Founders vs. Progressives

1. What is freedom? The Founders argued that adult human beings possess the
   right to be free from being ruled by others by the very fact of being born human.
   Additionally, the Founders argued that nature gives no human being a right to rule
   over, or to enslave, another human being. The Progressives argued that freedom is a
   product of human making, and not a natural right. The Progressives taught that there
   are two levels of freedom—negative freedom (freedom from subjection to the will of
   others), and positive freedom (or effective freedom, which requires both the forming
   of the individual in the ethical ideal as defined by government experts and also
   providing that individual with access to all the resources he needs to that end.)
2. What is the purpose of government? The Founders argued that government
   exists to protect man’s natural rights. If it fails to do this, it is unjust. The Progressives, having rejected natural rights, believe that government exists to create rights and to ensure that human beings are made equal. 
3. What constitutes good domestic policy? The Founders conceived of domestic
   policy as those things required for the protection of natural rights in the context of
   relations among fellow citizens. This list includes the criminal law, the civil law, the
   protection of the family, and the promotion of minimal citizen morality through
   government support of education and religion. Most of this fell within the power of
   the state and local governments. The Progressives countered that domestic policy
   should focus on equality and income redistribution, along with proper formation in
   the morality preached by Progressivism, because natural rights are nonexistent and
   true freedom requires “creating” people’s characters and giving them the necessary
   resources. They tasked federal and state government bureaucracies, rather than local governments, with achieving this end.  
4. What constitutes good foreign policy? The Founders believed that foreign
   policy serves the same purpose as domestic policy: the protection of the citizens’
   natural rights. A strong national defense and the protection of borders are necessary to achieve this end; imperialism is not. The Progressives, on the other hand, saw foreign policy as a tool for spreading democracy and for improving the lives of “inferior” races through imperialism.  
5. How important is the consent of the governed? Consent of the governed,
   as the Declaration states, is the only just means by which government derives its
   power and authority. It can never be discarded or ignored without becoming unjust
   and tyrannical. The Progressives rejected this argument. Without rejecting consent
   altogether, Progressives wanted to separate the institutions of government as far from the people as possible. They favored removing political power from local communities and centering it in state and federal bureaucracies staffed by “experts.”
6. Should government be limited or unlimited? The Founders believed in a
   government limited by its primary mission of protecting the natural rights of the
   people. Government was supposed to be powerful in regard to providing a strong
   national defense and to protecting individual rights by effective law enforcement and
   free markets. Beyond that, government was expected to leave people alone and set
   up self-governing private associations (families, churches, businesses, and clubs) to
   take care of the daily affairs of life. The Progressives completely abandoned limited
   government. The private sphere was no longer to be treated as private. An unrestricted government, they claimed, could effectively solve all social and economic problems, both for private institutions and individuals.

Source: Study Guide to “Overview: Founders vs. Progressives” Hillsdale College lecture by Thomas G. West.

Mr. West also talks in his lecture about post-60’s Progressivism where there was a split between the old Left and new Left. The new Progressives believed in multiculturalism, sexual expressionism, and environmentalism. The early progressives rejected these “isms.”

Mr. West also says that universities today are churches of the Left and the professors are its priests.