that if these persons had not come about, then other persons would have done so. However, there is no way to ascertain this as a fact, and there is no way to determine when and what the impacts of these other persons would have been. Our history would have been quite different without these persons, which shatters the claims of historical trends. This claim of historical trends also assumes that history is linear with an upward slope of human progress. But history is not linear nor upward in human progress. It ebbs and flows, with ups and downs in human progress, and all that can be said of historical trends is that they are malleable, changeable, and unpredictable.

Therefore, historical trends are more in the backward eye of the beholder than they are foreordained. Consequently, it is safe to ignore and challenge these claims of historical trends and the Manifest Destiny of Progressivism, for if history has taught us anything, it is that history is not foreordained.

08/27/23 Narcissistic Personality Disorder of Progressives

The hallmarks of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) are grandiosity, a lack of empathy for other people, and a need for admiration. People with this condition are frequently described as arrogant, self-centered, manipulative, and demanding. They may also have grandiose fantasies and may be convinced that they deserve special treatment. These characteristics typically begin in early adulthood and must be consistently evident in multiple contexts, such as at work and in relationships.

People with NPD often try to associate with other people they believe are unique or gifted in some way, which can enhance their own self-esteem. They tend to seek excessive admiration and attention and have difficulty tolerating criticism or defeat. Individuals with NPD can be easily stung by criticism or defeat and may react with disdain or anger. Humble, self-deprecating humor is often lacking in a person with NPD, as they believe that they must always be taken seriously. Politicians and activists often reflexively react to criticism by employing "The Three D's (Demonize, Denigrate, Disparage) of Modern Political Debate" against those that would criticize them.

This definition sounds applicable to many politicians and "Activists and Activism", and it is often characteristic of Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders. As I have often said, Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders believe that as they are more intelligent, better educated, and morally superior, they are, of course, always correct and good. As such, they view Conservatives and Republican Party Leaders as not just being wrong and stupid but that they are bad or evil persons, as demonstrated by their usage of pejoratives, as I have written about in my Article "Divisiveness in America". As such, this attitude can be considered a trait of a person with NPD.

From Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Barach Obama, to now Joe Biden, to a host of other politicians and activists with a Progressive disposition, NPD seems to run rampant amongst them. They brook no criticisms of themselves and their policies, and they are often averse to compromise with their opponents.

Most NPD persons are often difficult to work with or for, as they tend to be authoritarian in their approach to interacting with other persons. In politicians, NPD persons are often predisposed to be rulers rather than leaders, as I have written in my article "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders".

Thus, we should all recognize the signs of an NPD person and be very wary of them. Their NPD impulses are not in the best interest of others, but they are only interested in themselves despite their pretenses otherwise.

08/28/23 Progressive Celebrations of America

When we celebrate national holidays and important persons in our American history, we would all do well to remember the ideals and ideas of America and the personal thoughts and viewpoints of these historical persons. However, in today’s America, we can see a pattern that Progressives employ when celebrating the key events and figures of America’s political tradition: their celebrations are almost exclusively historical and biographical and carefully avoid any reference to—or commemoration of—their ideas or principles. We also see a pattern of dismissal or disparaging of The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution as not important nor relevant to modern America, and a focus on the wrongs that have occurred in American history, without a corresponding noticing on the good within American history.

There is no discussion of the "American Ideals and Ideas" of these documents or key figures in these celebrations, as these ideals and ideas often contradict Progressive ideals and ideas. They also try to pervert The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to comport to Progressive ideals and ideas, as I have written in my Chirp on "07/22/21 The Party Hostile to The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution". We should also remember that for the vast majority of his life President Wilson, one of the originators of American Progressivism, had grounded his thinking about government in open hostility to the Declaration of Independence. We need only recall his 1911 address, where Wilson proclaimed: “If you want to understand the real Declaration of Independence, do not repeat the preface.” Do not repeat, in other words, the very part of the Declaration with all the universalistic language about self-government.

However, we should all remember the ideals of The Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

We should also remember the ideas of the Constitution as expressed in the Preamble of the Constitution:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The ideals of the Declaration of Independence, and the ideas of the Constitution on the best ways to institute our ideals, are the bedrock of American governance and the foundation of our society. It is important not only to understand the words of the Declaration and the Constitution but to understand the ideals and ideas that went into their creation. And the best way to accomplish this is to understand the thoughts and words of our Founding Fathers, as well as other great Americans and other great thinkers’ thoughts and words on these documents. It is just as important to not be led astray of their true meaning as Progressives are in the habit of doing.

Unfortunately, many Americans have forgotten or do not agree with our American ideals and ideas. The American ideals and ideas of "A Just Government and a Just Society" and "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All" are, therefore, in danger of being forgotten or discarded. It is important that we remember our past and the events surrounding our past, as well as the ideals and ideas that shaped our history, for as Edmund Burke has stated, "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it."

08/29/23 The Failures of Progressivism

While some Progressive ideals and ideas have been beneficial to America and Americans, their record of failure far exceeds their successes. The problem with Progressivism is its ideology. It is an ideology that is based on their belief that they can mold human nature to fit Progressivism, on a lack of understanding of economics, and their presumption of the deference of the individual to society's goals.

In the past, there have been many despots, dictators, monarchs, totalitarians, and tyrants that believed that they could mold human nature. None of these attempts have ever succeeded, and none can ever succeed. As human nature has been molded by over six million years of evolution, a few years or decades of molding cannot undo these millions of years of evolution. Any attempts to do so have resulted in human misery and suffering, as well as the suppression of Natural Rights. Thus, all attempts to mold human nature are doomed to failure.

Progressives also believe that they can direct an economy to progressive ends. Once again, history has shown that any attempts to direct an economy are fruitless and often end with the collapse of an economy. Something as large and interrelated as an economy is impossible to direct, as it requires a knowledge of economics that is unknown and may even be unknowable.

They also have a zeal in their pursuit of Progressive goals to ignore the individual. They believe that the individual needs to be subservient to society, that rights are bestowed by society onto an individual, and that government is for the purpose of the betterment of society. As such, they have little or no respect for Natural Rights, and that “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”, and especially of property, is constricted to what they believe are acceptable parameters. In this, they do not recognize that history has demonstrated that people all over the world have chaffed at these restrictions and often rebelled against their rulers when so constricted.

Modern Progressivism has metamorphosized and become intoxicated with Political Correctness, Activists and Activism, Adjective Justice, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Hate Speech, Identity Politics, Racist, Wokeness, Hyper-Partisanship, Herd Mentality, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and "Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance (ESG)", in the belief that these goals are Progressive goals. In doing so, they have forgotten the purpose of Progressivism was to improve the social and economic status of ordinary Americans.

In their past and current attempts to implement Progressivism, they often resorted to Despotism against those that would disagree with them. This can be demonstrated in my collected Chirps on "Despotism in America" and "The Weaponization of Government". Thus, they corrupt the meaning of "A Just Government and a Just Society" and infringe upon the "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All" in pursuit of their Progressive goals. This is why modern America is in such dire straits. After more than a century of Progressivism, it has resulted in more divisiveness, more disruptions to our society, and more and bigger government unresponsive to the issues and concerns of ordinary Americans and, indeed, seems contrary to the exigencies of ordinary Americans.

These, then, are the biggest failures of Progressivism and why Progressivism needs to be defeated in America, for to do so or not do so:

"We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth."
  - Abraham Lincoln

08/30/23 Progressivism and A Tale of Two Cities

Along with these collected Chirps on Progressivism and Progressives, I would refer you to my collected Chirps on the "A Tale of Two Cities", as Progressivism has divided America into two cities—Progressives and non-Progressives. Two cities that are in opposition to each other in their basic governing philosophy, as I have examined in my article “A Republic versus a Democracy”. Two cities that have a different interpretations of the Constitution, as I have examined in my article "A Republican Constitution or a Democratic Constitution". As a result, the two cities have disagreed on our "American Ideals and Ideas" and what constitutes "A Just Government and a Just Society". One city, the Progressive city, has engaged in acrimonious and venomous disputations against the other city that has undermined "A Civil Society" in America.

Until one city prevails in America, this acrimony will continue. The resolution of this conflict will have profound repercussions on "Justice and The Rule of Law in America", as well as our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All". Thus, it is important that this conflict be resolved, and during this resolution, we should remember the advice of Abraham Lincoln:

"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties."
  - Abraham Lincoln

09/01/23 American Progressivism Reader

American Progressivism started in the late 19th century and flowered at the beginning of the 20th century. The Presidential Administration of Woodrow Wilson was when it began to be incorporated into American governance. After a brief pause in the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression in the United States brought forth even greater Progressivism under the Administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). It was under the FDR Administration that Progressivism became entrenched in the American government. After a World War II pause Progressivism came back to the forefront in The Great Society of President Lyndon Johnson. To this day, we have Progressivism baked into American governance.

Yet, the administrations of President Wilson, Roosevelt, and Johnson had a dismal record on the Civil Rights of dissidents. They also operated on a reinterpretation or ignoring of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, and they attempted to indoctrinate Americans into a Progressive ideology of governance and societal culture. This month’s Book It selections are the books that examine the history of the Wilson and Roosevelt Administration regarding Progressivism and the Civil Rights of Americans during their administrations.

09/18/23 What the Left Did

In a new article by Victor Davis Hanson, “What the Left Did to Our Country”, he lays out a litany of actions that the Left did to “fundamentally transform” America, a transformation for the worse. As he has written:

“In the last 20 years, the Left has boasted that it has gained control of most of America institutions of power and influence—the corporate boardroom, media, Silicon Valley, Wall Street, the administrative state, academia, foundations, social media, entertainment, professional sports, and Hollywood.

With such support, between 2009-17, Barack Obama was empowered to transform the Democratic Party from its middle-class roots and class concerns into the party of the bicoastal rich and subsidized poor—obsessions with big money, race, a new intolerant green religion, and dividing the country into a binary of oppressors and oppressed.”

He then goes on to list the ways that the Left has “fundamentally transformed” America for the worse and how the Biden administration has accelerated this transformation.

The Left, in doing so, is fulfilling Abraham Lincoln’s prophecy about the destruction of America from within. In Lincoln's The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions speech of January 27, 1838, he spoke of how America could be destroyed:

“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

The Left’s actions are an attempt to coax America into committing suicide. In this, they are being assisted by well-meaning but credulous Progressives and duplicitous Democrat Party leaders. Professor Hanson closes this article by stating:

“We could variously characterize their efforts as destroying the nation to save it, or burning it down to start over, or fundamentally transforming America into something never envisioned by the Founders.

Will their upheaval succeed? All the levers of the power and money are on the side of the revolutionaries. The people are not. And they are starting to wake to the notion if they do not stop the madness in their midst they very soon won’t have a country.”

01/14/24 Constrained or Unconstrained Human Nature

It has been suggested that partisanship in today’s America is a result of a Constrained and Unconstrained vision of human nature, as examined by Thomas Sowell in his book “A Conflict of Visions”.

Progressives/Leftists is an Unconstrained vision that believes that human nature is malleable and can be improved by governmental actions and societal pressures, and that appealing to the better nature of a person will accomplish this improvement. They also believe that social problems and issues can be resolved through governmental actions and the world can be made a better place by governmental actions. Thus, they believe in a big government that acts for the greater good, as I have defined as the "Greater Good versus the Common Good", and that the Natural Rights of the individual should be circumscribed to the needs of society.

Conservatives is a Constrained vision that believes that human nature is determined by human evolution and that people will act in their own best interests. They also believe that governmental and societal pressures on human actions have limited effects and that these societal and government pressures should only be utilized to constrain a person to lawful actions that do not impinge on the Natural Rights of a person. They also believe that social problems are inherent in human nature and are uncorrectable through governmental actions. Thus, they believe in a limited government that only acts on the common good, as I have defined as the "Greater Good versus the Common Good," which preserves the natural rights of the individual.

Moderates have a vision of human nature that believes that human nature can be somewhat improved by limited governmental actions and societal pressures and that society can be improved by limited governmental actions. As such, they believe that it is possible to pick and choose from policy positions of both Progressives and Conservatives to achieve a better society. Therefore, Moderates want a government that addresses the common good and the major issues and concerns that will improve society and for the government to be as large as necessary to achieve the common good and to address important social policies. The difficulty of moderation is the determination of what the major societal issues and concerns are and how much governmental actions are required to address these problems without significantly impacting the natural rights of a person.

It is this dichotomy of beliefs that has pitted one group of Americans against another group. Thus, we have a conflict of visions that leads to the bitter partisanship that we see today. Progressives want big government to solve the issues and concerns facing Americans, while Conservates want limited government that allows individuals to resolve these issues and concerns, and Moderates want some of both for the benefit of society. Neither of these sides wishes to concede to the other side as they believe that their vision is correct, and to concede to the other side is to abandon their vision of human nature and governance.

02/08/24 It’s All About Control and Power

In my Chirp on "01/14/24 Constrained or Unconstrained Human Nature", I discuss how Progressives/Leftists have an Unconstrained vision about humanity that believes that human nature is malleable and can be improved by governmental actions and societal pressures. I also discuss how Conservatives have a Constrained vision of humanity that believes that human nature is determined by human evolution and that people will act in their own best interests, while Moderates have a vision of humanity that believes that human nature can be somewhat improved by limited governmental actions and societal pressures.

With the Unconstrained vision comes a belief that it is possible to control what a person thinks and believes, as well as their speech and actions, for the purposes of improving society, while Moderates believe that some control is necessary to improve society. Conservatives, on the other hand, believe that controlling people is specious and doomed to failure. It is also a fact that to control a person requires power over a person to exercise this control. This power over people is often in the form of despotism that just as often morphs into other "Forms of Governance" that suppresses the "Natural, Human, and Civil Rights" of the individuals in a society. For my own part, I have learned from my life experiences that:

"Control over others is illusionary, as the only control that you have is over yourself."
 - Mark Dawson

As such, I have learned that it is important to Be in Control of Yourself, as I have written on my Pearls of Wisdom webpage.

Thus, we have seen in America that Progressives and Leftists are attempting to gain power to institute control over others for the purpose of trying to improve humanity. This has been true for most of the 20th century and has accelerated in the 21st century, as I have written in my collected Chirps on "Progressivism and Progressives". In doing so, they have staged an assault on our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All" by attempting to control our thoughts and speech, as I have discussed in my collected Chirps on "The Decline of Free Speech in America". Or, as I have said:

"The law is meant to control a person's actions, not their thoughts or speech. The thoughts and speech of each person are controlled by their own morality, ethics, and religious beliefs."
  - Mark Dawson

In this, they are restricting our Liberties and Freedoms for:

"Liberty is to choose the what and how in exercising your Natural Rights, while Freedom is the absence of repression before, during, or after exercising your Natural Rights."
  - Mark Dawson

Thus, Liberty and Freedom are the antithesis of Control and Power. We should also remember my other quote:

"The hubris of a government that believes they can direct or control a free people is astounding. Only a subjugated or subservient people can be directed or controlled."
- Mark Dawson

Finally, it should be remembered that human nature has been molded by six million years of evolution that cannot be changed over decades, as the efforts of Marxism, Communism, and Socialism in the 20th century have demonstrated, for:

"To deny human nature, or to not acknowledge human nature, is foolish. To do so will result in much effort, time, and monies being spent on a task that is doomed to failure."
  - Mark Dawson

03/25/24 Progressives Deconstruction of America’s Culture

Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders believe that as they are more intelligent, better educated, and morally superior, they are, of course, always correct and good. As such, they view Conservatives and Republican Party Leaders as not just being wrong and stupid but that they are bad or evil persons, as demonstrated by their usage of pejoratives, as I have written about in my Article "Divisiveness in America. Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders have a vision of what America should be and what Americans should believe. As many, if not most, Americans do not share this vision, they believe that it is necessary to deconstruct America in order to reconstruct America to fit their vision. They, therefore, engage in the deconstruction of American culture in the following ways:

Hyper-Partisanship:
Progressives believe that the politicization of everything is necessary to achieve a better society, according to their vision of a better society. A vision that is often Utopian but that fails to account for the constrained nature of most people, as I have defined in Human Nature (Unconstrained or Constrained). Thus, they practice Hyper-Partisanship in all that they say and do to achieve their deconstruction, and they often engage in The Three D's (Demonize, Denigrate, Disparage) of Modern Political Debate against their opponents.

Speech Constraints:
Political Correctness, Wokeness, Cancel Culture, and Virtue Signaling are de rigueur amongst Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders. Woe unto thee who would dare not to constrain their speech according to their tenets. Ostracization and ruination are to be vested upon those who do not limit their words and deeds to within these constraints, as I have discussed in my collected Chirps on The Decline of Free Speech in America.

Non-Judgmentalism:
The demands from Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders that we not judge another’s words and deeds, but to treat them as relative to an individual and circumstances, is to have a society without a moral or ethical code to live by. Such a society cannot long endure, as it often devolves into chaos. If anyone insists on judging another person’s words and deeds according to a fixed moral or ethical code, they are often labeled as perpetrators of Hate Speech against those so judged.

Tribalism:
The utilization of Identity Politics, driven by Intersectionality, has driven Americans into tribes with their own issues and concerns. These tribes compete with each other to obtain governmental favoritism and/or entitlements. This tribalism has now encroached into the non-governmental world with the introduction of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into businesses and Higher Education. Thus, Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders have forgotten that we are all Americans first, with a common heritage and shared beliefs on Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All.

Victimhood:
Allegations of Racist and White Privilege, based upon Critical Race Theory (CRT), have at their core a belief that most Americans are victims of a patriarchal society. In their victimization, they believe that the forces arrayed against them are so oppressive that they cannot be overcome through personal endeavors and that their only recourse is strong governmental actions against their oppressors. Such feelings make them dependent on government Entitlements and place them in a cycle of poverty in which they cannot break free to achieve all that they can based on their own abilities, talents, and efforts.

Modern Feminism:
Modern Feminism is anti-male in that it pays little heed to the needs of men, and it devalues males and masculinity, as I have discussed in my article on Feminism and the Devaluation of the Male. This starts in primary education (K-12), where teaching techniques are oriented toward feministic characteristics, and boys are expected to behave like girls. This continues throughout the life of males and leads to a dysfunctional lifestyle amongst many males in which many boys do not mature into men. This is one of the major causes of gang membership and gang violence, as boys will disassociate with a society that does not recognize their needs and join a gang that does recognize their maleness.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and More (LGBTQIA+):
All individuals deserve Natural, Human, and Civil Rights and to be treated with dignity, respect, and politeness. Today, however, the LGBTQIA+ community wants more than to be able to live their lifestyle in the privacy of their abodes. They wish to thrust their lifestyle into the public arena and engage in public words and deeds that the non-LGBTQIA+ community would not consider appropriate public words and deeds for even for their own heterosexual private lifestyle.

As such, with these deconstructions, Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists believe we have the liberty to do with what they agree with and the freedom to act within what they believe is acceptable. Consequently, all Liberties and Freedoms must be subsumed within these constraints. This is not Liberty and Freedom but subservience, and it is antithetical to our American Ideals and Ideas. Such deconstruction often results in civil strife that can lead to a civil war, as I have Chirped on, "02/24/24 To Be Fearful of a Civil War or Civil Deconstruction".

05/23/24 Progressive Claims

The history of human progress has zigged and zagged, retreated and leaped forward, and has been unpredictable. Progressives often like to claim that they are on the right side of history, but as I have written In my Chirp on "08/26/23 The Manifest Destiny of Progressivism":

“The originators and supporters of Progressivism attempted to take on the mantel of Manifest Destiny for their ideals and ideas. In doing so, they adopted many attitudes that their ideals and ideas were the only future course of history and that they are on the ‘Right Side of History’. However, the right side of history is an oxymoron; as there is no right or wrong side of history, history is just what has occurred in the past. Progressives believe in historical trends while ignoring that history has often diverged from a trend by circumstances and/or the actions of powerful or influential people or scientific or technological discoveries and innovations. After all, except by hindsight, who could have foreseen a historical trend that led to the Industrial Revolution or the Information Age, or the fall of civilizations that changed history, or leaders that changed history?”

Progressives also like to claim that when a person has changed their opinion to reflect a more progressive stance that they have “evolved”. But as I have written in my Chirp on "05/18/19 I'm With Stupid":

“They also utilize the term “evolved” to describe a person who has changed their position to a more progressive/leftist stance. They forget that evolving does not necessarily mean becoming better. Many species evolve and then become extinct, as their evolution was not conducive to their (changing) environment. Evolution does not necessarily mean improvement, and it certainly does not have anything to do with intelligence.”

Another Progressive claim is that when their candidates in the Democrat Party win control of Congress or the Presidency, they pronounce that the adults are now in charge. In Congress, it can be said that under the Democrat Party, rarely are there any adults put in charge, as their Congressional leadership is politically and not ability-determined. As for the presidency, the example of leadership in the Biden Administration demonstrates that they are anything but adults. The ineptitude of President Biden and Vice President Harris, as well as the across-the-board Executive Officers of the Biden Administration, is amateurish and astounding. This, along with their prevarications, evasivenesses, and ludicrously insincere or vague talk with empty promises that are supposed to impress, does nothing to impress and also demonstrates that they are not adults.

Thus, claims of the Right Side of History, a person evolving into progressivism, or the adults in charge should be mocked, as there is no such thing. These claims are only a ploy to induce you into believing that Progressivism is the only legitimate future course for America. The future course of America should be for the striving to attain our "American Ideals and Ideas" and to effectuate the "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All".

06/21/24 Ignorant Bliss and Ignorant Anger

Ignorance is bliss, and it is not a truism, as ignorance only appears to be bliss, but it is harmful to a person and to society. Ignorance allows you to make bad choices that will have negative repercussions on yourself, others, and society. Thus, ignorance should be avoided. Alas, in modern America, ignorance is all too common, especially in the chattering class of the "Mainstream Media", "Mainstream Cultural Media", "Social Media", "Big Tech", "Modern Big Business", "Modern Education", "The Mainstream Information Conglomerate". Their ignorance is propagated to the public, which increases ignorance in America. Much of their ignorance is a reinforcement of "The Biggest Falsehoods in America", and much of the public acceptance of their ignorance is due to the problems of "Public Education", “College and University Education”, and "Indoctrination versus Education". Thus, much of ignorance is due to a lack of a proper education. Proper education in the sense of not obtaining the foundational knowledge and the skills and abilities which allows one to think properly, as I have examined in my article on "Knowledgeable – From Information to Wisdom".

If ignorance leads to bliss, then I would have to say that Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists live in a state of bliss, but their rhetoric demonstrates they often live in a state of anger. Their ignorance of Human Nature and Natural Rights, the Principles of American government, economics, science and technology, international relationships, and a host of other subjects know no bounds and leads them to believe that America is a flawed and defective nation. Much of their ignorance is of what I have examined in my collected Chirps on "Progressivism and Progressives".

For someone who is knowledgeable on these subjects, it can be agonizing to listen to their commentary. When I listen to them, I try to categorize what they are saying under the following definitions:

• Bamboozlement – Concealment of one's true motives by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end.
• Blather - Idle or foolish and irrelevant talk.
• Crickets - an idiom that means no reply or reaction at all.
• Gaslighting - Manipulate someone psychologically so that they start to question their own sanity
• gibberish - Unintelligible talking.
• Gobbledygook - Incomprehensible or pompous jargon of specialists.
• Hoodwinking - Influence by slyness.

When you categorize what they are saying, you begin to realize that they are not saying much, and much of what they say is disingenuous. The question is whether they are truly ignorant or deliberately trying to obtain political goals and policy agendas through deception. Alas, I believe that many of them are just ignorant, but some of them are being deceptive. In either case, they are inflicting harm upon America. A harm that is encouraging civil strife and becoming irreparable.

Much of this can be attributed to Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders believing that they are more intelligent, better educated, and morally superior. Thus, they believe that they are, of course, always correct. Therefore, they live in a state of ignorant anger by not acknowledging that they may be wrong or not knowing that they do not have sufficient knowledge needed to make an informed judgment.

Consequently, you should be very wary of taking what they say at face value, as it is often driven by ignorant anger. You should be even more judicious in supporting their political goals and policy agendas, as often these goals and agendas are contrary to our "American Ideals and Ideas" and harmful to our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All".

07/nn/24 The Connoisseur

In the book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage” by Jonathan Turley, the author points out In Chapter 25, “Rockwellian Free Speech”, that the Norman Rockwell painting “The Connoisseur” is of a man staring at an abstract piece of art and is waiting patiently for meaning to emerge from the paint drips:

Professor Turley then states that:

“I happen to like modern art. However, when it comes to constitutional law, I am unapologetically Rockwellian. The Constitution resonates with first principles that are profound and defining values of a free people. Once again, there has long been a rejection of classic free speech views as unsophisticated and lacking proper nuance. Once free speech becomes more of an abstraction, it can be balanced against other interests and confined to achieve other goals. It is more Rothko than Rockwell, leaving greater room for interpretation by the beholder. In constitutional law, the criticisms of figures such as Greenberg are strikingly familiar. Many law professors brush of natural or autonomy-based interpretations of the First Amendment as not “serious” and lacking a certain discernment. Free speech is one of the paint drops in an abstract constitutional work in which the meaning comes a functionalist whole. As we have seen, this untethering of interpretation from the text proved to be little more than a constitutional conceit. It can render meaning so fluid as to become entirely situational or subjective. Pollock once advised observers that, if they wanted to truly enjoy his work, they should stop looking for objective meaning. This is a dangerous practice when applied to the interpretation of a constitutional right.”

For me, this painting also represents how most mainstream Americans view the policies of Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders. They stand and stare at these policies to try and make sense of them, and they are bewildered as to what they mean and how they are interrelated and sensible. The abstract piece of art in this painting is how Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders view the Constitution as a living, breathing document (i.e., Living Constitutionalists). This viewpoint is a very dangerous practice when applied to the interpretation of the Constitution, as it allows the Constitution to be construed in any manner that the beholder wishes. A construing that, if applied, would endanger our "American Ideals and Ideas" and allow for an assault on our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All".