The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be [Hardcover]

Michael Lux (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0470395117 | ISBN-13: 978-0470395110

This is an accessible book that delineates how progressives and the progressive movement have created the American idea and ideals and forged the kind of country in which we want to live. It creates a platform from which to argue how progressives today are fighting to improve America, in contrast to how conservatives have always worked to defend the interests of elites.

Each chapter will tell the reader a story focusing on different subjects, such as efforts to enact civil rights laws, social security, the middle class, how the idea of America changed the world, and why most of us can vote.

Lux points out what he feels the Democrats have done wrong during the last decades and how the lessons of history can point to making positives changes. Lux shows how the progressives have been instrumental in creating big positive change moments, and argues that as a new administration takes office in 2009 the time will be ripe for a new big change moment,. He outlines how he believes progressive policies can be channeled to solves the big problems facing us today.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The next time you hear a conservative accusing progressives (a.k.a. liberals) of being unpatriotic and anti-American, tell them this: "Progressives invented the American ideal and inspired the American Revolution. Conservatives, then known as Tories, opposed it. Since then, every major advancement in American freedom, democracy, social justice, and economic opportunity has been fostered, fought for, and won by progressives against conservative resistance. Now who's anti-American?"

In The Progressive Revolution, author Michael Lux gives new life to the chapters of American history that conservatives want everyone to forget. He demonstrates clearly that progressives and the progressive movement created American ideals and forged the kind of country in which we want to live, while conservatives, in William F. Buckley's famous phrase, stood "athwart history yelling 'Stop'."

Lux begins by restoring Tom Paine to his rightful place as the inspiration for the American Revolution and reclaiming the Declaration of Independence as a clarion call for progressive democracy that has echoed around the world and through the ages. He goes on to recount the big change moments in American history, from the Bill of Rights through the ending of slavery to the great twentieth-century accomplishments of the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the civil rights movement. He also documents the conservative backlash that strove to prevent and then reverse each of these expansions of freedom.

This clear and accessible account does more than set the record straight on such great progressive achievements as women's suffrage, national parks, Social Security, civil rights legislation, and restoring the environment. It builds a platform from which to argue that progressives today continue the centuries-old struggle to improve America and advance the cause of freedom, in contrast to how conservatives have always worked to defend the interests of elites and instill fear of big changes.

Whether you're a political junkie, an impassioned progressive, a history buff, or a conservative seeking insights on how the other side thinks, The Progressive Revolution will challenge your preconceptions, expand your understanding of American history, and give you plenty of food for thought.

From the Back Cover

Advance praise for The Progressive Revolution

"Using history as his canvas, Mike Lux illustrates how the progressive movement has made America a far better place, and how the conservatives who have opposed progressive change every step of the way have set our country back time and time again. Passionate and personal, The Progressive Revolution is as inspiring as it is informative."
–Arianna Huffington, founder, HuffingtonPost.com, and bestselling author

"I think the world of Mike Lux, and think he may be one of the best organizers and thinkers we've ever seen in progressive politics and the progressive movement."
–Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader

"If you're a progressive like me, you'll love Mike Lux's book. He combines a historian's sweep with a blogger's punch. His book is essential reading for all of us who believe in progressive change."
–Paul Begala, former counselor to President Bill Clinton, Democratic strategist

"A history of the ongoing battle between those who have fought for equal rights and the common good vs. those who have defended slavery, Jim Crow, and all manner of bad things in the name of preserving tradition is crucial for people to understand. Mike Lux has been a leader in the fight for progressive causes for a long time now, and he tells an important story about the nature of politics in America."
–Donna Brazile, Gore 2000 campaign manager, Democratic strategist

"Mike is unique in being able to bridge the inside and outside in politics. He was the very first insider to notice MoveOn, just days after our first petition in 1998, and really helped us get our footing. And he's helped countless times since. Mike is that rarest breed: a populist insider. He brings that perspective to The Progressive Revolution, telling the great story of how progressives have given us a better America."
–Wes Boyd, cofounder, MoveOn.org

"As a seasoned political practitioner with a keen grasp of American history, Mike Lux brings a special perspective to the task of defining the progressive challenge today. He finds the answers in the story of America's progress, which he tells with great care, insight, and originality."
–David Brock, founder, Media Matters for America

"Mike Lux gets what so many others in professional politics don't: that being a good progressive has always been good politics. The fact that he has survived—and thrived—for so long in campaigns and elections is a testament not just to his personal perseverance, but to the power of a progressive message."
–David Sirota, bestselling author of The Uprising

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (January 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470395117
• ISBN-13: 978-0470395110
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 0.9 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #722,475 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 72 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfectly Timed Book with a Critical Message January 17, 2009

By Robert Creamer

Format:Hardcover

This is a brilliant book by Democratic strategist and author Mike Lux. It documents the periods in our history when conservative domination led to progressive renewal. The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be, describes the five "big change" moments in American history since the American Revolution: the Bill of Rights, the ending of slavery, the Progressive Era, the New Deal and the civil rights movement.

Lux argues that big changes have never occurred gradually - nor have they been spread randomly over our history. Rather, they have been concentrated in these periods of "big change." In each, a cascade of progressive innovation took place over a short period of time, after years of right wing opposition.

He writes: "Progressives invented the American ideal and inspired the American Revolution. Conservatives, then known as Tories, opposed it. Since then, every major advancement in American freedom, democracy, social justice, and economic opportunity has been fostered, fought for, and won by progressives against conservative resistance. Now who's anti-American?"

Lux's message is especially appropriate today, as we cross the threshold of another period of "big change".

History will record that George W. Bush made one critically important contribution to our country - and to the entire world. He and his administration provided unquestionable proof of the bankruptcy of radical-conservative ideology, and set the stage for a qualitatively different progressive era in American politics.

History is not linear. It is not gradual or evolutionary. Human progress proceeds in fits and starts like a volcano, where pressure gradually builds over years and then erupts with enormous power.

Very often those explosions of progress - periods when we expand the realm of democratic values, human dignity, economic opportunity and optimism -- are precipitated by periods of domination by the forces of privilege, inequality and selfishness.

By assuring that all of the fruits of the growth of productivity in our economy went to the wealthiest 2% of our population, the Bush Administration set the stage for the current economic collapse.

By actually putting into practice the Neo-Conservative theories of pre-emptive war and unilateralism, George W. Bush demonstrated their failure more persuasively than could the most articulate progressive critic.

By abandoning our historic commitment to due process and sinking into the dark world of torture, George W. Bush and his partner Dick Cheney isolated themselves from the growing worldwide commitment to human rights.

The inauguration of Barack Obama has raised the curtain on - what could a transformational period - if we all make it so.

As for Bush, he will be remembered as the man who set the stage. He has played the Hoover to Obama's Roosevelt, the James Buchanan to Obama's Lincoln.

Lux's study also makes something else absolutely clear. In American history, the pendulum has not swung inevitably back and forth between conservative and progressive periods with some form of historic equivalency. Instead, the changes emerging from periods of progressive success, once made, remain a permanent feature of our society.

Conservatives fought against the ending of slavery, women's suffrage, Social Security, collective bargaining, Medicare, and the end of segregation. After the progressive period that brought them to life was done, a conservative backlash often tried to limit the scope of these important advances - with Jim Crow, assaults on Labor, or attempts to privatize Social Security. But conservatives have never been successful at eliminating them.

Once enacted, progressive change is hard to dislodge. That's because progressive change is progress. Progressive values are the most adaptive trait human beings have yet created to ensure our success and survival on this small planet.

The Right battled for decades to take complete control of the levers of power in Washington. The election of George W. Bush finally gave them the ability to combine the power of the Presidency with their control of Congress to make their program the law of the land.

Ironically, their very success may assure that George W. Bush is remembered as the President whose failures created the conditions we needed to craft a new bottom-up economy, to pass universal health care and to create new international institutions that bring us closer to a world where we no longer rely on war to resolve our differences.

Of course nothing is inevitable. We cannot afford to squander the opportunity that history and George W. Bush have provided us. Lux calls on all us to report for duty in the battle to turn this historic opportunity into the next great period of progress in America.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Time for a "Progressive Revolution" February 6, 2009

By L. Feld

Format:Hardcover

We often see books from the right-wing perspective that demonize "liberalism" and denigrate the role of government in fighting for the common good and bettering all of our lives. Unfortunately, we don't see nearly as many books, especially articulate, powerful and persuasive ones like "The Progressive Revolution," from the progressive perspective. Lucky for us, Mike Lux has written just such a book, and I strongly recommend that everyone read what he has to say.

The book's argument is simple: when progressives have been in charge, the country has made great strides; when conservatives have been in charge, we've stagnated or moved backwards. In fact, some of the greatest disasters or near-disasters in American history have come during periods of conservative ascendancy, and Mike Lux lays those out for all of us who need a history refresher course. What's most amazing is that, in spite of an almost unmitigated record of harming workers, family farms, the poor, the sick, the elderly, children, the environment, not to mention the freedoms we cherish, conservatives have managed to win even one election, let alone many of them. In part, this is a result of conservatives effectively making their case (even if it's based on fear and lies), but in part it's also the result of progressives failing to make their own, much stronger case.

That obviously needs to change, and Lux is hopeful that we'll see that in the Obama administration. However, nothing's automatic; what's required here is pressure from both the "top down" AND the "bottom up." Netroots activism, as I write in my own book ("Netroots Rising"), is the key today, just as it has been since Thomas Paine penned his brilliant pamphlet ("Common Sense") that made such an enormous contribution to the American revolution. Today, we have an army of "Thomas Paines" essentially functioning as modern-day pamphleteers. This reengagement with our Democracy, after years of alienation and cynicism, represents our greatest hope at achieving the positive "change we need." Read Mike Lux's book and discover why only progressives can deliver that change.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating and readable February 19, 2009

By J. W. Stockwell

Format:Hardcover

I have to admit I'm not much of a history buff, but Lux might just convert me into one. I bought this book as I define myself as progressive and am hopeful for change with Obama's administration. With a couple young kids, I have very little time for reading, but once I picked up Lux's book I had a hard time putting it down. It's a fascinating read, and is very relevant to my own little life and all those convoluted arguments swimming around in both the media today and in my brain. I get angry at neo-conservatives for their nonsensical tongue-lashings of "liberals", and Lux's book has helped delineate the arguments and put it all in historical context. Also, I feel ten times more patriotic after reading this book, and more connected with the goals of democracy and of this country than I ever have before. Pretty good for feeling disenfranchised for most of my life. The best part is that it reads like a true American novel as it has a happy ending. Well, I should say hopeful ending...

Buy it. Read it. Go out and change the world.