Introduction
Although interpretations of such a term as a progressive person may differ substantially, not solely from culture to culture, but even from one individual to another, there are certain overlap points. Specifically, the vast majority would agree that progressive people advocate for innovative ideas and frequently insist on adapting the rules that regulate the life of the society to recent trends. In political terms, progressivism is a movement that seeks to provide every member of society with a possibility to grow, self-actualize, and accomplish his or her goals. This paper examines and comments on the progressive ideology that President Theodore Roosevelt offered, notably presents its basic concepts, analyzes its goals, and describes its achievements.
Main body
It is worth noting that, according to Roosevelt, a progressive person is optimistic by definition. This means expecting the most favorable scenarios in every situation and never ceasing to search for possible improvements (Kakwata, 2017). In addition, the key role of the progressive lies in addressing the problems of the other, for which reason they are to remain enthusiastic and inspiring under any circumstances. A collective image of a progressive individual, therefore, involves a readiness to change society for the better through equality initiatives, free services, and other useful solutions.
On the contrary, anti-progressive people apparently are those who oppose the above way of development. Such a definition, however, is excessively generalized, which encouraged President Roosevelt to enhance it with certain specifications. Simply stated, he characterizes the anti-progressive as those who do not care about their surroundings (DeWitt & Pearson, 2017). For instance, such individuals do not accept any forms of cooperation with authorities for completing essential tasks since they do not want to be under control.
One of the most common megatrends in the modern world is eco-friendliness, improving as well as maintaining which presupposes a range of necessary reforms. Roosevelt most probably would classify those who support environmental initiatives as progressive and those who do not agree as anti-progressive. While the former insists on controlling the emissions of toxic waste and other solutions that can reduce water and air pollution, the latter speculates on why this is impossible. Another illustrative example is the debate on same-sex marriages, of which the anti-progressives normally disapprove and express this through interfering with gay pride, promoting anti-gay legislation, and others.
It is quite apparent from the above that the major peculiarity of anti-progressive individuals is the lack of desire to reconsider their conservative worldviews and adapt to new rules. Cheung & Bauer (2021) highlight that such behavior can weaken democracy by compromising equality and preventing the population from developing. The task of progressivism, meanwhile, is to enable it, which causes an ideological conflict between the two sides inevitably. For instance, large corporations frequently focus on profit but tend to neglect the well-being of the laborers, which behavior is quite normal in the opinion of the anti-progressives but unacceptable to their opponents.
In the above case, a progressive decision is any that targets improving working conditions. According to Roosevelt, it is more effective to implement the appropriate measures at a state level than individually, due to which the right to rule should belong exclusively to the government (DeWitt & Pearson, 2017). The President mentions not welcoming the regulations that particular powerful individuals set among the main goals of progressivism, which actually makes his view of this ideology quite similar to that of communism.
Generally, Roosevelt states that the progressive movement seeks to provide safety and prosperity for ordinary people. This is a complex and multi-dimensional task whose completion requires covering all major areas of public life, specifically, the educational, health care, transportation, social, economic, and political sectors. Thus, a well-known initiative of progressivists lies in banning packed food that contains harmful preservation drugs to improve public health (Kirchhelle, 2020). It resulted in the food inspection act that regulated the content of chemicals in products.
The given an example is one of the brightest but doubtlessly not the only. Roosevelt proclaims that progressivism actually helped the United Stated develop into a democratic society, which means conducive working environments, reasonable payments, and equal distribution of resources (DeWitt & Pearson, 2017). Another contribution to the empowerment of ordinary citizens by improving their financial capacity was the reduction of taxes. Finally, progressivists introduced new methods and approaches in science, hence promoting its modernization.
Summary
To summarize, President Theodore Roosevelt apparently was adept at such an ideology as progressivism, which he saw as a focus on positive changes to the most important spheres of social life. The opponents of innovative solutions, according to him, are possible to label anti-progressive, as they interfere with improvements and development. Considering the latter fact, the President regarded popularizing government-set rules as the main responsibility of progressivists since such an approach allows for minimizing individual regulations. This, in turn, favors equality and well-being of the ordinary population, providing which is the primary task of the movement. The examples that the paper involves as illustrations of the theoretical assumptions improve the demonstrativeness and allow for a broader perspective on the topic.
References
Cheung, D., & Bauer, J. N. (2021). Greed, Self-Interest and Business Ethics–A Comparative Discussion of Gandhi and Novak. Journal of Religion and Business Ethics, 4, article 2.
DeWitt, B. P., & Pearson, S. A. (2017). The progressive movement: A non-partisan comprehensive discussion of current tendencies in American politics. Routledge.
Kakwata, F. (2017). The progressive Pentecostal conception of development within an African context of poverty. Stellenbosch Theological Journal, 3(1), 159-183. Web.
Kirchhelle, C. (2020). Pyrrhic progress: The history of antibiotics in Anglo-American food production. Rutgers University Press.