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In Defense of Progressive Values
By Charles Sullivan
01/17/06 "ICH"
-- -- Make no bones about it—I am a bona fide dyed in the wool
progressive. I make no apologies. I am proud to be a
progressive. It was progressives, not the party of big business
that gave us social security, Medicare and unemployment
insurance. It was progressives who championed virtually every
increase in the minimum wage. It is progressives who are
fighting for a living wage law. We must allowing
neo-conservatives to define who we are. Progressives know who we
are and what we stand for. If we are not overtly proud of the
contributions of progressives to society we are not worthy of
the name.
What has the party of big business ever done for working class
people? They are the party that brought us the eighty-four hour
work week; the twelve hour work day, sweat shops and child
labor. They are not only the party that opposed civil rights;
they are the party of choice of white supremacists everywhere.
They are the party of class privilege. Let us remember that they
are the party that produced the likes of Strom Thurman, Jesse
Helms and Tom Delay. They have a lot to answer for.
Do not assume that I am a Democrat because I am a progressive—I
am not. The Democrats are no longer the party of progressives
they used to be. Long ago they were the party that fought tooth
and nail for social justice and for organized labor. They were
the party that tried to curtail corporate power. Collectively,
the democrats of today are no longer the party of progressives,
save for some very notable exceptions that includes Cynthia
McKinney. Once the norm, now progressives like Congress woman
McKinney are an aberration—a radical departure from the norm.
Progressives must come to the realization that we cannot
continue to play the game of politics by rules that were
rendered obsolete. We must understand that the Democratic Party
abandoned us nearly three decades ago. Yet they continue to
expect our support simply because they are not Republicans. It
is getting more difficult to tell them apart. To hate fomenting
neocons, Bill Clinton was Satan incarnate—a flaming liberal with
a forked tail and horns. Politically, however, Clinton bore a
close resemblance to his tormentors. He was certainly not a
progressive in any way, shape or form. Like his political
counterparts, Clinton’s policies clearly favored the rich and
powerful over working class people of ordinary means.
As painful as it is for some, we must realize that the
Democratic Party, as a platform for progressive values, no
longer exists. The Democratic Party has deliberately aligned
itself with the same business interests as the Republicans. It
has chosen to abandon its traditional role of advancing
progressive values and representing working class people. Like
its old adversary, the GOP, it too was lured to the money and it
has also fallen under its corrosive spell. In the process it
sold its traditional identity and abandoned its customary
values. Yet progressives continue to express an alliance to the
Democratic Party—a party that clearly does not share their
values or advance its social agenda. How can this be beneficial?
In reality America no longer has two major political parties—the
Democrats and the Republicans. Sometime ago these two parties
merged into a single party that only represents the interests of
wealth and power. I refer to them as Republicrats. They share
common financiers and common handlers. Campaign financiers
always hedge their bets by contributing to both parties. They
contribute significantly more to the party in power. They have
created a win-win situation for themselves. The Republicrats do
not represent the interest of ninety percent of the American
people. This party has two right wings, both of them
conservative. The more leftist wing is quite conservative; the
rightist wing is populated by conservative extremists. They are
the wing that is now in power; and they are seeing how far to
the right they can push the envelope.
The system creates the illusion of separation and choice; but
there is little difference in the ideology of wealth and
privilege, and there is no real choice to be made within such a
system. The Republicrats have no incentive to reform a structure
that generates considerable wealth for them and their corporate
backers.
It does not behoove us to contribute any more of our time,
treasure, or political capital to the Republicrats. Continuing
to do so only delays the inevitable revolution that is our only
salvation. They sold us out, so they no longer deserve our
support.
American politics is so awash in corruption and corporate money
that it has degenerated into a form of legalized bribery—a form
of moral prostitution, if you will. It bears no substantial
resemblance to the Democracy it purports to be. It is an
imposter that is designed to deceive us. The idea of one person
equals one vote—all votes being of equal value—is dead. Now it
is money that buys access to power and determines outcomes.
By now it should be clear that there is no competitive
opposition party to the Republicrats. The system virtually
precludes the entrance of viable third party candidates. It is
designed to maintain the status quo that bears no resemblance to
a level playing field. Until we get the special interest money
out of politics there is no reason to expect improvement. We
will continue to play a game in which the outcome has been
predetermined—a game that ordinary working class Americans can
never win.
Money buys ready access to legislators. Money allows industry
lobbyists to self regulate, to fleece the people and to plunder
the earth with impunity. The more money one has, the greater
their access to power. Those without money are denied admission
and have no real representation. Over time the clout of the
dollar supplanted the power of the vote, with the result that
the vast majority of the people, ninety percent or more, have
only token representation in government. The system has
generated enormous wealth and power for those at the top of the
economic ladder, while fleecing the rest of us. What incentive
is there for them to change?
So where does this leave progressives? We have several avenues
open to exploration. We can continue to give our support to the
Democrats as we have always done. This can only assure that we
will continue getting the same results we have been getting for
thirty or more years. We must ask ourselves if this strategy has
produced a satisfactory result. Have progressive values waxed or
waned within the Democratic Party during that time? The answer
should be obvious. Progressives have lost influence.
We can attempt to force the Democratic Party back toward its
progressive roots by temporarily withdrawing our support from
it. This strategy will either force the Democrats to the left,
or leave them twisting in the wind. Perhaps a mass migration to
non-traditional third parties like the Greens or the Labor Party
would get the attention of the democratic leadership.
Lending our full support to one or more of these parties might
breathe new life into them. But without a mass exodus from the
party that has abandoned progressive values, none of these
parties will ever be more than a protest vote with little impact
upon the issues. One of the powerful attractions of these
parties is that they do not rely upon corporate money. By
lending them our ideas and our treasury could we make them
competitive?
Progressives could register as Independents and run their own
candidates under that umbrella. Ross Perot enjoyed considerable
success as an Independent some years ago; but he was a wealthy
man who could afford to finance a major campaign. Few of us have
access to that kind of cash.
Another option is to build a new political party from the ground
up. Some years ago West Virginia formed the Mountain Party and
Maryland has recently created the Eagle Party. Both of these
parties represent genuine grass roots efforts to bypass a
political system that no longer represents ordinary citizens.
This option may require the most time, a luxury we may not have.
Only a mass exodus from the Democratic Party could significantly
shorten that development. It is widely assumed that
conservatives would not be interested in joining one of these
parties. However, that might not necessarily be a safe
assumption if enough of them realize, like us, that the system
has betrayed them.
I proffer these thoughts in hope that they will engender genuine
discussion about where progressives are and where we are going.
Knowing this, we can begin thinking about how we are going to
get there. One thing is for certain, however; we are not going
to get where we need to be by running in place or by moving in
the opposite direction. Let us jettison our obsolete ideas and
move forward. Isn’t this the very definition of progress?
Charles Sullivan is a furniture maker, photographer and free
lance writer living in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
He welcomes your comments at
earthdog@highstream.net.
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