Progressivism and Progress

Sometimes I think it's a sin
When I feel like I'm winning when I'm losing again
--Gordon Lightfoot

The Progressive Movement began in the US more than 100 years ago. The administration of Theodore Roosevelt was among the early presidential tenures to exhibit progressive tendencies, although the Movement burst into full bloom under the administration of Woodrow Wilson beginning in 1913.

A central tenet of progressivism is that government should be used as an instrument of progress. Laws established in the past are seen as outdated and should be torn up or simply ignored by the present regime if the old laws stand in way of progress.

By employing the strong arm of government to achieve their goals, progressives become despots seeking to force others to comply with a particular vision of the world. There is nothing new or modern about this approach. Tyrannical rule is as old as civilized man.

Rather than being forward looking, progressivism constitutes a return to the past of discretionary rule. The rule of one man over another.

By forcefully restraining the pursuits of people, progress is discouraged rather than encouraged.

Progress is truly realized when free people engage in voluntary exchange in pursuit of their interests. Because such exchange is mutually beneficial (otherwise it would not take place), things are better than they were prior to the exchange. This is the essence of progress.

We cannot predict with precision what the future looks like under systems of voluntary cooperation, but we can confidently predict that the future will be better.

True progress is realized when people freely cooperate, not when government forcefully intervenes in free pursuits.