Re: [RC] [ RC ] Relevant History Michael Lind 1995 -Radical Center vs Moderates

[David R. Block]

Title: "Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech

Here is the source paragraph for my progressive screed. David "Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech, by definition, needs no protection."—Neal Boortz   On 5/7/2012 2:16 AM, bil...@aol.com wrote: WHICH OF THE TWO RIVAL CENTRIST movements is more likely to succeed -- either as an independent party, or (more likely) as a wing of one of the two established parties? The answer might be sought in the historical precedent of the Populists and the Progressives. Progressive politicians enacted many of the reforms on the Populist agenda, from government relief for farmers to child labor laws. The Progressives, though, rejected radical Populist economic ideas, like the nationalization of the railroads and the re-monetization of silver. More concerned with good government than with popular government, Progressives also rejected the radical democratic ideal of the Populists; though they sometimes supported measures like referenda as tools to combat political machines, their favored alternative to government corruption tended to be the extension of government centralization by educated elites, not the extension of grass-roots Jacksonian democracy. The Populists fizzled out at the turn of the century; the Progressives, and their heirs, the New Deal liberals, proved to be the dominant force in 20th-century American politics, reshaping state and society alike. -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <RadicalCentrism@googlegroups.com> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org