Listen:
The History of the Progressive Movement
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Summary: Inflation can’t be helped but where does it stop? Let’s look at government programs between 1900 and the present. This episode is based on the book The History of the Progressive Movement in the United States and How Liberalism Has Created a Mediocre Society by Ralph E. Saucier Sr.
Webster defines the word Mediocre as being of moderate or low quality, value, ability or performance. Mediocre is just ordinary or so-so and some things that may be fine but is society one of them? We have always strived to be better than everyone else here in America. We shoot for the moon and set examples for others. Is that what we are still doing? I like to think so but not everyone agrees. What is progressive and is it a bad thing? Ralph E Saucier has just written a book that takes a look at these questions as well as societal changes that have taken place over the past one hundred and twenty years and the presidents responsible for them.
Ralph E. Saucier Sr. – I follow politics and I’ve followed different presidents since Eisenhower and as the years went by I’ve seen the cities of the United States getting more but although they may have earned more it was going back to the government and I don’t think people totally realize that and the message of the book was basically was to bring out all the different programs that have come out in the past 100/120 years to show where their money is going and do they want to continue doing that.
The book has a very long title and depending on what side of the aisle you’re on, you may choose to love it or dismiss it outright based on the title alone but it’s early in this edition of Newsgram so let’s see this through. The title is The History of the Progressive Movement in the United States and How Liberalism Has Created a Mediocre Society and the author has done a great deal of research to develop his findings.
Ralph E. Saucier Sr. – It took me about three years and in the bibliography of the book you can see I researched and read a lot of books and studied a lot from it. I didn’t just go from myself. That’s why the book was written and emphasized and it shows my comments and it shows where the research is that I’ve done in the book.
He examines various changes in the past century and which administration was responsible for them. On the cover he highlights three presidents. Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Donald Trump and I think you’ll find it interesting to learn why he chose these three men.
Ralph E. Saucier Sr. – Ralph talks about why these presidents were highlighted on the cover of the book.
Just to be clear, these aren’t the only three presidents he talks about in the book. He takes it all the way back to 1900.
Ralph E. Saucier Sr. – It basically covers 120 years. If you look at the book and go through each one of the presidents I did cover you’ll find out which president carried this country more into the progressive movement and to programs, different programs and each one of the presidents called their programs something different.
He goes through each administration and looks at the programs that defined them. For example, he says Roosevelt loved the outdoors so he was the first president to involve the federal government in protecting and preserving the environment. Some people like to credit president Obama for that and while he did quite a bit, it started much earlier. He also talks about Woodrow Wilson…
Ralph E. Saucier Sr. – Before Wilson there wasn’t income tax and it started to realize that you could tax the people and it continued through the years to get worse and worse. Woodrow Wilson with all his programs, and there were numerous and numerous programs, if you go through the book in chapter four, that he brought in as many programs as he could be he found out at the end of his presidency is that you know when he needed money to sponsor these programs because a tariff was forty percent at the time and he dropped it to twenty five percent but he needed to make up that dollar so he created income tax and that income tax of course paid for the programs and that’s why they call him the father of progressiveness.
And according to Ralph, many of the programs he created have been taken advantage of.
Ralph E. Saucier Sr – None of these programs are free. A lot of people are saying oh gee look, you know, I’m getting this from the government. I’m gonna get this. I’m gonna get that. Someones gotta pay for it and who’s gonna pay for it? It’s gonna be the American people. That’s basically the strong message that I put across and also where they fit in on this. Do they wanna keep paying for it or do they feel like hey it’s gotta stop somewhere.
So essentially, he’s saying the more programs we have the less freedom we have. Ralph makes a rather provocative point at the end of his book and that is the more the government gives the more they want and the more they get the more we lean toward Socialism. Is that true” Is it bad? It’s up to you.
What’s interesting is the history of it all. Taking a look at history is a great way to see where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going – good or bad. Currently we are dealing with some serious inflation and a record high deficit. I’m not an economist but I can tell you it has to stop somewhere. America cannot keep printing money and expect to have a strong economy. Like Ralph just said. It’s gotta stop somewhere.
Ralph E. Saucier Sr. – The important thing after reading this book is that you have to ask that major question. Where are we going in this country and how do I fit in? and how I will vote in the future. What is it that I want for myself, my family and my country? I am the type of patriotic person that will only do what’s best for myself or the country or exactly what. I think it’s important for people, when they get done reading this, to understand where their philosophy fits into the rest of the country’s.
One of the great things about our government is that it changes every four years. Take a look at Ralph’s book, The History of the Progressive Movement in the United States and How Liberalism Has Created a Mediocre Society by Ralph E. Saucier Sr. Evaluate the policies and programs that have brought to this point in history and decide for yourself how you feel about them. Which ones are important to you? Something to think about.
And that will do it for this edition of Newsgram from Webtalkradio.com
Listen to these other interviews withRalph E. Saucier Sr. On the Talking Books show with JT Crowley he is interviewed on video or listen to the audio interview on Books on Air with Suzanne Harris.