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The Terrors of Progressivism And Why the Constitution Is Overrated

March 8th, 2010 admin 2 comments
The Terrors of Progressivism Why the Constitution Is Overrated
Before we get started let’s go over a few things that will be appearing in upcoming posts.
I’m currently working on a “What if” blog about where the Royals would be if Dayton Moore had any ability to spend money responsibly. The thought basically revolves around the last two off-seasons and how Moore has done, well, more to set this franchise back because of his old-school, ridiculous, player evaluation methods than pushed it forward.
I’m also working* on a Major League 2010 preview where I’ll go through each team and give pros and cons and my predicted outcome for the season.
Finally I’m working on the flaws of experience and how it doesn’t mean jack. Especially, in an interview or job setting.
I think we should get something straight before we dive too deeply in our relationship with each other. I’m a writer. And I think in a lot of ways I’ve always been. At 19 I was writing for a local paper. I wrote for two award-winning college publications with which I won a fair share of individual awards, and I still freelance here and there today. And so when you’re a writer, you’re always writing. Watching TV, driving in the car, talking to yourself in the shower, writing is always happening. I assume it’s much the same way with musicians or painters. So when I say “I’m working,” it doesn’t necessarily mean thoughts are being put on paper, it just means “I’m working” on what I’m going to write, in my head. If you don’t know what I mean, it’s okay, writers do.
I first started thinking about this column a few weeks ago while watching The Daily Show. There was a conference the Republicans were holding – what a hootenanny that must have been – where they pretty much got in a room and bashed on President Obama, the Democrats, the health care plan, and college. Well not college, but they might as well have. Republicans hate the educated. The whole thing was lined with the heavy hitters in conservative politics: Sarah Palin*, the always ridiculous Glenn Beck, and some other gay Republican they then booed. Charming.
I’m going to say this now. If Sarah Palin is the Republican nominee for President in 2012, I’m done. I quit. I’m not kidding. I absolutely quit all things United States.
Glenn Beck gave his little shpeel about how he’s the “every man” (who happens to have his own TV show) and at the end of it is when I started to take notice. He had a chart – you know because we’re all 12 – and started talking about the horridness of Progressivism* and how it was trying to change the Constitution and basically ruin our lives.
First of all it’s always amazing how when one party is in “power,” the other party immediately acts as if the end of the world is coming. Is it? No. Will it ever be? No. Unfortunately for us what could be a great time for debate, and introspection, and learning, comes off as nothing more than sour grapes from the whiney minority.
Two things got me fired up with this:
1. It wasn’t that the Republicans had gathered in a room with fellow angry people, it’s that they were honestly trying to give the argument that being progressive is a bad thing. And this is at the heart of a lot of American Republicans. I got my money. I got my job. I got the Constitution. I got my Bible. I’m good. Don’t mess with that.
Well, that’s really sad.
How could being “progressive” in any way be considered a bad thing? It isn’t. It completely isn’t. Without progressive thinkers we never would have had the civil rights movement, a man on the moon, or a Constitution to begin with. Progressive people have been and always will be our best and brightest thinkers always looking to improve, always trying to find news waves of innovation, always trying to stay one step ahead of the curve and – ahem – progress so to never fall behind.
Let’s put this in a business perspective. You own a business that was doing very well around 2004 to 2008. Very well. You were in a niche market selling things that no one was quite into yet, so you were making a killing. The economy was good. The only place people could go to get these new products was you. Life was good.
Then the economy tanked. Suddenly there were more operations out there selling the same kind of products in the same niche market as you were. Consumers didn’t want to spend money they didn’t have, and while they may have liked your products and the cause you stood for, they just couldn’t foresee paying your higher prices, which you only raised because product was moving and you could. What to do?
Well if you were a progressive thinker you’d try new things. Hire the smartest people you could find to come up with new ideas and new ways of doing things so you could start making money again. There’s no sitting around. There’s no “things are good enough the way they are, there’s no need to change” thinking. There’s no time to wait for things to get worse; we only have time to get better.
That’s what I would like my politicians to be: forward thinkers that turn a skeptical, inquisitive eye to how things were done, and an open, curious eye to how things could be done. Politicians that understand the only way society can be pushed to be its best is when each individual is pushed to be our best. Politicians that understand education and the freedom of individual thought take precedent over the status quo and what your mom and dad taught you. Progressive isn’t bad. Progressive should be a way of life.
2. This came up in an interview I had today when I told the guy I wrote a personal blog that sometimes touched on politics. He asked what about and I said that it was mainly just ramblings but that the more I grow up and learned, the more my way of thinking is changing. I said that I don’t understand the whole idea behind hating Progressivism. He was quick to respond: “well yeah but you can’t change the Constitution.”
Uh, why not?
I think people blindly get caught up in things and hold them in such high regard without ever knowing why. It crosses all landscapes. Its batting average and “heart” in baseball. A real “football player” in football. And in some ways, the Bible.
The Constitution is like all those things. And the funny thing is, it’s only brought up when Democrats want to try something new and the Republicans don’t like it. It’s this great “living” document that defines our history and makes America what it is today.
Well, no, it’s really not.
The Constitution is what America was in the 18th century. America is a lot different today, with a lot different needs, with a lot different worries. To think that a document that was written over 200 years ago in any way has relevance over the integral day-to-day goings on with 2010 America, is foolish. This is the same piece of paper – lots be honest, it is just a piece of paper – that didn’t originally allow women the right to vote, didn’t originally allow blacks the right to vote, didn’t originally abolish slavery, at one point made alcohol illegal, and then at another point made it legal. You know what the one constant in all that was? Us.
The Constitution is a collection of ideas thought up by Americans, for Americans. Some good, some bad, but all ideas were done with the intention of making the United States a better place.
They are ideas.
The Constitution does not govern us, we govern it. We say what goes in it. We say what comes out of it. And so if there’s a need for change, if someone has an idea, we talk it out and come up with a solution. The excuse of “you can’t go against the Constitution” or “you can’t change the Constitution” is ignorant and silly.
It’s already been done 27 times.
Til’ next time.

Before we get started let’s go over a few things that will be appearing in upcoming posts.

I’m currently working on a “What if” blog about where the Royals would be if Dayton Moore had any ability to spend money responsibly. The thought basically revolves around the last two off-seasons and how Moore has done, well, more to set this franchise back because of his old-school, ridiculous, player evaluation methods than pushed it forward.

I’m also working* on a Major League 2010 preview where I’ll go through each team and give pros and cons and my predicted outcome for the season.

Finally I’m working on the flaws of experience and how it doesn’t mean jack. Especially, in an interview or job setting.

I think we should get something straight before we dive too deeply in our relationship with each other. I’m a writer. And I think in a lot of ways I’ve always been. At 19 I was writing for a local paper. I wrote for two award-winning college publications with which I won a fair share of individual awards, and I still freelance here and there today. And so when you’re a writer, you’re always writing. Watching TV, driving in the car, talking to yourself in the shower, writing is always happening. I assume it’s much the same way with musicians or painters. So when I say “I’m working,” it doesn’t necessarily mean thoughts are being put on paper, it just means “I’m working” on what I’m going to write, in my head. If you don’t know what I mean, it’s okay, writers do.

I first started thinking about this column a few weeks ago while watching The Daily Show. There was a conference the Republicans were holding – what a hootenanny that must have been – where they pretty much got in a room and bashed on President Obama, the Democrats, the health care plan, and college. Well not college, but they might as well have. Republicans hate the educated. The whole thing was lined with the heavy hitters in conservative politics: Sarah Palin*, the always ridiculous Glenn Beck, and some other gay Republican they then booed. Charming.

I’m going to say this now. If Sarah Palin is the Republican nominee for President in 2012, I’m done. I quit. I’m not kidding. I absolutely quit all things United States.

Glenn Beck gave his little shpeel about how he’s the “every man” (who happens to have his own TV show) and at the end of it is when I started to take notice. He had a chart – you know because we’re all 12 – and started talking about the horridness of Progressivism* and how it was trying to change the Constitution and basically ruin our lives.

First of all it’s always amazing how when one party is in “power,” the other party immediately acts as if the end of the world is coming. Is it? No. Will it ever be? No. Unfortunately for us what could be a great time for debate, and introspection, and learning, comes off as nothing more than sour grapes from the whiney minority.

Two things got me fired up with this:

1. It wasn’t that the Republicans had gathered in a room with fellow angry people, it’s that they were honestly trying to give the argument that being progressive is a bad thing. And this is at the heart of a lot of American Republicans. I got my money. I got my job. I got the Constitution. I got my Bible. I’m good. Don’t mess with that.

Well, that’s really sad.

How could being “progressive” in any way be considered a bad thing? It isn’t. It completely isn’t. Without progressive thinkers we never would have had the civil rights movement, a man on the moon, or a Constitution to begin with. Progressive people have been and always will be our best and brightest thinkers always looking to improve, always trying to find news waves of innovation, always trying to stay one step ahead of the curve and – ahem – progress so to never fall behind.

Let’s put this in a business perspective. You own a business that was doing very well around 2004 to 2008. Very well. You were in a niche market selling things that no one was quite into yet, so you were making a killing. The economy was good. The only place people could go to get these new products was you. Life was good.

Then the economy tanked. Suddenly there were more operations out there selling the same kind of products in the same niche market as you were. Consumers didn’t want to spend money they didn’t have, and while they may have liked your products and the cause you stood for, they just couldn’t foresee paying your higher prices, which you only raised because product was moving and you could. What to do?

Well if you were a progressive thinker you’d try new things. Hire the smartest people you could find to come up with new ideas and new ways of doing things so you could start making money again. There’s no sitting around. There’s no “things are good enough the way they are, there’s no need to change” thinking. There’s no time to wait for things to get worse; we only have time to get better.

That’s what I would like my politicians to be: forward thinkers that turn a skeptical, inquisitive eye to how things were done, and an open, curious eye to how things could be done. Politicians that understand the only way society can be pushed to be its best is when each individual is pushed to be our best. Politicians that understand education and the freedom of individual thought take precedent over the status quo and what your mom and dad taught you. Progressive isn’t bad. Progressive should be a way of life.

2. This came up in an interview I had today when I told the guy I wrote a personal blog that sometimes touched on politics. He asked what about and I said that it was mainly just ramblings but that the more I grow up and learned, the more my way of thinking is changing. I said that I don’t understand the whole idea behind hating Progressivism. He was quick to respond: “well yeah but you can’t change the Constitution.”

Uh, why not?

I think people blindly get caught up in things and hold them in such high regard without ever knowing why. It crosses all landscapes. Its batting average and “heart” in baseball. A real “football player” in football. And in some ways, the Bible.

The Constitution is like all those things. And the funny thing is, it’s only brought up when Democrats want to try something new and the Republicans don’t like it. It’s this great “living” document that defines our history and makes America what it is today.

Well, no, it’s really not.

The Constitution is what America was in the 18th century. America is a lot different today, with a lot different needs, with a lot different worries. To think that a document that was written over 200 years ago in any way has relevance over the integral day-to-day goings on with 2010 America, is foolish. This is the same piece of paper – lots be honest, it is just a piece of paper – that didn’t originally allow women the right to vote, didn’t originally allow blacks the right to vote, didn’t originally abolish slavery, at one point made alcohol illegal, and then at another point made it legal. You know what the one constant in all that was? Us.

The Constitution is a collection of ideas thought up by Americans, for Americans. Some good, some bad, but all ideas were done with the intention of making the United States a better place.

They are ideas.

The Constitution does not govern us, we govern it. We say what goes in it. We say what comes out of it. And so if there’s a need for change, if someone has an idea, we talk it out and come up with a solution. The excuse of “you can’t go against the Constitution” or “you can’t change the Constitution” is ignorant and silly.

It’s already been done 27 times.

Til’ next time.

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