We Have an Opportunity
Wisconsin’s
Supreme Court's recent decision to eliminate the state’s outrageously
gerrymandered electoral districts gives us an opportunity to elect officials who will really represent the will and needs of our people.
However, the new districts will not by themselves make our state better or more democratic. They only give us an opportunity to do so. We must make good use of the opportunity if it is to produce
any social good. As we work to take advantage of the opportunity, we can take inspiration and direction from Wisconsin's long, progressive tradition.
Wisconsin's Progressive Movement
During the early years of the twentieth century, Wisconsin's Progressive
Movement produced many
improvements in our society. Wisconsin was a leader in the national Progressive movement
under the leadership of Robert M. “Fighting
Bob” La Follette, and his ideas can inspire us and help to show us the
way to make good use of the opportunity before us. In this post, and in
subsequent ones, I will explore La Follette’s ideas and their relevance to our
contemporary issues. I hope that voters and candidates for political office
will be inspired as I have been by the strength and clarity of La Follette’s
commitment to the idea that our government should serve the needs of all the people
and not just the needs of a few wealthy and powerful individuals.
The Wisconsin Idea
One of the central principles Wisconsin’s
progressives was the “Wisconsin Idea.” It
was first stated by President Charles Van Hise of the University of Wisconsin
in 1904. Van Hise believed that through research, education and outreach,
the University of Wisconsin should benefit the people of all parts of the
state. The University should not be an institution that benefited only a small
elite. It should work for all of the people.
La Follette and the Progressive Movement
broadened the scope of the idea to refer to all aspects of state government. They
“saw U.S. states as ‘laboratories for democracy’
ready for experimentation.” They “implemented numerous significant
reforms … that served as a model for other states and the federal government. The
modern political facet of the
philosophy is the effort "to ensure well-constructed legislation aimed
at benefiting the greatest number of people." (My italics)[1]
The Wisconsin Idea and
Today's Issues
Today's issues are not the issues that Progressives faced in the early twentieth century, but their principles may still guide us. The Wisconsin Idea tells us that our state should adopt policies that are aimed at benefiting the greatest number of people. We should see current issues in the light of the Wisconsin Idea, and we should adopt policies that are designed to benefit the greatest number of people in areas like healthcare, childcare, education, taxation and environmental regulation.
For example, we know that Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) may cause extensive pollution of the water in their communities. Should we limit their right to do so even if controlling pollution increases their costs and reduces their profits? To answer that question, we can apply the Wisconsin Idea's principle that our legislation should benefit the greatest number of people, and if we do so, we will see that we should not allow a single business to profit by imposing the cost of water pollution on its neighbors. The business's right to pollute the water should be limited. Wisconsin's progressive tradition can tell us what we should do.
Today's progressive candidates for political office in Wisconsin can and should base their proposals firmly in Wisconsin’s progressive tradition. Remember the Wisconsin Idea!
No comments:
Post a Comment