A Progressive is an old term that has been adopted in recent years by the Democratic Party to cover up their continued advancements towards the communist theory position. Like many terms in politics, it is meant to be ambiguous and terms like this are in fact used by the political elites to continue their controls over the Means of Production; the true objective of Communism.  

The term progressive is an adjective that has been transformed into a noun, specifically because it does not have a specific definition.  So a Progressive is What? …. someone that has a progressive attitude, meaning willing to except rational change? I would hope that many of us fit that definition, but I can assure you, as a libertarian, I think nothing like the multitude of past and current “progressives” trying to affect our socio-economic system.

No one really seems to know what a progressive believes in, as many differ in their ideas and more importantly how they would implement such change, if possible.  See how many of your friends support the various platforms below and you will have a clearer understanding of what progressives really believe in. You will be surprised.    

Here are the 10 Platforms of Communism from the book by Karl Marx and Richard Engels “The Communist Manifesto” with some added remarks by another author that I’ve edited.

1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rents of land to public purposes.
Americans know these activities as various permitting and zoning regulations and property taxes…being a disguised income tax based on the value of the property. Zoning and property tax laws are the first step to government ownership of property, as it limits both profits and preferred use based on the owners needs. A number of major Cities like Houston, TX have been created without zoning laws and the overall outcome is often quite superior to centrally planned communities.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
When ever I ask anyone if they have ever actually seen the specific law and the Acts name that requires most Americans to pay a Federal Income Tax they always say NO. Progressives call it "paying your fair share"but Karl Marx calls it communism.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.
Americans call it Estate Taxes and they are enforced through Probate Laws and Federal and States inheritance and income tax statutes.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
We know this as government seizures based on tax liens, drug laws and anti-terrorism, Public "law" 99-570 (1986); Executive order 11490, sections 1205, 2002 which gives private land to the Department of Urban Development. The imprisonment of "terrorists" and those who speak out or write against the "government" (1997 Crime/Terrorist Bill). The IRS confiscation of property without due process. Asset forfeiture laws are used by DEA, IRS, ATF, etc. See USA Patriot Act, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act.

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly. Also known as a Central Bank. we call it the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States which is a privately-owned debt based monetary system created by the Federal Reserve act of 1913. All banks are members of the Fed system, and are regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) another privately-owned corporation. The Federal Reserve Banks issue Fiat Paper Money and the member banks practice fractional reserve banking without the consent of their depositors.

6. Centralization of the means of communications and transportation in the hands of the State. Americans call it the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Transportation (DOT) mandated through the ICC act of 1887, the Commissions Act of 1934, The Interstate Commerce Commission established in 1938, The Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, and Executive orders 11490, 10999, as well as State mandated driver's licenses and Department of Transportation regulations.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. The Desert Entry Act and The Department of Agriculture… Thus read "controlled or subsidized" rather than "owned"… This is easily seen in these as well as the Department of Commerce and Labor, Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Mines, National Park Service, and the IRS control of business through corporate regulations. Maxine Waters in Congressional Hearing told oil execs, she wanted to own them and the recent takeover of FNMA, Freddie Mac and General Motors are examples.

8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.  Fair trade dealings with our Most Favored Nation trade partners like  Communist China and Socialist India. We see it in practice with Social Security, The Department of Labor, Government Workers Unions, affirmative action, Federal Public Works Programs and of course Executive order 11000.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries, gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of population over the country. We know it as the Planning Reorganization act of 1949 , zoning (Title 17 1910-1990) and Super Corporate Farms, as well as Executive orders 11647, 11731 (ten regions) and Public "law" 89-136. We see the results with large GMO seed producers, food processors and corporate farms that are provided capital and subsidies by the political system and the central bankers  

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.
Americans are being taxed to support what we call 'public' education, which is actually a  government forced and controlled publically funded education system. "Even private schools are government regulated. The purpose is to train the young to work for the communal debt system. We also know it as the Department of Education, the NEA and “Outcome Based Education”. These are used so that all children can be indoctrinated and inculcated with the government propaganda, like "majority rule", and "pay your fair share" which are in reality erroneous concepts. FYI:  The philosophical concept of "fair share" comes from the Communist maxim, "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need! This concept is pure Communism. ... and we are now paying the price. America because the greatest society by its individualism and  initiative…teaching ourselves and others how to be responsible, self sufficient and productive and we have historically been the most generous societies in the world. Now that government is in almost total control of our welfare, how many people are homeless and in poor health, how many people are losing their homes and business and how much has the value of the US$1.00 lost in just the last 10 years.    

So as you have come to know, there is little difference between the legislation and government controls set in place gradually over the last 100 years by so-called progressives  and that of Communist Theory. As we got farther away from the libertarian (classical liberal) principles of our founding fathers after the civil war, our nation has digressed to its current state of affairs. In 1900 we were the largest creator nation in the world and today we are the largest debtor nation in the world. We had no welfare system, income tax or huge cadre of government bureaucracies, monitoring our every affair in 1900 and the Citizens were better off for it. Sadly our government controlled education system has given us the wrong perspective of the last 100 years of history and more importantly why it occurred. It was the encroachment of government and banking power over the affairs of our citizens put in place by legislation that started the demise of our society, causing the Great Depression, various usurpations of individual rights and now the Second Great Depression. Instead of repealing these political encroachments we embraced the continued advancements of government regulation and taxation until we have awoken a bankrupt nation run by a fascist oligarchy.          

The U.S. Constitution was the greatest document of liberty ever written, although not perfect and we now have very good historic evidence that it should have been improved instead of ignoring its fundamentals of limited government and the protection of individual rights. Those in power have attempted to twist words, terms and political concepts to not improve the quality of life for the majority but to, as one author so apply stated, steal the wealth of our nation and we wonder why so much wealth has accrued to such as few in our society.