Women and the Progressive Movement
I am a Woman and a Proud Progressive.
I think alot of the rage towards Progressives by centrists is driven by unresolved anger over the Primaries last year. For some reason, many still carry a huge resentment towards those who are progressive because of their anger towards Bernie Sanders. I do not know why there is an ongoing anger over his running against Hillary. But, the anger carries.
Because of the anger towards Progressives, there is a meme going around that Progressives are anti women. That it is a relatively new movement made up largely of anti woman 20 something white men.
This is very very much not true of the history of the Progressive movement
Actually the Progressive movement is well over 100 years old and women played a huge role in the movement.
Jane Adams was a progressive, as was Eleanor Roosevelt. Ida B. Wells and even the great Francis Perkins.
The Progressive movement embraced women and they were a large part of the movement's drive to reform the country of social ills.
Child Labor, Healthcare for women, Women's Suffrage and the right to vote.
They were part of the labor and union movement - fighting with the men against the security forces hired by Corporate owners.
The Progressive movement welcomed women and their voices were very important.
These are the women that drove the reforms we take for granted. That were in the forefront of women being freed from their oppressive roles at the turn of the century and the steady gains for equality in the 20th century.
Because of the Progressive movement and the ideas and policies they advocated for, it laid the groundwork for FDR's New Deal.
The New Deal that gave this country its best decades for the average working person and families. It attacked Income Inequality and reigned in the abuses of the banks and big business. It brought economic security and the middle class.
Because of the economic gains made by the New Deal for everyday Americans, social gains were made possible.
Because of the Progressive movement the democratic party, which absorbed many of their ideas, was a strong and dominate party that had the loyalty of the American people.
It was when the party began dabbling in neo-liberalism in the late 70s into the 80s, giving us the DLC and the New Democrats that the party began to lose ground and its support.
They turned their backs on their biggest supporters in unions. The working class suddenly was thrown under the bus. Instead, the party decided it wanted to make policies and gearing towards the elite professionals, Wall Street and corporations. The party advocated privatizing over the traditional government role and its programs designed to help families.
The party became the opposite of what it was in its heyday.
Women make up a large amount of the lower end paying workers. Women are raising chldren alone and paying childcare largely by themselves. They are finding that programs that used help subsided the high cost being cut more and more, even eliminated.
Between the high cost of living, of child care, cuts or eliminating of needed programs like after school or day care help, summer programs, along with restrictions on food stamps and welfare, women are finding themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty and despair. Same with working families.
How anyone can say that the New Democrats, the corporate friendly, privatizing centrist wing is more pro woman is beyond me.
Not when Progressives, along with their history, has long fought for the rights and economic security of women and working people of all groups.
People have to move on from the primaries. If you have anger that you cannot release, then sit down and have a calm discussion with a progressive. Let the name calling and assumptions at the door. Just talk about where you are coming from and why you are still angry. And listen, just listen to what a progressive has to say and why they support that wing of the party.
But, to just assume or fling silly accusations like Progressives hate women is not helpful and does not foster understanding.
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and stop telling those elistist Democrats (like John Lewis) what to do with their party. Then you can be as anti-elitist as you want (what does that even mean? rejecting the expertise of foreign policy and economic experts? maybe even science and history?).
I think the people who can't get over the primaries are precisely the ones who can't unlatch themselves from the bosom of Bernie Sanders. And they're still angry. You need to get over this: I know, I've been there. You work hard for a candidate and drink the Kool-Aid, and you can't let go for a while. But this has been a loooooong while ... since last May. It should take a few months to get over it. Not a year. Stop refighting the primaries.
Populism, whether right or left, is a dangerous thing: it is closely bound to authoritarianism, despite the implications of its title. See, you're still fighting, bullying, and insulting the people (the primary voters) so that your authority figure can proceed with his agenda ("Only I can do it."
Time to get off the bus and start thinking about the depredations the current administration is inflicting on the people, instead of insulting Democrats.
Meh.
