Welcome to the Jungle
I don’t call myself a liberal (though, many would). I am a progressive, proud of it, and yes… there is a difference. But I am finding I am more and more alone in how my belief system was formed. I have studied the progressive history in the United States and it has helped to form my idealogy in my own country. So many people that share my belief in policy, however, diverge in a shared understanding of what came before us.
If you are well-versed in history, then you’ll immediately be able to associate the words “progressive” and “jungle” and you’ll know that I am referring to the famous literary work, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. He is easily one of the most famous people to come out of the Progressive Era, a time in our nation’s history that exposed the horrid conditions our immigrants were working and sleeping in. His work, along with many like him, is not the type of reading you dive into right after a big meal. But why is it so important to know the sacrifice and great risks these pioneers of progressivism went through? Because knowing how these brave “muckrakers” dealt with the pushback and lobbying hurdles of their time will give us insight into what we should be doing. Their work was far more challenging and they faced danger in exposing these awful stories that should remind us that we have it way easier. Their goals were seemingly beyond reach, but they persevered and so can we. We just have to remember that we’re not the pioneers of social change.
So, what are we to…
