Think tanks and progressivism

I have previously lamented the absence of an overarching progressive conceptualization. In an effort to understand this lack I have been doing a little research on progressive think tanks. It turns out that others have been puzzled by this relative absence. Progressives have an abundance of issues, initiatives and sponsoring organizations, see the list at http://www.movingideas.org/content/en/issues.htm, but, as one writer notes, these “(progressive) organizations have not provided a counterweight to right-wing ideas such as privatization, deregulation, and underinvestment in public purposes.” Let’s examine the political efficacy of the idea of privatization. Why has it been so effective among the masses that have been and will increasingly be adversely affected by its implementation? I suggest that its appeal is not just as Reagan declared, namely, that we needed to get government off our backs. Rather it was the belief by the many that in doing so we could have all the benefits provided by government for free – that Adam Smith’s invisible hand would literally provide all the benefits we were accustomed to and more at no cost. This profound release from responsibility is an instance of what I was referring to in my last column remarking seductions of the mind by the corporations versus the progressive’s call for an exercise of will and discipline by the citizenry.

Why is there this relative paucity of effective progressive think tanks? Some may say that the private funds for financing such undertakings is lacking. Given the amount of money beltway Democrats can draw from the wealthy, I doubt that this is the case. I suggest that the fundamental reason is that progressives have no universally robust perspective to offer the public as a viable and attractive alternative to the three isms of capitalism, socialism and communism. In subsequent columns I will consider at least one possible alternative perspective for progressivism.

Bob Newhard