Progressives Have a Binary View on Some Issues

Here is one observation I found about discussing issues with progressives. They see it as one of only two choices. Either A or B. If they support A, and you don’t, then you are automatically assigned to believe in B. Even though you may not and often believe in C. Since progressives don’t see the possibilities of a C, they are often wrong in their views on the issue and more over, wrong in their assessment of the opposition. Which leads to confusion and misunderstanding.

- Oct. 2019

Progressives are for all immigration. They do not make a distinction between a legal immigrant and an illegal immigrant. In fact, they don’t even like that term. They say no humans are illegal. However, that is twisting the words around. The “illegal” in the term refers to the act of breaking a law and coming over our borders uninvited, not the fact they are illegal human beings. When it comes to immigration, they say either you are for opening our doors to these underprivileged people, the A, which they agree with or B you are against it and therefore you must be a racist and a xenophobe.

That is the binary view. However, we conservatives have a different view - C. We believe in the rule of law. Therefore, we do distinguish between a legal immigrant who has every right to be here and an illegal immigrant, who has broke our laws and in fact are without legal identification. We welcome the first group but wants to stop the second. The reason is not because of race. It is because of several important factors, including economic, legal, health and terrorism. It is true most illegal immigrants are law abiding and hard working people who just want a better life for themselves and their family. Who doesn’t? However, mixed in this group are some drug dealers, human traffickers, people with diseases, and possible terrorists. In order to keep our citizens safe, we need to know who is here and with proper vetted credentials. Every other country in the world has some form of the same system of immigration.

Economically, it is a huge problem. These low skilled workers come here and suppresses the wages at the low end. It also take away jobs from our citizens and our teenagers. Combined, the net effect is to create an underclass in our society. They are exploited by the employers while engaged in a cash society or used a false identity. They maybe using a stolen social security number and paying FICA into the system but never ever receive the benefits down the road.

So, the issue is a complex one. There are more than two views. Progressives have a hard time understanding it. It is so easy to just take the default position and demonize the other side. It makes them feel good and superior, more compassionate and caring.

Progressives take the view that abortion is a right of the women who has total control over her own body. No law or others especially men, have any say in limiting that choice. They call this Pro Choice, choosing to terminate a pregnancy. The opposite of this is Pro Life. The two are on opposite sides of this issue, A or B. However, ever since the Supreme Court made the ruling back in 1973 with Roe vs. Wade, there is a continuing debate in this country about when abortions should be allowed. That is to say some laws to limit the practice of abortion to a time period, for example during the first trimester. The reason should be clear. Once the fetus grows to a point where it is viable, it is essentially a new human being. It has a different set of DNA than the mother. It may survive outside the womb in as little as 6 months. Aborting a fetus at this stage could be interpreted as killing a life.

In this complex issue, the C can be many other options. One is adoption. There are many couples who cannot conceive on their own but would be happy to adopt a new born.

Our Constitution provides for protection of every citizen and the unborn is considered a life different and distinct from the mother. Medical doctors and advances in medicine show us the way. It is not the sole right of the mother to determine if a fetus is to live or die.

Progressives believe in the State as the solution to all our social and economic ills. That is why they believe in tax and spend as a way of life. They want the state to gather the wealth through progressive taxes, and redistribute them as they see fit in terms of social welfare programs. They fail to recognize that there may be a third or forth alternative.

In the days prior to the great society as proposed by President Lyndon Johnson, America was a smaller government kind of country. We ended World War II as one of the two super powers and we have the greatest military in the world along with nuclear weapons. The great society proposed massive expansion to social security that included many entitlements such as housing subsidies, food stamps and medicaid healthcare... These programs were designed to help the poor and the disabled and the one’s that fell below the poverty line. It was suppose to be a safety net but it went way above and beyond what was necessary.

In hindsight, it was a mistake. We allowed the government to take over what used to be a private affair. In those days prior, families help out other members when they were faced with financial difficulty. The local churches and synagogues provide soup kitchens, Many private charities that are tax exempt provided many of the social services. People helped their neighbors in time of disaster.

In the aftermath of the great society experiment, most people decided to sit it out. They defer the assistance to these federal programs instead of taking an active roll. This over time have had a major impact on our approach to community and church and religion and social responsibility.

The progressives had a dual agenda. First, remove God from the public square using the courts. Second, replace it with the State which will be the savior from cradle to grave. Big brother knows best. They will provide us with all our needs. In return, we will worship at the altar of Statism Instead of at our churches.

The way they brought this about is by way of increasing progressive taxes and spending even more and putting us on a path of never ending deficits. This insure them the power over us. It was never the intent of our founders. They were afraid of an all powerful government controlled by a handful of bureaucrats.

Conservatives are the last holdout against this encroachment of our freedom and liberties. When you loose control over your finances, you loose your freedom.

Progressives have a binary view of some complex issues. They have only one solution or often they frame a problem into one of two solutions...theirs or a bad alternative. They either fail to recognize or in some cases deliberately avoid the possibility of other solutions. One that does not require a big government program.