Well, not really. Beck appears to be beyond teachable. He appears to be very proud of his self-education (though missed that public libraries--where he checks out his "free" books, are legacies of progressivism). But his rant at CPAC regarding "progressivism" is one area where Mr. Beck (and his followers) could use a little education.
We refer to the period between 1880-1920 (those years are not set in stone, mind you, for reasons I will explain) as the "Progressive Era." Why? Well, for one thing, we like to categorize or periodize parts of history. Perfectly reasonable to break down history into manageable and coherent chunks. But in those textbook chapter-type categorization, we lose (sometimes) the complexity and artificiality of those periods and themes. Late 1929 is miles away from 1924, but they all end up under some umbrella of the "1920s." The 1960s usually refers to social movements, and the Vietnam war, but every major social movement (as well as the war, obviously) existed either predated the 60s or went well into the 70s. Or both. These segments are useful, but limited.
But perhaps none are more limiting in their usage than the term "Progressives" or "Progressivism." As any first-year history grad student will tell you, there is really no such thing as A (as in 1) Progressive. It is almost like the SNL joke, "the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire."
When Beck uses the term, he simply applies it to whoever he dislikes, and assumes that the word means, or meant, one thing. Yet, look into it, and you find Progressives who are interested in helping immigrants in the cities, as well as those interested emphasizing the pseudo-scientific basis for racism. Progressives worked to make the work place safer, but others worked to make it more efficient. Progressives supported World War I as an opportunity to spread democracy, while others opposed it as a threat to reform. Progressives worked to expand rights for women and others worked very hard to deny women access to birth control or even sexual information. Progressives pushed to set aside natural resources and also to dam Hetch Hetchy. The Progressive period includes the creation of the NAACP and the resurgence of the modern Klan.
I still use the term in class, but I always speak of how disconnected and often contradictory these "Progressives" and their movements are. I have usually understated that simply trying to avoid boring students with historiography, but given Beck's assumption that anyone who uses the word Progressive believes in ONE thing, I might have to change that approach.
7 comments:
Streak, In Fall 2008, I taught a class on the Progressive Era to graduate students - really one of the best classes I ever taught - and I wish I had your posting and Beck's commentary at that time. It would have made for great discussion fodder.
At the time, I had a definition of "Progressive" that worked for me, but, alas, I cannot remember it now. However, one point that I tried to make in class - here I am influenced by Daniel Rodgers' ATLANTIC CROSSINGS, which has the best sentence to end a book - is that one of the tensions that came out of that era (mine stopped in 1917 partly because I did not want to read and assign books on WWI) was that many people did not believe that laissez faire capitalism worked anymore. The unfettered and uncontrolled economic and urban growth had consequences that private businesses would not solve. The Gilded Age produced corporate corruption, environmental problems, and the exploitation of the working class. Thus, many people concluded that there was a need for an intermediary between corporate America and the population. I guess Upton Sinclair’s THE JUNGLE is a good example of this effect. People could not assume that meat packing companies would prevent rats from running over the meat they purchased in supermarkets. Therefore, some entity had to step in to ensure that consumers as well as producers were protected – the federal legislation of the Meat Inspection Act.
I know you lambasted the anonymous poster the other day, who assumed that all Progressive agendas involved the enlargement of government. However, I am comfortable that some “Progressive” ideas involve the enlargement of government for precisely the same reason that many Americans of the era from 1880 to 1917 did – they could not trust corporations and businesses to consider other things than profit.
-- WIV
Excellent discussion. Why do you think that progressive is being more used now and liberal seems to be on the decline? Both terms can describe a wide variety of political ideologies.
@Steves
Liberal is a curse word here in the South. You call someone that, and you might as well call them something Monks are not permitted to type...
Heh. You ended it in 1917?
Agreed that (many) Progressives believed in that capitalism could not be trusted and government was a good solution to some of those issues. The amazing thing for someone like Beck (and I think this translates to far too many conservatives) is that so many of the benefits of "progressivism" or "liberalism" have been so well accepted that they now are assumed to be part of the general landscape. I had a FB (former) friend who said that government "always" reduced freedom. I asked if that explained government banning child labor? He could not quite get my point as he was sure that good "small government" conservatives had done that. Or that clean air and clean water just were assumed--and outside the conversation about evil government.
To be fair, this same FB former friend is not terribly smart and once told me that Glenn Beck had a lot of intriguing ideas. Yeah.
Steve, I think Monk answered the question. The use of the word "progressive" in the recent years is very simply because conservatives have so demonized the word "liberal" that it is an epithet in a way that "conservative" isn't even thought of--even by liberals who disagree with conservatives most of the time. If I want to insult someone, I don't call them a "conservative," but rather "bat shit crazy" or "stupid." :) But conservatives only have to nod at someone and say, "they are a liberal" and that carries a negative connection. Clearly, Beck and his ilk are trying to do the same thing to "progressive."
All, as WIV and we have all discussed, these same conservatives use the benefits of progressive/liberal policy every damn day.
I agree that Conservatives benefit from what liberals and government investment created.
I always love it when fools like Beck call themselves "self made" when they had many benefits that only government provides, which facilitates their ability to improve their lives. This would include: a basic education, a strong transportation infrastructure, well-regulated banking (well, up until recently) and on and on.
We are no longer self-made, we build our lives on the foundation built by others. The so-called greatest generation funded the highway system and put a lot of people through college. The following generation has been working to destroy it ever since.
All, as WIV and we have all discussed, these same conservatives use the benefits of progressive/liberal policy every damn day.
True, which is why it is better to discuss specific laws, policies, and programs, as opposed to blanket statements about gov't being good or evil. While I do think there are examples of gov't regulation going too far or beyond what the Constitution would allow, it is silly to say that all gov't is bad. WIV mentioned the meat packing industry. You can also look at what used to be used as fillers in milk that was sold in supermarkets. It was disgusting.
w, it is silly to say that all gov't is bad.
Which is exactly what I have been saying all along. No liberal is saying that government is always good, or that all regulations are good, or that all taxes are good. No one says that. But conservatives do often say the extreme against government.
Post a Comment