Essay Sample on Progressives: Agents of Change for Welfare and Progress

Introduction

Progressives were mainly people from different professions that advocated for the welfare of society by ensuring that the community progresses from the actions of the government. Most progressives believed in democracy and considered it essential for the eradication of all the issues of the government. Some progressives focused on the issues affecting a society while others were concerned with the production of genuine progress and reforms. Progressives were also referred to as communists. Professor Harvey Klehr, the author of the article, 'Was Joe McCarthy Right?' documents how the beliefs of the progressives progressed over the years. Therefore, this paper reviews the report, 'Was Joe McCarthy Right?' by primarily focusing on how the ideas of the progressives advanced over the years to include their unpatriotic nature to the American state eventually.

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Initially, the progressives or rather the communist party of the United States was a group of people committed to protecting the country's democracy, civil rights, and labor. Contrary to the popular beliefs that the Communist Party of the United States was an independent political party, Klehr (2013) believed that it was not an independent political party but rather a movement that got its life and purpose from its ties to the Soviet Union. The author was keen to indicate that the evidence gathered from the archives of the Soviets and the decrypted Venona files showed that the communists received monetary support from the Soviets and they were used for espionage. The communists' beliefs progressed to allow their active participation in the cold war between the Soviet Union and the United States, where some communists were used as spies. From Klehr's perspective, the leadership of the communist movement did not only know about the espionage but also actively participated in it (Klehr, 2013).

Consequently, the Venona Papers, as mentioned earlier, were proof that the communist party in America assisted the Soviets in spying against the United States. According to Klehr (2013), the involvement of communist spies resulted in intense persecutions of the communists in America. Joe McCarthy was among the people who were involved in persecuting some members of the communist party. Some people support the persecutions others claim that McCarthy was wrong. However, Klehr (2013) believed that McCarthy was right since the beliefs of the communists had progressed to the extent of using spies to support the Soviet's actions aimed at attacking the American government. It is worth noting that the American progressivism was initially based on fighting for civil rights and liberties, but its aims and objectives digressed with time. Eventually, the communists supported a political regime ruled by Joseph Stalin of Russia. The actions of the communists were not an act of loyalty and patriotism to the American nation. Instead, they worked together with a rival country to sabotage the progress of the American people. Out rightly, the beliefs of the communists turned evil as time progressed, leading to the persecution and humiliation of some of its members who were unpatriotic to the American nation.

Conclusion

In summation, the communist beliefs advanced during the progressive era, an act that turned most advocates for civil rights and liberties to unpatriotic spies who worked with the Soviet Union to undermine the American nation. Primarily, this paper analyzes the article, 'Was Joe McCarthy Right?' and identifies how the progressives advanced over the years. The advance, as depicted in this paper, was negative since most of them turned out to be Soviet spies against the United States. Initially, the communists also termed as the progressives were advocates for civil rights and liberties for the American citizens. However, this changed with time after evidence from the Venona Papers showed that some communists acted as Soviet's spies. Therefore, this paper shows that the beliefs of the progressives advanced negatively over the years.

Reference

Klehr, H. (2013). Setting The Record On Joe McCarthy Straight: Was Joe McCarthy Right?. Retrieved from https://archives.frontpagemag.com/fpm/setting-record-joe-mccarthy-straight-harvey-klehr/