MetaFilter posts tagged with progressivism

How The Left Has Won

the man of twists and turns — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:35:05 -0800

Or, why is there still socialism in the United States?

Why, then, would we look for evidence of socialism only where a state seized by radicals of the Left inaugurates a dictatorship of the proletariat? Or, to lower the rhetorical volume and evidentiary stakes, why would we expect to find socialism only where avowed socialists or labor parties contend for state power? We should instead assume that socialism, like capitalism, is a cross-class cultural construction, to which even the bourgeoisie has already made significant contributions – just as the proletariat has long made significant contributions to the cross-class construction we know as capitalism. What follows?

Chicago Daily News Photos 1902-1933

winna — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:26:48 -0800

Man walks on water from the archives of the Chicago Daily News. During the Progressive Era conservation and environmental concerns became increasingly important thanks to pictures like the one above. It's important to note that in many ways conservation in this context meant conservation for use, not protection from development. A good example of the debate over this definition of conservation was the still-ongoing controversy over the Hetch Hetchy Valley reservoir. The Hetch Hetchy Valley struggle was John Muir's last battle for conservation in the way we now understand it. (previously) The provision of the 1910 Picket Act which confirmed the right of government to sell or utilize public lands based on the determined utility of that land was a key factor in the Teapot Dome scandal. And incidentally, Bubbly Creek, the photo in the first link, is still contaminated.

Happy 90th, Klan Deuce!

Sticherbeast — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 15:52:37 -0800

Hooded Progressivism: The secret reformist history of the Klu Klux Klan.

"Today the Federal Reserve is more likely to be the object of a Klan conspiracy theory than the source of its favored candidate for president. Today, for that matter, when a movie inspires people to create odd organizations and dress up in costume, they're more likely to end up at a convention devoted to Star Trek than a convention devoted to nominating a presidential candidate. A lot can change in 90 years. "

The Achilles heel of the Left

mono blanco — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 00:48:36 -0800

Is political correctness the enemy from within? (via A&L Daily) Lillian Rubin writes, "...the consolidation of power by the political right in recent years has convinced me that by insisting on political correctness, we not only played a part in impoverishing the national discourse but, in doing so, we also marginalized ourselves politically and lost what should have been our natural constituency."