Tag: reactionary

Sticks and Stones and Words (That Always Hurt Us)

In recent days, I have recognized yet again that some people crave surety and certainty. They believe in, and seem to need a definite answer phrased in absolute terms. Beyond the biological and even theological implications of this system is the reality. Rational sense alone has frequently been disregarded for stubborn need. Thought it may not be our role to pass judgment, lest we be judged in kind, we eagerly take it in any case. When we are not the best stewards of our own perspective, the nastiness of our ideological allegiance reinforces our separation.

Who is a Progressive? by Teddy Roosevelt

In a speech that is just as true of today as it was in the days when it was first spoken, Teddy Roosevelt, before he became President, opined on who Progressives really are. I strongly suggest that everyone read the whole speech, but I have included a few excerpts of what I think are the key parts, beginning with this.

    The Republican party is now facing a great crisis. It is to decide whether it will be, as in the days of Lincoln, the party of the plain people, the party of progress, the party of social and industrial justice; or whether it will be the party of privilege and of special interests, the heir to those who were Lincoln’s most bitter opponents, the party that represents the great interests within and with out Wall Street which desire through their control over the servants of the pubic to be kept immune from punishment when they do wrong and to be given privileges to which they are not entitled.

We all know how that one turned out, don’t we?

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