The Paradox of Progressivism

It is so frustrating arguing with progressives (there are exceptions, so none of my progressive
friends should necessarily think I am aiming this at you, on the other hand, if the shoe fits . . . ).
They complain about the power of big corporations. You point out the marketplace as a solution
and they say pointing out relatively small problems that the market doesn't work or doesn't work
efficiently enough and then proposes even more regulations, the solution to which exacerbated
the problems to begin with.

One of the solutions that the free market offers, in fact the fundamental indispensable one is that
failure in the market place means that the failures go out of business.That not only keeps bad
actors out of that marketplace but also sends the correct signals on what behaviors in the
marketplace are viable and which are not. it is self correcting and self improving. Dare I say it is
progressive. Case in point: the bank bailouts.

What is the progressives response to not bailing out the banks? Oh, can't do that, that will create
a world-wide depression. So their viewpoint becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  They denounce
the free market because it doesn't work and then they don't allow the main tenet of free markets,
consequences in the marketplace, to do its work.

What is the cause of this faulty reasoning? An ignorance in economics? True believers in power?
I tend to believe more of the latter. The paradox of progressivism is the hatred of power that is
not theirs to control. A love of power to force people to behave in the way they see fit.They don't
seem to understand that when power is their main tool, those who have access to power will be
the ones who will wield it, i.e., those evil corporations. Yet, those Charlie Brown progressives
will still keep the faith, and vote for the right people into power, that Lucy will actually hold that
football for them.

Their fear of anything that isn't power related, i.e. the free market machinations of millions of
consumer and producer votes in the marketplace, leads them to a kind of a whining Stockholm
syndrome mentality, a love/hate relationship with their masters. Their Utopian vision of
interventionist protectionism allows for an ever increasing set of problems to which the only
solution they know is to implement more of the same, descending society down a labyrinth of
despair, which sets the stage for the likes of Donald Trump . . . or Hillary Clinton for that matter.
Yet still they cling to that ring. The ring of power is known and maybe someday it will be theirs.
Much better than that unknown quantity called freedom.

And they call libertarians Utopian.

Reflections on a Class Reunion

A forty-fifth high school reunion passes,
My classmates and I, hardly lads or lasses,
Although it was great to renew the bond,
A peculiar feeling I have found,
One of melancholy, a bittersweet taste,
A mortal warning, not pondered in haste,

The passing of a number of age-peered souls,
And most of us, in the autumn of our years,
Yet I still pursue my childhood goals,
Despite the rejections, the blood, sweat and tears.

As father time moves on faster,
Closing in on goals I've yet to master,
Some of us shine in the bask of autumnal bliss,
Laureled, content, rightfully serene,
But for me there is something amiss,
As I yearn for the fruition of an American dream.