"A century ago, a generation of progressive men and women balked at the narrow self-interest and rapacious greed that had characterized the Gilded Age. Disgusted by the outright corruption that pervaded late-nineteenth-century politics, progressives organized to miminize the pernicious influence of money in politics and to wrest control of the government from the powerful corporate 'Trusts.' They set up new political systems and institutions to regulate Big Capital and to make government more responsive to the will of the people. Recognizing for the first time the importance of the social environment in individual development, they struggled to improve living and working conditions for all Americans, and began to reemphasize the civic fabric that binds us--farmer and worker, rich and poor, laborer and capitalist, black and white, native and immigrant--all together."
Kevin C. Murphy of Ghost in the Machine has created a new site as a clearinghouse for civic progressivism: Small-R Republic.
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Thanks for the link. ;)
But will it take? I feel confident about today (NH), but the next three weeks will be a struggle. I anticipate scorched-earth negativity from the Clinton camp (after an 8-11 point loss tonight), and a lot of it emanating from my old boss. Politics ain't beanbag.
Not that Obama is the absolute best-conceivable avatar of progressivism. But he's so close, and he's making it happen -- he's bringing people back to the process(!) And, without the jolt of hope he's already provided, it'd have been that much harder to keep minding the progressive flame, free of despair.
I really believe this is it, Ted. If we don't take our stand with Obama, it could be a long time before we get another chance. I'm simultaneously hyper-enthused, and feel like we're walking a tightrope over a chasm. But I guess that's what hope is. I was at a party on Iowa night where a girl called Obama the "Shawshank candidate." It makes a certain amount of sense. Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'.
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