I'm not the brightest tool in the shed. Didn't the progressives like Harry Laughlin believe in eugenics for Europeans <Italians-Eastern European types>and a new world order with one government?
As far as chairman Mao Zedong, wasn't Pol Pot inspired by his writings ?
One wonders if there is any truth that<mix Dems/Reps> Carter,Reagan,Bush,Clinton supported Pol Pot for a United Nations seat?
About Pol Pot I'd have to check. The rest is true. Early progressives of the 20th century embraced both the Temperance Movement and the Eugenics movement. For example, Margaret Sanger of Planned Parenthood started the movement as a eugenics based method of getting rid of black people. They don't put that on their advertising literature anymore, obviously.
I think one has to keep in mind that the goal post has changed. Many of the things for which progressives fought have been adopted by modern western style democracies, and I'm all for it, i.e. regulation of our food supply, work safety rules, a social safety net, etc.
Problem is that it has moved, imo, far beyond that. Even by 1948, had I been alive then, it would have been far too much for me. The view of the Soviet Union,in particular, was criminally naive, or Henry Wallace and the leaders were just secretly communists.
It has only gotten worse, and become, imo, an actual call for communism, in addition to taking on a racially divisive aspect, and even an anarchic element. Along with that comes a drive to divide our society into racial and other interest groups, to politicize the language, to stifle free speech, and a call for what amounts, imo, to anarchy.
Look at how many people are fired in universities because of twitter posts, or outings. What will happen to science? Look at the reputations destroyed. Look at the deliberate killings of policemen in the last week. Look at the calls for the death penalty when investigations haven't even been done.
Is that what the majority of blacks want? No, I don't think it is. As I said, black community leaders in the inner cities always wanted more policemen, for their own protection.
Revolutions are not, however, made by the majority. Small minorities have taken over countries before and could again. Really, pick up some material on how Lenin orchestrated the take over of power through the creation of small soviets. It happens on the right, too. Most people are easily intimidated and sit back and let events overtake them. Pol Pot didn't represent the majority either.
What people like OAC are calling for is mob rule: the abandonment of our judicial system including trial by jury, the tearing down of capitalism, the stifling of free speech, and on and on. People just have to listen to her proposals for programs.
Nobody knows better than I do that there are bad cops. The solution is not to get rid of police forces; the solution is to get rid of the bad cops.
The same thing happened in the 60s. People have either forgotten or were born 30 years too late to have it in the collective consciousness. Jane Fonda and her type and her husband Tom Hayden also called privately for the construction of huge re-education camps.
That's why I never trusted Bernie Sanders. He was one of them and never renounced any of it.
I don't say this with any pleasure. I detest Donald Trump as a person, and while I agree with a lot of what he has done for the economy and internationally, his behavior during Covid has been just beyond asinine. He's a complete idiot most of the time.
However, the alternative is someone who wants to make AOC a freaking advisor, and he also looks like he's going to keel over any minute.
Among the many tragedies of 2020 is that these are the choices for Americans.
Progressive movement of late 19th century:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Era
The progressive party of 1948:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Party_(United_States,_1948)