I used to think of myself as a Progressive. I think the rich should help the poor, the strong should help the weak, the young should help the old, the law should protect us all equally…
I am totally in favor of a government-run health care system. I think utilities, insurance, criminal justice, the post office – all essential services – should never be entrusted to private interests.
I believe in cooperatives and profit sharing, trade unions and a government savings bank…
I think all nations should try to work together in harmony and mutual good will to create a peaceful and prosperous world. I abhor war.
I am convinced that government has a role to play in our lives but not in our bedrooms. People of all religions, all types of sexual orientation and all ethnic backgrounds are equal in my eyes and deserve equal protection, equal opportunity and an equal right to “the pursuit of happiness.”
But I do not expect to impose my views on everybody else.
And apparently that’s where I part company with the people who call themselves “progressives” today.
According to one writer, “progressives” are piqued by leaked emails accusing Hillary of calling them “puritanical,” “pompous,” “naive,” “radical” and “dumb.” They plan to make her presidency “a living hell.”
That’s my cue to exit the “progressive” ranks.
Goodbye MoveOn, good-bye all the other “movements” that pester me for money and, in return, promise to change society to my liking.
It seems you are too dumb to do that.
You don’t change people’s minds by making their lives hell. You don’t win arguments by intimidation and force. Ranting and badgering might make you feel better, but it only drives other folks away.
Arguments are won by persuasion. Societies are changed by setting a good example.
As some unheralded philosopher noted a long time ago:
You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
And democracy can work only through compromise. In a government “by the people,” you cannot reasonably expect everybody else to agree with you all the time. That’s just not going to happen
Hillary is aware of this. And she knows she has to give a little to get a little. She gets things done that way. Your way just makes people mad at you, and they will oppose you even more stubbornly.
