Below are the 2 most recent journal entries recorded in alexandrabenite's InsaneJournal:

Friday, October 7th, 2011
9:37 pm	What It Means to Be Progressive in Politics You need to know very well what makes someone (or even an idea, organization, etc.) progressive. It may sound simple, right? Someone that is progressive is usually moving forward, to something better - right? Well, it isn't quite that simple. In fact, who determines what progress is? Who decides what that something better appears to be? Clearly, a much more concrete meaning of progress is necessary. Progressive Politics Let's perform quick studies on progressivism history and then we can better define the term. In the US, progressivism was born inside the late 1800s, and incredibly shot to popularity during the early 1900's. Progressivism appears to start with Teddy Roosevelt, who does constitute the Progressive Party of 1912 (also known as the Bull-Moose party), one of the most famous and successful progressive parties in politics. Wisconsin Governor (and later US Senator) Robert "Fighting Bob" La Folette can be seen as key cause of progressivism. Earlier progressives and also the Progressive Party stood for three main ideas: Social and Political reform, Direct Democracy, also to destroy the "Invisible Government". Some reforms the Progressive party advocated seem commonplace today: social insurance for your unemployed, elderly and disabled, workman's compensation, women's suffrage, direct election of senators, primary and recall elections, disclosure of campaign contributions, and also the recording and publication of governmental proceedings. Seeing that we realize what progressivism meant, let's discover what it indicates. Categorised to its simplest form, progressivism means to advocate change & reform in government and through government action. But what needs to be driving that change? As the debate on this problem is never-ending, the best way I'm able to describe it really is as follows: Progressivism Is: Forward-Looking Innovative Optimistic Pragmatic Fair Respectful Patriotic Progressivism Just isn't: Short-Sighted Scared of New Ideas Naive Close-Minded Selfish Arrogant Xenophobic Both of these columns should appear next to each other and so are contrary to one another - (Forward-Looking v Short Sighted, Innovative v Frightened of New Ideas, etc.) Progressive Politicians That sums it up in summary. Progressives are always looking forward, coming up with new suggestions to better society - as long as those ideas fulfill the above criteria. Progressivism is about reform - fixing what's broken, speaking for those with no voice, and holding government accountable. This really is a primary reason why the world thinks progressivism is essential in American Politics - we might review what the government has done/is doing/plans to complete, critique, discuss and debate it, after which advocate change when needed. One important factor of progressivism we have not mentioned much yet is openness, specially in relation to its discourse. Progressives will be more than thanks for visiting discuss our beliefs and opinions on problems with anyone; even those who don't support our standpoints. In a nutshell, remember a lot of the social programs and political reforms you adopt with no consideration today. Likelihood is, you can thank a progressive for the kids. And it is our sincere hope that future generations may also have progressives saying thanks to for dealing with the difficulties of our lives, and future problems we haven't even begun to fathom yet. (Comment on this)
9:29 pm	What it really Way to Be Progressive in Politics It's important to determine what makes someone (or an idea, organization, etc.) progressive. It may sound simple, doesn't it? Somebody that is progressive is always continuing to move forward, to something better - right? Well, it isn't quite that easy. In the end, who determines what progress is? Who decides what that something better seems like? Clearly, a far more concrete meaning of progress is necessary. What is Progressivism Let's perform a quick studies on progressivism history so we can better define the word. In the united states, progressivism was created inside late 19th century, and incredibly became popular in early 1900's. Progressivism seems to focus on Teddy Roosevelt, who does constitute the Progressive Party of 1912 (also known as the Bull-Moose party), the most famous and successful progressive parties in politics. Wisconsin Governor (and then US Senator) Robert "Fighting Bob" La Folette is additionally seen as a key contributor to progressivism. The first progressives along with the Progressive Party represented three main ideas: Social and Political reform, Direct Democracy, and to destroy the "Invisible Government". Some reforms the Progressive party advocated seem commonplace today: social insurance for the unemployed, elderly and disabled, workman's compensation, women's suffrage, direct election of senators, primary and recall elections, disclosure of campaign contributions, and the recording and publication of governmental proceedings. Given that we understand what progressivism meant, let's discover what it indicates. Broken down to its simplest form, progressivism basically means to advocate change & reform in government and through government action. But what must be driving that change? As the debate with this problem is never-ending, the simplest way I will describe it's as follows: Progressivism Is: Forward-Looking Innovative Optimistic Pragmatic Fair Respectful Patriotic Progressivism Isn't: Short-Sighted Frightened of New Ideas Naive Close-Minded Selfish Arrogant Xenophobic These two columns should appear side by side and therefore are contrary to the other person - (Forward-Looking v Short Sighted, Innovative v Scared of New Ideas, etc.) Progressive Politicians That sums it up in a nutshell. Progressives are invariably anticipating, picking out new tricks to better society - as long as those ideas fulfill the above criteria. Progressivism is around reform - fixing what's broken, speaking for the people with no voice, and holding government accountable. This can be a primary reason why we feel progressivism is very important in American Politics - we're able to review what the government has done/is doing/plans to accomplish, critique, discuss and debate it, and then advocate change as needed. One essential requirement of progressivism we've not mentioned much yet is openness, particularly in regards to discourse. Progressives tend to be more than here you are at discuss our beliefs and opinions on difficulty with anyone; even those who don't support our standpoints. Simply speaking, look back to a lot of the social programs and political reforms you adopt for granted today. Odds are, it is possible to thank a progressive for them. And our sincere hope that future generations may also have progressives by way of thanking for dealing with the problems of all time, and future problems we haven't even begun to fathom yet. (Comment on this)