Riding Herd on the Financial Range - # 10
Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories. Attributed to Sun Tzu
6.17.2009
Howdy Folks,
While we have a lull in the stock market, and before we get too wrapped up in the health care debate, I thought I could start our discussion about Progressivism, and what it means. So that we can all get on the same page, we turn to our friends at Wikipedia for some definitions.
"Progressivism is a political and social term that refers to ideologies and movements favoring or advocating changes or reform, usually in a statist direction for economic policies (government management) and liberal direction for social policies (personal choice). Progressivism is often viewed in opposition to conservative ideologies.
In the United States, the term progressive emerged in the late 19th century into the 20th century in reference to a more general response to the vast changes brought by industrialization: an alternative to both the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues and to the various more radical streams of socialism and anarchism which opposed them. Political parties, such as the Progressive Party, organized at the start of the 20th century, and progressivism made great strides under American presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson."
Despite being associated with left-wing politics, more recently the connotation has been extended even further by "modern" progressives to include the New World Order. "The term "progressive" is today often used in place of "liberal". Although the two are related in some ways, they are separate and distinct political ideologies. According to John Halpin, senior advisor on the staff of the Center for American Progress, "Progressivism is an orientation towards politics, It's not a long-standing ideology like liberalism, but an historically-grounded concept... that accepts the world as dynamic." Progressives see progressivism as an attitude towards the world of politics that is broader than conservatism vs. liberalism, and as an attempt to break free from what they consider to be a false and divisive dichotomy.
Cultural Liberalism is ultimately founded on a concept of natural rights and civil liberties, and the belief that the major purpose of the government is to protect those rights. Liberals are often called "left-wing", as opposed to "right-wing" conservatives. The progressive school, as a unique branch of contemporary political thought, tends to advocate certain center-left or left-wing views that may conflict with mainstream liberal views, despite the fact that modern liberalism and progressivism may still both support many of the same policies (such as the concept of war as a general last resort).
American progressives tend to support interventionist economics: they advocate income redistribution, and they oppose the growing influence of corporations.
Progressives are in agreement on an international scale with left-liberalism in that they support organized labor and trade unions, they usually wish to introduce a living wage, and they often support the creation of a universal health care system. Yet progressives tend to be more concerned with environmentalism than mainstream liberals, and are often more skeptical of the government, positioning themselves as whistleblowers and advocates of governmental reform. Finally, liberals are more likely to support the Democratic Party in America and a Labour party or Liberal Party in Europe and Australia, while progressives tend to feel disillusioned with any two-party system, and vote more often for third-party candidates"
So while we are figuring out the players let's include those ideologies that we think we already know.
"Conservatism is generally based on the view that current values should be upheld and little should be changed. In the United States specifically, Conservatism generally holds the government should have a limited role in the lives of citizens and the operation of society. Conservatives do not interfere with corporations as do liberals, tending to tax them less heavily and allowing them to operate on their own, seeing interference as a step toward socialism. In the United States, conservatives tend to side with the Republican Party, and are traditionally elected during times of economic stability."
"Socialism aims to establish a fundamentally different society from the one that currently exists in most countries. While there are different schools of socialism, a few socialist goals are: to abolish capitalism, to place the means of production under the collective ownership of the people, and to achieve a high degree of economic and political egalitarianism. Socialists argue that capitalism exploits the working class, and believe that workers should play a vital role in moving society from capitalism to socialism (either by rising up in a revolution or general strike, or by voting in mass for socialist political parties)."
"Fascism is a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition"
"The foundation of Fascism is the conception of the State, its character, its duty, and its aim. Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute, in comparison with which all individuals or groups are relative, only to be conceived of in their relation to the State. The conception of the Liberal State is not that of a directing force, guiding the play and development, both material and spiritual, of a collective body, but merely a force limited to the function of recording results: on the other hand, the Fascist State is itself conscious and has itself a will and a personality -- thus it may be called the "ethic" State....
...The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone....
I have heard Obama called a lot of things, but I have to go with a Progressive Community Organizer, and after you learn a little of Saul Alinsky you may think him a follower; and I bet you thought it was about Bill Ayers. So we had better understand what that means to know what we are facing as a nation.
So who is Saul Alinsky? He was a Marxist radical Chicago grassroots organizer who died in 1972. He was the author of a couple of books, "Reveille for Radicals" (1946) and "Rules for Radicals" (1971), whose titles likewise give you a glimpse of where this is going.
Also since we are not going to finish this in one chapter, here is some food for thought. Who do you think said the following?
1. "we’re more concerned with the acquisition of power than anything else: My aim here is to suggest how to organize for power: how to get it and how to use it…… This is not to be done with assistance to the poor, nor even by organizing the poor to demand assistance: Even if all the low-income parts of our population were organized ... it would not be powerful enough to get significant, basic, needed changes."
2. "Organization for action will now and in the decade ahead center upon America's white middle class. That is where the power is. ... "
3. " we counted on the guilt and shame of the white middle class to get what they wanted. In order to take over institutions and get power, the middle class had to be convinced that they were somehow lucky winners in "life's lottery."
4. "Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat."
5. "Make the enemy live up to his/her own book of rules. You can kill them with this. They can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity."
6. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counterattack ridicule. Also, it infuriates the opposition, who then react to your advantage."
7. "The threat is generally more terrifying than the thing itself."
8. "In a fight almost anything goes. It almost reaches the point where you stop to apologize if a chance blow lands above the belt."
9. "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it." (Think Gingrich, Lott and the success of name-calling used by the likes of Bill Clinton, Paul Begala, James Carville, Maxine Waters and others against conservatives and Republicans.)
10. "One of the criteria for picking the target is the target's vulnerability ... the other important point in the choosing of a target is that it must be a personification, not something general and abstract." (Trent Lott comes to mind. Meanwhile, a former Klansman by the name of Sen. Robert Byrd got away with saying "the N word" on Fox News at least three times, and he still maintains his Senate seat and power.)
11. "The enemy properly goaded and guided in his reaction will be your major strength." (For instance, Democrats imply conservatives are racists or that Republicans want to kill senior citizens by limiting the growth of the Medicare system, they imply Republicans want to deny kids lunch money without offering real proof. These red-herring tactics work. )
The answer will be revealed tomorrow, enough fun for tonight.
Your humble editor, Russ
About Russ Magarity
Jackson, Wyoming Distressed Patriot Russell Magarity and Chris Janelli, Chief Distressed Patriot, have been business associates and close friends since working together at Chase Manhattan Asia in Hong Kong. Russ grew up in Cuba and Panama and graduated from High School in Peru. He received a BA in International Relations from the University of Oklahoma (Norman), an M.B.A. from the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (Mexico), and a Masters in International Management (with Distinction) from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird).
Russ spent his career with Chase running countries and managing corporate finance businesses in Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong and throughout SE Asia. Prior to joining Chase, he served in the US Navy for 9 years first as a Midshipman and Naval Aviator. As a carrier pilot, he served 3 tours in Vietnam and flew over 250 missions.
|
2.8.2010
When the Census Clowns Come Knocking, Remind Them the U.S. Constitution Enumerates Exactly What You Need to Answer; and Nothing More
I love my country, but I am appalled by my government
12.21.09
The Republicans Had 6+ Years to Legislate Changes to America's Health Care Problems
12.15.09
Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Honest Al Say's Planet Core Millions of Degrees Hot
For all the hoopla, earth's atmospheric temperature has risen one half of 1% in the last 100 years.
12.11.09
Meet Ted Cruz, the Republican Obama
Republican leadership must speak to the values of mainstream Americans; there are few doing that. The Republican Party must elect people who have firm principles; backbone and the ability to communicate.
12.10.09
American Prisoner Labor to Put More Americans on Unemployment
The title of their new playbook should be: American Gulag by Barry Soetoro and Van Jones
11.8.09
THE SCIENCE OF CLIMATEGATE, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PARADIGM CHANGE
What Might They Have in Common?
|
