Leftists are Reactionaries, Not Progressives

GrasstopsUSA.com ^ | 10-16-07 | Gennady Stolyarov II

[neverdem]

Since the first decade of the 20th century, left-wing politicians, activists, and intellectuals have arrogated to themselves the designation “progressive.” But are they really? Even a brief analysis will show that leftists oppose anything that can even remotely be called progress – be it in the technological, the social, or the moral sense.

When it comes to technology, the Left has never quite gotten over the Industrial Revolution – a period of dramatic improvements in virtually every ones standard of living and an era falsely caricatured by the Left as a time when the so-called Robber Barons made fortunes off the sweat of the working poor.

The early leftists – led by the utopian socialists and by Marx and Engels – believed that increasing industrialization would make workers increasingly worse off unless the state took control.

But by the 1960s, it was clear that the leftists’ predictions had failed to materialize. Relatively free countries in the West experienced phenomenal rises in the wealth and prosperity of even the poorest people, while state-controlled economies ruled by Communists and other totalitarians continued to experience chronic shortages at best and mass starvation at worst.

It was clearly untrue that government controls could foster greater technological progress. But instead of acknowledging the free-market system’s superiority in this regard, the Left began to repudiate the value of technological progress itself. Thus was born the environmentalist movement – which actively seeks to restrict the expansion of human habitation, the construction of new factories and power plants, the introduction of new technologies, and the industrialization of much of the Third World.

The environmentalists claim that technological progress leads to increased pollution, crowding, waste, and ecological chaos – but the evidence speaks to the contrary. The average person in the Western world leads a longer, healthier, and cleaner...

[TASMANIANRED]

Quite a good essay.

[doc1019]

And if the right had a set, they would keep them Reactionaries.

[Turret Gunner A20]

Regressives!!!

[TrueKnightGalahad]

Thank you for posting this essay. He has it exactly right. The damage done by allowing the true reactionaries, the leftists, to define the terms of the debate is incalculable. They must NOT be allowed to misdefine "progressive" and cloak themselves in that mantle. We must point out every time that their policies are regressive and would return all of humanity to a bondage that only recently have a minority of the Earth's people escaped.

[jnsun]

Finally someone else sees it. I've been saying this over and over and over. Leftists ARE the reactionaries, like lizards reacting to what they see as a threat - individual freedom, the courage and trust to endow the individual with his own choice and dignity.

Gun laws aren't reactionary?

The refusal to rewrite the tax laws aren't reactionary?

The venom against properly intentioned intercession in Iraq isn't reactionary?

DUI overkill isn't reactionary?

Anti smoking extremism isn't reactionary?

Nannyism isn't reactionary?

Communism, or fear of individual enterprise, isn't reactionary?

Irrational mandates, and duplicity, about anthrpogenic global warming, isn't reactionary?

The denial to liberalize social security isn't reactionary?

Josef Stalin, sitting behind three chained doors, and gulagging millions isn't reactionary?

Government control and mistrust of the citizen isn't reactionary?

Americans, more and more, led by deeply resentful power hungry females, selfish retirees, and the ignorant egomanaical media, have become reactionaries. Evidence Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Hillary Clinton, and the inane talking blondes on CNN. That IS exactly why the dollar, and the US stock in the world, is plummeting.

Thank the CFR, and a few other parties not to be mentioned.

Am I, and this guy, the only ones to see it?

[syriacus]

Nice!

[Turret Gunner A20]

Nope. We know it as the Democrat Party.

[neverdem]

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From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.

But instead of acknowledging the free-market system's superiority in this regard, the Left began to repudiate the value of technological progress itself. Thus was born the environmentalist movement - which actively seeks to restrict the expansion of human habitation, the construction of new factories and power plants, the introduction of new technologies, and the industrialization of much of the Third World. The environmentalists claim that technological progress leads to increased pollution, crowding, waste, and ecological chaos - but the evidence speaks to the contrary.

See also Bjorn Lomborg or Julian Simon.

[DGHoodini]

“Progressives” aren’t reactionaries...They’re Stalinists.

[Berosus]

I wrote about this two years ago. Quote:

“Apparently liberalism now means the opposite of what it used to mean. Liberals used to be populists; now they’re elitists. Whereas they used to favor human rights and the spread of democracy, now they don’t care; note their lack of enthusiasm for the recent elections in Afghanistan and Iraq, and how Jimmy Carter went from being the human rights president to the former president who never met a dictator he didn’t like. The Democratic Party used to portray itself as ‘the party of love’; now, except on the gay-marriage issue, it’s the party of hate. College campuses, the best place to find liberals in most communities, used to be bastions of free speech; now they censor even harmless comments, pictures, etc., in the name of ‘political correctness.’ Most telling of all, liberals used to embrace change for its own sake, but now they’re often afraid to try any new policy, calling it a ‘risky scheme.’”

Unquote: http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/holybook/articles/ctd.html

[PGalt]

Thanks for the ping. Outstanding article by Gennady Stolyarov II.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

We’ve been talking about this for years right here on FR. Finally some people are starting to wake up!

[archy]

“Progressives” aren’t reactionaries...They’re Stalinists.

The REAL American Progressives must be spinning in their graves....

[SunkenCiv]

:’) The thing is, they were always all about repression, but weren’t on the verge of absolute power before. In 2008, if they maintain control of both houses of Congress, and get the White House, they will, in a matter of a few years, have another packed SCOTUS, fill all the vacant federal judge positions with their creatures, crush all churches for spreading “hate speech”, lay ppo’s on all pro-lifer protestors, grab the guns, and impose massive new taxes — beginning with a “carbon tax”.

I will vote for the ultimate Republican nominee for President. Period.

Thanks CK.

[BraveMan]

Gennady Stolyarov II is a science fiction novelist, independent philosophical essayist, poet, amateur mathematician, composer, contributor to Enter Stage Right, Le QL, Rebirth of Reason, and the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Senior Writer for The Liberal Institute, and Editor-in-Chief of The Rational Argumentator, a magazine championing the principles of reason, rights, and progress. He also publishes his articles on Helium.com and Associated Content to assist the spread of rational ideas. His newest science fiction novel is Eden against the Colossus. His latest non-fiction treatise is A Rational Cosmology.

Mr. Stolyarov can be contacted at gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com.

More here:
http://www.quebecoislibre.org/apstolyarov.htm

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[GeronL]

and if the ultimate GOP nominee believes exactly as the leftists?