From "Workers of the world unite!" to "All aboard!" (The downward spiral of "progressivism")

"Progressivism" is supposed to imply a forward-thinking philosophy and a forward-looking vision. Instead, what passes today as "progressivism" is the collectivist ideology of American leftists and their nostalgic attachment to labor unions, fairness doctrines, railroad transportation, and other antiquated relics of the past which are their last, best hope for implementing an equally antiquated vision of a worker's paradise. George Will dissects the irony of the Obama Administration's curious obsession with high speed rail projects and the real agenda behind the "progressive" impulse.

So why is America’s “win the future” administration so fixated on railroads, a technology that was the future two centuries ago? Because progressivism’s aim is the modification of (other people’s) behavior.

Forever seeking Archimedean levers for prying the world in directions they prefer, progressives say they embrace high-speed rail for many reasons—to improve the climate, increase competitiveness, enhance national security, reduce congestion, and rationalize land use. The length of the list of reasons, and the flimsiness of each, points to this conclusion: the real reason for progressives’ passion for trains is their goal of diminishing Americans’ individualism in order to make them more amenable to collectivism.

To progressives, the best thing about railroads is that people riding them are not in automobiles, which are subversive of the deference on which progressivism depends. Automobiles go hither and yon, wherever and whenever the driver desires, without timetables. Automobiles encourage people to think they—unsupervised, untutored, and unscripted—are masters of their fates. The automobile encourages people in delusions of adequacy, which make them resistant to government by experts who know what choices people should make.

Time was, the progressive cry was “Workers of the world unite!” or “Power to the people!” Now it is less resonant: “All aboard!”