Are Progressive Politicians good for our country and us? That is a question you should be asking yourself before you go our and vote in any election. Be it a local, state or federal election it is a valid idea to look at what the person running for political office espouses.

Let me begin with a definition of what a Progressive is: As progressives, we believe that everyone deserves a fair shot at a decent, fulfilling, and economically secure life.  We believe that everyone should do his or her fair share to build this life through education and hard work and through active participation in public life.   And we believe that everyone should play by the same set of rules with no special privileges for the well-connected or wealthy. This quote comes from the Thinkprogressive.org website.

Now that we have that definition spelled out, why should we think that these people are the right ones to vote for? Well if a so called Progressive Politician follows the above definition then everything they do is for us the voters, who they are supposed to represent right? Well by following example we could well do without this type of thinking; Progressivism is a problem-solving method. Historians generally date Progressive Era as 1890-1920, but the progressive method did not end with that date. The progressive method is not an ideology but a pragmatic search for solutions that work, grounded in a healthy skepticism. Thus, for example, Prohibition was a progressive project and was based on the social science of that era, but “The Great Experiment” of Prohibition failed in practice and progressives also worked for its repeal. The 20th century can reasonably be summarized as the rise and spread of the progressive method. They could not see the basic problems involved with Prohibition and how it created the crime syndicates that we have today. In reality this way of thinking is somewhat akin to Communism and that is an idea that can never again be allowed to become reality again. We must take into account what motivates human beings and the Communist System did (does) certainly not do that.

While I agree with the first definition I quoted in as far as everyone should have a fair shot at a decent, fulfilling and economically secure life; it is part of the American Dream after all. I disagree that everyone can attain this level of life via Progressivism, be it Liberal or Conservative. There will always be the haves and the have-nots. This is part of the human condition.

One other thing that you should look at is if the politician is of the mindset of do it my way and no other. Those very fervent members of this movement will not let you think for yourself if you beg to disagree with their ideas. The Mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, seems to be one of those politicians. The Governor of New York, Andrew M. Cuomo, has not been a great fan of his and he is a Liberal Democrat!

You will have to make the final decision and all I can say is be very careful who you vote for, they might not have the same political ideals as yourself.

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike