Reed - Excuse me, professor: challenging the myths of progressivism

PRAISE FOR

EXCUSE ME, PROFESSOR

In an era of economic stagnation for the vast majority of Americans, and at a time when opportunities for upward social mobility are disappearing, careful, critical thinking about economic reality and economic policy are indispensable. It is long past time to dismiss the clichs and restore economic literacy. That is why I welcome this collection of essays.

Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Department of Politics, Princeton University

An indispensable guide to confronting the socialists among us who disguise themselves as liberals and progressives.

David Horowitz, President, David Horowitz Freedom Center

This is just the book todays college students need to understand the world in which they live and will, soon enough, lead. I encourage every parent, grandparent, and concerned citizen who cares deeply about Americas future to give copies to all of the young people they know. It may be the only time these students ever learn the truth about the way the world works.

Christopher Long, President, Intercollegiate Studies Institute

Larry Reed is one of the sharpest thinkers and clearest communicators in the free-market movement. His well-organized book refutes the widespread collectivist mythology that chomps away daily at Americas liberty and prosperity. Reed and his co-authors lead us through the socialists rubble and then chart a common-sense path to good times. I learned plenty from this book, and so will you.

Deroy Murdock, Fox News Contributor, Senior Fellow, Atlas Network

EXCUSE ME, PROFESSOR

Copyright 2015 by Foundation for Economic Education

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, website, or broadcast.

Regnery is a registered trademark of Salem Communications Holding Corporation

First e-book edition 2015: 978-1-62157-466-8

The Library of Congress has cataloged the paperback edition as follows:

Excuse me, professor: challenging the myths of progressivism / edited by Lawrence W. Reed ; introduction by Ron Robinson.

pages cm

1. Free enterprise--United States. 2. Progressivism (United States politics) 3. Capitalism--Political aspects--United States. 4. United States--Politics and government--21st century. I. Reed, Lawrence W., editor of compilation.

HB95.E968 2015

330.973--dc23

2015021727

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CONTENTS

CLICHS ARE TIRED, SHOP-WORN AND OFTEN MISLEADING. SO WHY COMPILE A book of them? Because when they are deployed in the service of a flawed ideology, dressed up to appear new and refreshing, they lead well-meaning people down dead-end paths.

Though it often emanates from the ivory towers of academia, progressivism is a dead-end philosophy. Its central notion is that an educated elite should plan and engineer societies by the use of centralized power. Progressives reject many of the principles upon which America was founded, including small and limited government, individual liberty and choice, the sanctity of contract and private property, and a free market economy.

In many respects, theres little thats truly progressive about progressivism. One of the crucial lessons of history is that human progress happens when humans are free, yet the progressive agenda would substantially diminish freedom while promising the unachievablea gargantuan but somehow wise and compassionate State. Because progressives cant succeed if they level with people in clear and accurate terms, they resort to an endless stream of half-truths. Theyve been at it for so longmore than a centurythat many of those half-truths are now clichs that are widely familiar but often ineffectively answered.

Think of this collection as a handy reference guide no matter what your level of education or choice of profession may be. You dont need to be an economist or philosopher to understand whats written here. Progressive clichs are presented, then stripped of their deceptions with compelling arguments for a broad, lay audience. For people who are actively engaged in advancing liberty and combatting the fallacies of progressivism, this will be an indispensable addition to your arsenal of intellectual ammunition.

It is more than a happy coincidence that the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) should collaborate with Young Americas Foundation (YAF) in this important project. The antecedents to this book are two classic FEE publications that YAF helped distribute in the past: Clichs of Politics, published in 1994, and the more influential Clichs of Socialism, which made its first appearance in 1962. Indeed, this new collection contains a number of chapters from those two earlier works, updated for the present day. Other entries first appeared in some version in FEEs magazine, The Freeman. Still others are brand new, never having appeared in print anywhere.

This anthology of essays, with the exception of #52, appeared under the online series title, Clichs of Progressivism from April 2014 to April 2015 on the YAF and FEE websites. Our two organizations are delighted to provide this book to a large audience of both newcomers to the ideas of liberty and older friends who want updated answers to the evolving deceptions of the statist Left.

The FEE/YAF connection takes on a personal perspective with FEEs president, Lawrence W. (Larry) Reed as the editor of this project. At the age of 14, Larry was deeply affected by the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. Within weeks, he participated in a YAF demonstration against that invasion in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He joined YAF and devoured the information packet provided to new members, including a subscription to The Freeman, Frdric Bastiats The Law, Henry Hazlitts Economics in One Lesson, Henry Grady Weavers The Mainspring of Human Progress, Friedrich Hayeks The Road to Serfdom and yes, an early edition of Clichs of Socialism. As Larry himself has put it, The message was, If you want to be an anti-communist, you had to go deeper than just being against tanks and guns used on innocent people. You have to know economics and philosophy too, backwards and forwards. YAF introduced me to FEE and now almost half a century later, we both are introducing our shared values to new generations of young people.