I just finished reading Mike Lux's new book, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be." I also had a chance this past Friday to attend an excellent discussion of Mike's book at the New America Foundation. With that, here are a few thoughts on "The Progressive Revolution."We often see books from the right-wing perspective that demonize "liberalism" or "progressivism" (not the same things, by the way) and denigrate the role of government in fighting for the common good and bettering all of our lives. Unfortunately, we don't see nearly as many books, especially articulate, powerful and persuasive ones like "The Progressive Revolution," from the progressive perspective. Lucky for us, Mike Lux has written just such a book, and I strongly recommend that everyone read what he has to say.
The book's argument is simple: when progressives have been in charge, the country has made great strides; when conservatives have been in charge, we've stagnated or moved backwards. In fact, some of the greatest disasters or near-disasters in American history have come during periods of conservative ascendancy, and Mike Lux lays those out for all of us who need a history refresher course. What's most amazing is that, in spite of an almost unmitigated record of harming workers, family farms, the poor, the sick, the elderly, children, the environment, not to mention the freedoms we cherish, conservatives have managed to win even one election, let alone many of them. In part, this is a result of conservatives effectively making their case (even if it's based on fear and lies), but in part it's also the result of progressives failing to make their own, much stronger case.
That obviously needs to change, and Lux is hopeful that we'll see that in the Obama administration. However, nothing's automatic; what's required here is pressure from both the "top down" AND the "bottom up." Netroots activism, as I write in my own book ("Netroots Rising"), is the key today, just as it has been since Thomas Paine penned his brilliant pamphlet ("Common Sense") that made such an enormous contribution to the American revolution. Today, we have an army of "Thomas Paines" essentially functioning as modern-day pamphleteers. This reengagement with our Democracy, after years of alienation and cynicism, represents our greatest hope at achieving the positive "change we need." Read Mike Lux's book and discover why only progressives can deliver that change.
