Essay_Worldview Analysis
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
Liberty University *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
200
Subject
Political Science
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
7
Uploaded by ChancellorFish4030
Worldview Analysis
Nathan J Smith
Liberty University
GOVT 200: Constitutional Government and Free Enterprise
Professor Steven Mapes
Abstract
The United States Federal Government was built upon a framework that incorporated a Christian
worldview at its’ center. We can see this in our founding documents as well as the writings of our founding fathers. The political parties, over time, have adopted a stark difference between the argument of federalist versus anti-federalist to their modern-day party platform. The move towards eliminating God and instituting bureaucratic control has been at the forefront of the progressive agenda since the early 20
th
Century. This movement was started by President Woodrow Wilson, and it has been advanced in modern day politics since.
President Wilson has long been known as the father of modern progressivism. During his
presidency, President Wilson was involved with and signed several progressive-led agenda items
(Wilson House, 2022). His focus was on heavy government regulation and control, and in many aspects, he abandoned the visions of our founders when it came to private property rights and separation of powers. President Wilson’s progressive agenda heavily aligned with the socialist, in that, he supported reforms that placed a heavy financial burden on Americans.
President Wilson championed one of the largest economic pieces of legislation when, “The New Freedom” package was passed (Wilson House. Para 3). This package included several progressive agendas that would forever change the course of American economic policy, and to this day, has lasting effects on the government bureaucracy. “The New Freedom” instituted the first income tax and created both the Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service. These policies set in motion the greatest fiscal burden to the American population, and entrenched the federal bureaucracy into American’s lives. We see this economic
destruction today as the federal government continues to tax both businesses and individuals at a higher rate almost annually. President Wilson wanted his progressive movement to go even further. In addition to creating new bureaucratic agencies, he sought to destroy the separation of powers that were drafted into the U.S. Constitution
. Dearborn writes, “Wilson’s ultimate goal was the improvement of the parties and the unification of the executive and legislative branches through formal constitutional amendment” (para. 5). Had this amendment passed, the checks and balances between the executive and legislative branches would have been non-existent. Our founders knew that any man who had absolute power would use and abuse that power for
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
nefarious purposes. These principles that were woven into our founding documents were done through prayer and careful consideration. Many bureaucratic agencies have been created since President Wilson was in office, and each has moved our country towards more governmental control and regulation. It is my argument that the acceptance of governmental control has been born within the theory of equality, inclusion and equity. These theories have become a hallmark of the public education system, and they have been used by the progressive movement to indoctrinate children with the progressive-Marxist ideology. In speaking about the public educational system, these assumptions have been labelled as “progressive neoliberalism” (Lahann & Reagan. Para 2). We have seen that many authoritarian rulers have used children to advance their agenda, and the progressive movement is no different. In fact, the theories of utopianism, Marxism and socialism all align with the progressive agenda, and they operate in the mindset that private property rights are wrought with greed. It is important for the progressive to have a firm grasp on the American youth, and there is no better place to teach ideology than within the halls of our school system. Lahann & Reagan write, “Finally, progressive neoliberalism assumes that public education is an arena for social activism in which educators work for equity in public education” (Para 34). There has been a push within the movement to get kids involved, and we can see the fruits of the platform almost daily on the national news.
It is within this progressive framework that we have seen the attack on the American value system that was created by our founding fathers worldview. They believed that we, as a people, should be free to live independently from dictatorial government rule. The preamble of the Declaration of Independence reaffirms this by stating, “We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (The Declaration of Independence, 2022). They knew that the freedom granted by God was paramount to the success of this nation. The biggest attack from the progressive movement is the attack on private property. Wolf writes of famous socialist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, “Proudhon, much admired by Karl Marx, famously wrote that property is theft.” (pg 49). All of our God-given freedoms are born out of being free to be secure in our property. Without those freedoms, we have nothing. Famed conservative author, Mark Levin, expands on this further, Therefore, principles upon which America was founded, such as private property rights, the free flow of commerce, voluntary exchange, and the sanctity of the individual, and the establishment of a government around these principles, which is intended to undergird these principles and limit its own authority to molest or alter them, are dismissed (pg. 122).
The progressive seeks to destroy the institutional protections that have been established to guard against the dismantling of our representative republic. These efforts have been advanced through
the executive, legislative and judicial branches of our government and are borne out of a secular worldview.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our founders set out to establish a governing body that encapsulated a Christian worldview. These principles were interwoven in our founding documents and the writings of many of our founders. We see that the progressive movement, which took hold in the early 20
th
Century was the beginning of bureaucratic control and heavily aligns with the socialist and Marxist ideologies. These ideals are aligned with a secular worldview.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
Works Cited
Dearborn. (2020). The “Two Mr. Wilsons”: Party Government, Personal Leadership, and Woodrow Wilson’s Political Thought.
Congress & the Presidency.
,
47
(1), 32–61. https://doi.org/10.1080/07343469.2019.1654560
Lahann, R., & Reagan, E. M. (2011). Teach for America and the Politics of Progressive Neoliberalism.
Teacher Education Quarterly,
38
(1), 7-27. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-
journals/teach-america-politics-progressive-neoliberalism/docview/851623859/se-2
Levin, M. R. (2021).
American Marxism
(First Edition). Threshold Editions.
Progressive Era Politics
. (2021, October 25). President Wilson House.
https://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/wilson-topics/woodrow-wilson-domestic- policy/
The Declaration of Independence
. (2022, September 20). National Archives.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration
Wolfe. (2017). Rules for Radicals: How a right-wing economist rigged democracy in favor of the
rich.
The New Republic.
,
248
(10).