What is Progressivism? Pt. 2

Read the original post by Anders Ibsen and comments at the Young People For Blog.

| August 30, 2008

In my last post, I identified the core assumptions of Conservative doctrine in order to provide the right contrast to help us create our own ideology.

Conservatism is built on a foundation of atomism (individualism run amok) and crony capitalism. While conservatives profess a belief in personal responsibility and minimalist government, what they really strive for is selective government - I want mine, someone else pays for it.

With the basics of the other side covered, let's attempt a rough idea of what we're all about. Returning to the two basic questions (what is human nature, what is the role of government), Progressivism seems to boil down to two things:

1. People are cooperative, and capable of personal growth.

2. We're all in this together.

Read more below.

That communitarian sense of compassion is the beating heart of everything we stand for. Like Liberalism, we Progressives believe that government is obliged to provide for the common well-being, as well as respecting the private rights of individuals. As Barack Obama explained so well last night, Progressives and Liberals adhere to two overlapping kinds of responsibility: personal responsibility - my obligation to pull my weight and respect the rights of others - and mutual responsibility - my duty to contribute to the greater good and help those around me.

Progressivism is not a synonym for Liberalism, however. Though we are both communitarians, Progressives have rejected the more simplistic Utilitarianism of Liberalism for a more nuanced, mature Capability Approach.

A Liberal believes in attaining the greatest good for the greatest number. Government levels the playing field to accomplish this goal, while doing its best to also protect individual rights. Inequality is primarily seen as a matter of resource deprivation - throw more money at the problem, institute more charities and welfare programs and the problem will go away.

The Progressive sees society and the individual as a work in progress. Inequality isn't just a disparity of resources, but the deprivation of choice and potential. An uninsured family is denied the ability to live healthily and lives in constant fear of crisis, and as a result lacks the capacity to enjoy other basic human needs (like recreation or political involvement, for example). Progressivism refines Liberalism in this way, by recognizing that the enjoyment of individual rights depends on freeing the individual from the tyranny of social powerlesness - a freedom that requires social equity and cooperation.

It's this crucial development - seeing choice as a matter of power, rather than an isolated decision - that separates Progressivism from Conservatism and Liberalism.

Taken one step further, the Capability Approach becomes class conscious: in a plutocratic society where most economic and political power is concentrated in the hands of a small elite, one class has effectively monopolized choice, and expropriated decision-making power from the majority. The majority cannot exercise full choice without more power.

This final implication touches on democracy itself. Democratic government becomes a collaborative struggle against the deprivation of social power - a battlefield of principles, as opposed to a marketplace of ideas. So long as undemocratic systems of political and economic power remain in place, we can never be truly free.

Through empowering the many, we enrich the soul of the individual. Through freedom and equity, we offer the world a life that is fully human.

What is Progressivism? Pt. 1

Read the original post by Anders Ibsen and further comments on the Young People For Blog.

August 28, 2008

In their earlier posts, Patrick St. John and Jason Richberg began a conversation that I think is long overdue: what the heck is Progressivism?

Our first step in analyzing or creating any political ideology is identifying its core assumptions. These come down to two key questions:

1. What is human nature?

2. What is the role of government?

From these answers come all the different principles, value statements and policy positions that compose the movement's ideology. But before we delve into Progressivism, let's contrast what are about to articulate with what we already know about our rivals on the Right.

Scientists increasingly believe that there are cognitive differences between liberal and conservative brains that transcend environmental factors (race, class, gender, etc.). Conservatives are more likely to cling stubbornly to one course of action, even in the face of changing circumstances; liberals are much more likely to adapt their beliefs or actions when new information or circumstances come into play.

It has been empirically proven that conservatives are happier than liberals in the face of social inequality. The same situation (let's say, unequal pay for female workers) produces different emotional reactions: liberals become outraged at a system they hold to be discriminatory; conservatives become apathetic to the victim's suffering, defend the system as fair, and frequently display hostility towards the victim herself.

In short, the conservative individual is hard-wired on a biological level to be especially fearful and resistant to changing circumstances, and to rationalize away the suffering of others.

Fear and greed.

Conservatism as an ideology follows suit. Returning to the two questions, the Right's cardinal assumptions become apparent:

1. People are selfish individualists.

2. Every man for himself.

The economist John Kenneth Galbraith couldn't have said it better: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

The earliest liberal thinkers, Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, saw people as isolated individualists, ready to screw their neighbors over at the first opportunity. To the godfathers of classical liberalism, all government was meant to do was keep the peace and protect private property from the savagery of our neighbors. This idea of the night-watchman state lasted well throughout American history into the Gilded Age, until the Great Depression proved it utterly wrong. Government must do something.

The legacy of the New Deal - and the idea that proactive government is a necessity for a just society - permanently altered all American ideologies. But it impacted Conservatism in the most ironic of ways: the universal acceptance of the welfare state forced Conservatism to become even more self-centered.

The painful truth for our right-of-center counterparts is that everyone wants government. Even conservatives. Very few people actually want to give away roads, public schools, Social Security or medical first-responders.

Conservatives really don't oppose government at all. They want the benefits of safety and order (not to mention the government intervention required to enforce their moral codes), just like everyone else. What they truly oppose is the concept of society itself.

The social compact of mutual obligation, responsibility and respect between equals is utterly lost to a conservative. Instead, the Right rebels against the principles of the liberal state while clinging desperately to it: conservatives want all the benefits of the system, but feel morally outraged at the idea that they are somehow responsible for it.

Conservatives consciously espouse a belief in limited government; but what they unconsciously believe is that government is a moral arbiter that should reward the worthy. Look no further than Too Big To Fail, the idea that it is paramount for government to bail out multi-billion dollar corporations when they sink. American Conservatism has tangled up social hierarchy and personal morality into a circle argument in which one becomes evidence of the other.

Conservative governance is neither conservative nor governance, but a system of redistribution and apologism - a redistribution of wealth and power to the wealthy and powerful, and an antisocial ideology of self-congratulation and scorn. Our power as the majority may be vast, but it is nothing, so long as the creed of righteous selfishness goes unchallenged.

Back in the US! - Reflections from South Africa

Dear Reader,

I am back in the United States from my three month internship in Zonkizizwe, South Africa, but I cannot say I fully feel like I am home. I left a big piece of my heart at Vumundzuku-Bya Vana Our Children's Future (VVOCF), and with the children and youth that the center serves. In the last three months I have been through the some of the hardest, but most rewarding experiences of my life. I have been working with children and youth made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, helping a grassroots community NGO grow and develop in the face of overwhelming odds-- poverty, unemployment, lack of access to basic health care, poor public educations systems, and lack of adequate housing, to name a few.

During this time I have been living and working with the people in community, learning as much as I could about their language, their culture, and their way of life. During this time, these people became my extended family. I fell in love with South Africa and the spirit of humanity and resilience I found there. I learned a great deal about myself on this trip and about the fascinating history of the country’s highly segregated past. In this journal I have tried to include some of the highlights of my stay in South Africa, but I do not believe any amount of words could do it justice.

What I have learned to appreciate above all; however, is the power of the human spirit. Individuals working together to create change can be a powerful force. It builds community ties, a feeling of family, and a sense a pride and ownership in one’s community. I have seen downtrodden people become empowered, and their transformation is contagious. I cannot help but think to myself, what kind of world would it be if everyone could see what I have seen?

Keep checking for updates at www.nicoleiaquinto.blogspot.com... I didn't want to post all of them here because there will be SO MANY! The entries are backdated, so pay attention to the title of the post to see actual dates of events.

Also, if you want to check out some pictures from my trip, go here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v325/quinneycole/Zonkizizwe/.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me any time.

Sincerely,

Nicole