"PROGRESSIVES", OLD AND NEW

Because their behaviour has so polluted the name with an air of dishonesty, hypocrisy and failure, there is a considerable tendency these days for American "liberals" to return to an older and more-self-congratulatory label for themselves -- "Progressives". The label also has the advantage that it facilitates a "united front" (to use an old Communist term) -- it enables both moderates and far-Leftists to march under a common banner.

Probably the major thing that holds the American Left from wider adoption of their alternative name however is the legacy of the last major American political movement to use that name -- the "Progressives" of around the beginning of the 20th century. Let me note what an embarrassment THEY are:

Like all Leftists, they were a fractious lot so there is no fixed list of what a Progressive believed but here are some of the notable features in Progressive doctrine: They were (of course) anti-business, pro-welfare and believers in central government management of the economy but as well as that they believed in eugenics, racial superiority, war as a purifying force, nationalism, imperialism, conformity, discipline, book-burning, loyalty oaths and straight-armed salutes. And they despised the Jews, of course.

Does all that somehow ring a bell? Where else have you heard of such a set of ideas? You've got it! All of those ideas were also Hitler's ideas. And THAT'S WHERE HITLER GOT A LOT OF IT FROM. The American Progressives were the first Fascists of the 20th century. In America they were mostly unable to put those ideas into full practice but Hitler showed what happens when you do.

For full documentation of all that I have just said see my article on the "Progressives" here. I have just added a fair bit to it so I reproduce below the new conclusion:

So although the American Progressives developed most of the thought that we would recognize as Fascist today, their immediate predecessors were undisputably German. So while Mussolini got his basic ideas from Marx, the work of developing those ideas and adapting them to the early 20th century had mostly already been done for him by the Americans.

So however you look at it, the connection of Fascism to Leftism is quite seamless. Its origins were in the intellectuals of the 19th century German Left, it was developed and made politically influential by the American Left around the beginning of the 20th century and it reached its full implementation in the hands of one section of the European Left in the 1920s and 1930's -- i.e. Hitler & Mussolini. And both Hitler and Mussolini campaigned as socialists and never ceased advocating socialism. See here and here for more on the latter point.

Because they are so embarrassing to the Left of today, there are always attempts to deny that the American Progressives of a century ago were Leftists. Attempts are made to treat them as somehow outside the normal flow of history -- as a strange aberration that somehow exists all by itself. This is absurd on two grounds: 1). Far from being a marginal group the Progressives were in the mainstream of American intellectual life at the time -- with only the courts and the conservative wings of the political parties standing against them. 2). Although the militarism, imperialism, racism and stress on discipline may seem abhorrent to the American Left of today, such ideas were perfectly at home even within the thought of Marx and Engels. And if Marx and Engels are not Leftists, who would be?

For deep background on the American Progressives see this essay on Croly, one of the leading lights of Progressivism. Note the agony caused to Croly by the need to keep within democracy.

********************************************

ELSEWHERE

The blatant lies of the BBC about the aid effort in the wake of the tsunami disaster are just breathtaking. There is not the faintest shred of truth in what they say. I give up! Even the NYT says the Australians were first in with aid -- followed closely by the U.S. Who do you think the BBC says got there first? The U.N.! I doubt that there are any U.N. personnel on the ground there to this day! The BBC was once a respected organization but that is well and truly in the past now that the Leftists have got hold of it.

The multicultis win: "Until the 1980s, the arrival of the First Fleet was re-enacted every Australia Day by white Australians. A square-rigged tall ship would anchor in Farm Cove. Spectators lined the shore cheering as actors in 18th-century style uniforms and three-pointed tricorn hats rowed ashore. The annual event was organised by historical societies and enthusiasts (including this writer), but there was moral support and financial backing from the Festival of Sydney and the Australia Day Council. The aim was to remind people that European settlement was founded on January 26, 1788. But this Australia Day there will be no official mention of this First Fleet - let alone first European settlement - by the Festival of Sydney or the Australia Day Council".

Michael Moore spiked: "Oscar on the shelf or not, Michael Moore is not getting much respect at his old high school. Despite his fame and many honors, the filmmaker has been rejected all four times that he has been nominated for Davison High School's Hall of Fame."

Pro-terrorist Presbyterians: "The church is hosting a program and brunch entitled "A Report Back from Palestine" at which the Boston support group for the International Solidarity Movement, or ISM, will speak to the congregation. "The time has come for Christians to stand with Israel against the terrorists who for 50 years have been trying to destroy the Jewish state, and who have brought suffering and death to thousands of Israelis and Arabs, said Dennis Hale of the Christian Jewish Anti-Terror Alliance.... The ISM says in its mission statement that the Palestinians have a right to "armed struggle" and its leaders have endorsed suicide bombing as a "noble" form of jihad. The group's media coordinator, Flo Rosovski wrote, "'Israel' is an illegal entity that should not exist."

In the wake of the Armstrong Williams fiasco, Peg Kaplan has up an amusing list of what it takes to corrupt her.

My latest posting on MarxWords notes that Engels said that Germans should use terror against the Slavs. Hitler had a very dim view of the Slavs too, funnily enough! My latest posting on "A scripture blog" looks at Philippians 2:6 ("He was in the form of God") and 1 Corinthians 8:6 ("through whom are all things").

For more postings, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE and LEFTISTS AS ELITISTS. Mirror sites here, here, here, here and here

**************************

That power only, not principles, is what matters to Leftists is perfectly shown by the Kerry campaign. They put up a man whose policies seemed to be 99% the same as George Bush's even though the Left have previously disagreed violently with those policies. "Whatever it takes" is their rule.

Leftists are phonies. For most of them all that they want is to sound good. They don't care about doing good. That's why they do so much harm. They don't really care what the results of their policies are as long as they are seen as having good intentions.

Comments? Email me here. If there are no recent posts here blame Blogger.com and visit my mirror site here or here. My Home Page is here or here.

********************************