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?The New Wisconsin Idea?

On National Review Online earlier today, Rich Lowry wrote that ?the cradle of American progressivism might yield the solution to states? budget woes.?

Gov. Scott Walker is bringing austerity to the intellectual breadbasket of American progressivism, and seeks to break the grip of the public-sector unions in a state that had a large hand in empowering them. His effort could become a national model for recalibrating the relationship of state governments to the unions that are bankrupting them.

To attempt this anywhere brings yelps of outrage. To do it in Wisconsin, practically the inventor of liberalism as we know it, adds insult to injury. It?s a little like heaping abuse on the Kennedys in Massachusetts, or telling Texans to forget about the Alamo.

Since this point can?t be emphasized too much, I am going to emphasize it again: It is altogether fitting and proper that a new definition of the political compact between state governments and their citizens may be being written in Wisconsin. Since the Progressivism that was launched there may also end (or at least be redefined) there, it is also more than a little ironical.

Consider the following passage from a book by labor activist and author Gus Tyler. Actually, first consider Gus Tyler:

Gus Tyler was born in New York in 1911. He attended New York University on a scholarship in the early 1930s, where he became involved in left-wing political activities. After graduating in 1933, Tyler briefly worked as a writer for the Jewish Daily Forward. His sharp intellect and socialist politics caught the attention of ILGWU president David Dubinsky, who hired Tyler to work in the union's Education Department. Tyler left the ILG after a few years to work with the Socialist Party, but returned in the late 1930s. He held a number of positions in the union and in 1945 became Assistant President, which position he held until 1989. Tyler is the author of many articles and books on labor, labor history, economics, and other topics....

Now, here?s the passage (from a book by Tyler on the history of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union) on progressivism:

The battlefield was nationwide. The pilot and paragon was Wisconsin under ?Battle Bob? La Follette [more often referred to as ?Fighting Bob? La Follette], elected in 1900 as the state?s governor. Although a loyal Republican, he advanced policies that broke the grip of the old bosses on the party machine and protected his rural constituencies against corporate exploitation. The state passed legislation calling fo rdirect primaries, civil services based on merit, regulation of lobbyin, conservation of resources, state control of the domineering banks and railroads, the imposition of corporate taxes, and the nation?s first state income tax. At a later time, [Theodore] Roosevelt referred to Wisconsin as the ?laboratory of democracy.?

Wisconsin was more than a laboratory of democracy, however. It was a missionary preaching the gospel of the common good through the empowerment of the common folk.

Although a loyal Republican (!), Gov. Scott Walker may be about to come up with results in the nation?s traditional ?laboratory of democracy? that rival in importance those of Gov. La Follette. In any event all one need do is substitute ?union? for ?corporate? in the passage above to see the striking resemblance. Just ask ?the common folk? who are not in the previously privileged public employee unions.

With luck and fortitude, it may not be too long before it is as common for liberals to be angry at us for quoting dead progressives as they are at us for quoting Martin Luther King?s ?I have a dream? speech.

Full post as published by Discriminations on February 19, 2011 (boomark / email).