The Definition of a Progressive: Are You a Progressive?

Jackson

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The Definition of a Progressive: Are You a Progressive?

In the propaganda wars that surround elections, political labels often become detached from reality. The leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama, has been called a "leftist" by Republican flacks and a "progressive" by some of his supporters.

Others see Obama as a moderate Democrat only slightly less friendly to corporate capital and to the military-industrial complex than the Republican John McCain. It would be no surprise, then, if many people were wondering, Just who is a progressive?

No one, of course, has the authority to decide who is a progressive and who isn't. Yet if the label "progressive" has meaning at all, it is only because of some shared criteria we have in mind when we use it.

So it might be worthwhile to put these criteria on the table, not to draw boundaries and hand out membership badges, but to spark a conversation about the common ground of ideas and values on which progressives stand, and to underscore the point that the center is not the left.

So who is a progressive? You might be one if

• You think health care is a basic human right, and that single-payer national health insurance is a worthwhile reform on our way toward creating a non-profit national health care service.

• You think that human rights ought always to trump property rights.

• You think U.S. military spending is an obscene waste of resources, and that the only freedom this spending protects is the freedom of economic elites to exploit working people all around the planet.

• You think U.S. troops should be brought home not only from Afghanistan and Iraq, but from all 130 countries in which the U.S. has military bases.

• You think political leaders who engage in "preemptive war" and invasions should be brought to trial for crimes against humanity and judged against the standards of international law established at Nuremberg after World War Two.

• You think public education should be free, not just from kindergarten through high school, but as far as a person is willing and able to go.

• You think that electoral reform should include instant run-off voting, publicly-financed elections, easy ballot access for all parties, and proportional representation.

• You think that electoral democracy is not enough, and that democracy must also be participatory and extend to workplaces.

• You think that strengthening the rights of all workers to unionize and bargain collectively is a useful step toward full economic democracy.

• You think that as a society we have a collective obligation to provide everyone who is willing and able to work with a job that pays a living wage and offers dignity.

• You think that a class system which forces some people to do dirty, dangerous, boring work all the time, while others get to do clean, safe, interesting work all the time, can never deliver social justice.

• You think that regulating big corporations isn't enough, and that such corporations, if they are allowed to exist at all, must either serve the common good or be put into public receivership.

• You think that the legal doctrine granting corporations the same constitutional rights as natural persons is absurd and must be overturned.

• You think it's wrong to allow individuals to accumulate wealth without limits, and that the highest incomes should be capped well before they begin to threaten community and democracy.

• You think that wealth, not just income, should be taxed.

Read the rest of the “test” at:

The Definition of a Progressive: Are You a Progressive?

Are you a Progressive? Can you identify a Progressive?
 
The Definition of a Progressive: Are You a Progressive?

?

The appellation "progressive" is used as a subterfuge by fascists, socialists, moochers, parasites and demagogues.

They are the only ones who can conclude that enslaving taxpayers are producers is "progressive".

Actually what you are describing are known as the teabaggers.

Really?

I wasn't aware that "teabaggers" want the government to feed and insure them. Who knew?

.
 
Here's more:

Do you hate and despise capitalism but you are afraid to admit it?
Do you use the term progressive but avoid the word liberal?
Do you think war is bad only when a republican is in office?
Do you think the 1st Amendment was created so that progressives could burn the Flag?
Do you ignore the 2nd Amendment because it was a mistake?
 
The appellation "progressive" is used as a subterfuge by fascists, socialists, moochers, parasites and demagogues.

They are the only ones who can conclude that enslaving taxpayers are producers is "progressive".

Actually what you are describing are known as the teabaggers.

Really?

I wasn't aware that "teabaggers" want the government to feed and insure them. Who knew?

.

Absolutely. Their signs commonly read "Send the muslim back to kenya and don't touch my medicare!"
 
• You think U.S. troops should be brought home not only from Afghanistan and Iraq, but from all 130 countries in which the U.S. has military bases.

Actually, I beleive that all bases except 5 over seas should shut down.

Now those 5 would be super bases, having all branches represented there.

Two would be in Europe, One in Australia, One in the Med, and one in the Far East.

I would note that I do not include Hawaii or Alaska as being "Over Seas" bases.
 
Actually what you are describing are known as the teabaggers.

Really?

I wasn't aware that "teabaggers" want the government to feed and insure them. Who knew?

.

Absolutely. Their signs commonly read "Send the muslim back to kenya and don't touch my medicare!

The Medicare Tax is MANDATORY


(39) The final Medicare act (officially part of the "Social Security Amendments of 1965") established a two-part insurance program. The "basic" program of hospital and related benefits was financed through social security taxes.\

But you are saying that an individual who was compelled under penalty of law to participate has no right to expect the protection he was promised?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

.
 
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The Definition of a Progressive: Are You a Progressive?

In the propaganda wars that surround elections, political labels often become detached from reality. The leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama, has been called a "leftist" by Republican flacks and a "progressive" by some of his supporters.

Others see Obama as a moderate Democrat only slightly less friendly to corporate capital and to the military-industrial complex than the Republican John McCain. It would be no surprise, then, if many people were wondering, Just who is a progressive?

No one, of course, has the authority to decide who is a progressive and who isn't. Yet if the label "progressive" has meaning at all, it is only because of some shared criteria we have in mind when we use it.

So it might be worthwhile to put these criteria on the table, not to draw boundaries and hand out membership badges, but to spark a conversation about the common ground of ideas and values on which progressives stand, and to underscore the point that the center is not the left.

So who is a progressive? You might be one if

• You think health care is a basic human right, and that single-payer national health insurance is a worthwhile reform on our way toward creating a non-profit national health care service.

• You think that human rights ought always to trump property rights.

• You think U.S. military spending is an obscene waste of resources, and that the only freedom this spending protects is the freedom of economic elites to exploit working people all around the planet.

• You think U.S. troops should be brought home not only from Afghanistan and Iraq, but from all 130 countries in which the U.S. has military bases.

• You think political leaders who engage in "preemptive war" and invasions should be brought to trial for crimes against humanity and judged against the standards of international law established at Nuremberg after World War Two.

• You think public education should be free, not just from kindergarten through high school, but as far as a person is willing and able to go.

• You think that electoral reform should include instant run-off voting, publicly-financed elections, easy ballot access for all parties, and proportional representation.

• You think that electoral democracy is not enough, and that democracy must also be participatory and extend to workplaces.

• You think that strengthening the rights of all workers to unionize and bargain collectively is a useful step toward full economic democracy.

• You think that as a society we have a collective obligation to provide everyone who is willing and able to work with a job that pays a living wage and offers dignity.

• You think that a class system which forces some people to do dirty, dangerous, boring work all the time, while others get to do clean, safe, interesting work all the time, can never deliver social justice.

• You think that regulating big corporations isn't enough, and that such corporations, if they are allowed to exist at all, must either serve the common good or be put into public receivership.

• You think that the legal doctrine granting corporations the same constitutional rights as natural persons is absurd and must be overturned.

• You think it's wrong to allow individuals to accumulate wealth without limits, and that the highest incomes should be capped well before they begin to threaten community and democracy.

• You think that wealth, not just income, should be taxed.

Read the rest of the “test” at:

The Definition of a Progressive: Are You a Progressive?

Are you a Progressive? Can you identify a Progressive?

The link at the bottom is a thread by mudwhistle where he complains about how Liberals caricature and strategically mis-describe Conservative views (so as to make them easier to attack). As usual he didn't think of this himself, but it is fair of him to request that his political opponents stop turning his views into a strawman. My problem with his request is that his side does it more. In fact, the Republican Party and Movement Conservatism has created an industry around caricaturing the beliefs of liberals. What about giving people the freedom to answer for themselves what they do or do not believe in? Your list is ridiculous, not least because it is a strawman which oversimplifies and distorts more than it clarifies.
http://www.usmessageboard.com/the-f...of-liberals-telling-me-what-i-believe-in.html
 
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Really?

I wasn't aware that "teabaggers" want the government to feed and insure them. Who knew?

.

Absolutely. Their signs commonly read "Send the muslim back to kenya and don't touch my medicare!

The Medicare Tax is MANDATORY


(39) The final Medicare act (officially part of the "Social Security Amendments of 1965") established a two-part insurance program. The "basic" program of hospital and related benefits was financed through social security taxes.\

But you are saying that an individual who was compelled under penalty of law to participate has no right to expect the protection he was promised?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!

.

:mad::eek:
 

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