Is Progressivism the new Communism?

[Libhater]

Former Congressman Allen West of Florida was asked at a Town Hall Meeting "What percentage of the American legislature do you think are card-carrying Marxists or International Socialists?"

His answer: "I believe there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party who are members of the Communist Party." "They don't actually hide. It's called the Congressional Progressive Caucus."

While there may not be large numbers of card-carrying Communists lining the halls of Congress, there is a clear tie between the Democrat Party's Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), Communist Party USA (CPUSA), and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index.ssf/2012/04/brown_is_progressivism_the_new.html


While most Democrats run away from terms describing them as Communists or Socialists by injecting the more subtle term 'Progressive' into their lexicon of preference, there still remains unabashed people like congressman Bernie Sanders of Vermont who as a self-avowed 'Socialist' is currently testing the political waters for a possible presidential run in 2016.

[nathanbforrest45]

I don't think "progressives" are communist. I do think they are statist/collectivist/socialist. True communism requires a "withering away of the state" i.e. no government. Progressives believe the government is the one true God and with government "All things are possible". I think they are strong believers in central planning and control. They are more Stalinist than Marxist.

[iustitia]

The progressive movement mimicked the social democracy or welfare statism of Otto von Bismark's Prussia. If you actually follow the intellectual history of progressivism you will find its roots in welfare statism, corporatism, imperialism, nationalism and socialism. Of course, isms don't really mean anything. The "conservatives" of today are just as socialist as the "liberals". They both support the welfare state of Otto von Bismark, they both support the military-industrial complex, prison-industrial complex, they both ignore the Constitution, they're both bought and paid for and operate out of revolving doors, and they all support monopolies and mercantilism/corporatism. The only difference is who spends the money. They're all "progressives" and isms don't mean anything.