Free Republic

This is progressive ideology 101 here. Forget that this is gun grabbing. Forget that this is running to the camera seeking the spotlight. Kamala Harris, who is working very hard to position herself as a future presidential candidate, recently said the following: When you see the effect of this extreme violence on a human body, and especially the body of a child, maybe it will shock some people into understanding this cannot be a political issue. We have to be practical. I support the Second Amendment, but we have to have smart gun safety laws. We cannot tolerate a society...

In the past, I have speculated heavily (based on deeply rooted and provable cultural origins that the original progressives called themselves "progressive" based directly upon the title of Henry George's book Progress and Poverty. (see also 1, 2, and 3) I speculate no longer. In the Quarterly Register for 1893, the following is written: The discontent of the workingmen and the mercantile classes in London against the wealthy titled landlords, has been increasing for several years. The latter have always succeeded in the past in minimizing the taxes on their own property, throwing a large part of the burden upon...

From a Constitutional and therefore conservative(as in modern conservatism) point of view, the 14th amendment is a fantastic bit of work. I don't bring this up too often, because the 14th amendment didn't become a weapon of progressivism until somewhere in the 1950's(and it is thus generally outside of the scope of my focus), but the 14th amendment takes plenty of attacks from many who are not actually attacking that amendment, but rather, the courts' misuse of it. But they don't know that, which is sad. Most conservatives, if they knew the timeline, would be ardent, ardent defenders of the...

In his book The Promise of American Life, Herbert Croly wrote the following: (page 29) But although Hamilton is much the finer man and much the sounder thinker and statesman, there were certain limitations in his ideas and sympathies the effects of which have been almost as baleful as the effects of Jefferson's intellectual superficiality and insincerity. He perverted the American national idea almost as much as Jefferson perverted the American democratic idea, and the proper relation of these two fundamental conceptions one to another cannot be completely understood until this double perversion is corrected. To make Hamilton and Jefferson...

A couple of years ago, I came across and wrote about an article in Ebony magazine on the topic of white slavery. This highlights yet another miscarriage of fake historians. We are all supposed to collectively shrug our shoulders, wave our hand and say "oh but that was just 'indentured servitude'. That wasn't real slavery." As the Ebony article makes clear, yes, it was very much "just as real" as the slavery we are all constantly made to feel guilty for. But I've already written what I wanted about that article. Here's the real question: How many of the Founding...

They just don't use that language, because they believe their vision is better and not harmful. Problem is, in their writings they have gone too far in regards to spilling the beans. Around the time of the 2008 election, Michelle Obama was caught on video stating: "We're going to have to change our traditions, our history; we're going to have to move into a different place as a nation". This is nothing new; however, what she did not do was explain what she meant. Other progressives have explained what they meant using virtually identical language. In 1909, in the book...

Net Neutrality was just repealed. Why isn't that precedent setting? It's very precedent setting to me. You see, this word, "precedent", too, has been corrupted by the progressives. What if an entire agency were abolished tomorrow? Would that be precedent setting? In reality, yes it would be setting a precedent. But would it be cast that way? No, of course not. It wouldn't be talked of that way, and it wouldn't be reported that way. But on the other hand any time a court decision, or trillion dollar budgets, or thousands of executive orders, etc etc..... all of that and...

What percentage of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence owned slaves? It's about 73%. What percentage of delegates to the Constitutional Convention owned slaves? It's just under 50%. Problem is, this data set is complete, and it is purposefully structured to give the Founding Fathers short shrift. Even among slave-holding Founders, there is a clear number of them who even though they owned slaves, they weren't happy or fond of the issue. I came across this "data" while looking up something tangentially unrelated, but I didn't see any conservative blogs or news sites who had directly addressed this so...

Yes or no? Was Oskar Schindler a member of the Nazi party? If the answer is yes, then the final word is that he was a racist and an anti-semite. There are no other facts, there is no other context and important information to the story. He was, in fact, a high-ranking Nazi party member. It's a fact. He was a racist. He was a high-ranking racist. Fact. -------------------------------- You know the progressives wouldn't stand for this for very long. They would want to dig, they would want to add context, etc etc. They would want to make sure it...

In my last blog post, I wrote about how critical specialization is to progressive ideology, and the weaknesses that get bred in because of that. I also wanted to point something out, and I don't think very many people will like it. Culturally, I am quite certain that progressivism would be hard pressed to justify its own existence without specialization, and gun control is one of those topics that is probably the easiest to dissect. One of the main stated goals of gun control is to get guns out of the hands of pretty much everybody, but the only people...

The cultural role of specialization in progressive ideology has become more apparent to me over the years, especially as I learn more about them at the same time I am learning about the Founders. It should be overlooked any longer. The progressives, they really enjoy specialization. Man #1, he is a professional organizer. Always has been, always will be. Man #2 is a professional Human Resources coordinator. Man 3# is a professional journalist. Man #4 is a professional teacher. Man #5 is a CEO. Man #6, he is a professional politician. Wait a second. Professional politician? Go with me here...

Progressives are the stupidest people on the planet. They really are. It's moderately funny to consider that around a year ago, the progressives of today were attacking Woodrow Wilson, and now we have the progressives out there attacking another historical progressive, Theodore Roosevelt. You seen this report? Activists splash red paint on Theodore Roosevelt statue on Museum of Natural History stepsTheodore Roosevelt is being attacked because he was white and because he was an imperialist. This is so incredibly dumb. Theodore Roosevelt was an open progressive. He was proud of social justice. These are not secrets, you can google them...

Many, many moons ago I wrote asking the question: "Did Jefferson believe that liberty had a nineteen year lifespan?" Knowing more now than I knew then about Jefferson's own writings, the answer is clearly no. But I can point to it here instead of searching in vain for it. Jefferson did write to Madison that "No society can make a perpetual Constitution or even a perpetual law. The earth belongs always to the living generation." I had struggled with this, because I knew progressives were liars and were at times using this phrase in order to advance their narrative. The...

Today's random trivia. Who was America's first presidential SJW?

Progressives have a challenge for all of us conservatives, and they have had this challenge for over a century now. In his book Progressive Democracy, Herbert Croly wrote the following: Whether conservatives like it or not, the foundations of the traditional system are being tested both by the strain of new social and economic condition and by a flood of suspicion and criticism. If it is going to survive, not only must its adaptability to new exigencies be proved, but also its power to survive the severest possible inquisition. Public opinion can no longer be hypnotized and scared into accepting...

Chalk another one up for big government progressivism. I recently posted about progressive republicans and the 16th amendment, having learned during that research that this was the case: I did not know previously that TR supported the death tax. Here is what he said in 1906: As a matter of personal conviction, and without pretending to discuss the details or formulate the system, I feel that we shall ultimately have to consider the adoption of some such scheme as that of a progressive tax on all fortunes, beyond a certain amount, either given in life or devised or bequeathed upon...

Social reform requires big government. Big government requires an obedient court, which fosters a "living constitution". In "Social reform and the Constitution", progressive reformer Frank Johnson Goodnow wrote the following regarding the courts: (page 31) The result is that the constitutional law of the country is not, either necessarily or actually, uniform. For a state court may declare unconstitutional from the point of view of the federal constitution an act of a state legislature which would have been regarded as constitutional by the United States Supreme Court. If, therefore, the state courts are more conservative than the Supreme Court, and...

Far too often, articles or books are written about how bad the 16th amendment is(which it absolutely is) but then the authors turn around and point to Woodrow Wilson. This is historical malpractice. It is said that 42 states ratified the 16th amendment, and 40 of those did so prior to March 4, 1913, which was when Wilson was inaugurated. Massachusetts ratified the 16th on the same day, March 4th, and New Hampshire followed a few days later on March 7th. So let me get this straight: Woodrow Wilson as president was so strong and powerful that he reached back...

As I have written in the past, Progressivism would not exist at all if not for Henry George. John Dewey was influenced by George, many of the British Fabians, Margaret Sanger; one of the most proud proclaimations of progressive achievement in the early 20th century is Initiative, Referendum, and Recall - that entire movement was based on Georgist ideals (and dishonest ones at that.) The early unions, many of them were not socialist, they were Georgist. The Knights of Labor, Samuel Gompers, and others. But understanding the link between big government and Henry George is not well understood. The fact...

In his book "The Principles of Sociology", Edward Alsworth Ross wrote the following: (page 267) In the management of common affairs there is much to be said for the general as against the local political body. Too often local control sacrifices general and permanent interests to individual and immediate interests. Local control of education leaves its fate on the whole to men of less caliber and vision than those who determine it under state control. Local care of highways means less outlay on the roads of the commonwealth than sound economy demands. Local administration of forests or care of public...