Progressives are a danger to the United States, freedom, and liberty.

To win this debate, I must demonstrate that progressivism does not constitute a danger to 1) the United States of America, 2) freedom, and 3) individual liberty. Seeing as my opponent has not provided a definition for progressivism, liberty, or freedom, I shall undertake to do so. My opponent has also not specified a format for rounds 2 and 3 of this debate. In the interest of fairness, I will make my case for progressivism in this round and reserve my response to my opponent's statements for round 3. The concept of freedom can be said to have two qualities: positive and negative freedom. Positive freedom is the freedom for something. Negative freedom is the freedom from something. Insofar as I can demonstrate that the Progressive Movement expands what people are free to do and what they are free from, I will have effectively shown that the Progressive Movement does not constitute a danger to freedom [1]. Liberty is very similar to freedom but has a slightly different connotation. It includes the power of choice, freedom from tyranny, the ability to enjoy rights and privileges, and certainly the right to expect one's rights not to be infringed upon [2]. This is the standard which I shall use to demonstrate that the Progressive Movement is not, in fact, a danger to liberty. The American Progressive Movement has a long history dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early progressives hailed from a variety of ideological backgrounds and the movement arose in response to the economic and social problems of rapid industrialization. Specifically, progressives sought to combat poverty, class warfare, racism, violence, and widespread political corruption. Progressives sought to wrest the government from the control of large corporate interests and secure a greater voice for the people in government affairs. Through this endeavor, progressives sought, and still seek, to align government action with the interests of the masses. Progressives are responsible for ending child labor, gaining universal suffrage for women and minorities, expanding protections for workers through labor unions and political advocacy, anti-trust legislation preventing corporate monopolies from choking out competition in the marketplace, and electoral reforms that removed the power of party bosses to unilaterally select party candidates and required an open primary to democratically select the candidate instead [3]. Historically, we can see that the Progressive Movement can be said to have worked for the empowerment of the people, the expanding of freedoms to elect government officials and operate in competitive marketplaces while simultaneously expanding freedom from oppression. Further, liberty is maximized as one important quality of liberty includes the ability to enjoy one's rights and privileges. If a man is denied an education and impoverished, is he truly free? Can he advocate his case to his political representatives? Will they listen to an incoherent case from an uneducated and poor man? By empowering the individual and ensuring access to basic levels of education and resources, the Progressive Movement has expanded, not diminished, the liberty of society. In the modern context, the Progressive Movement has certainly changed but still adheres to the basic tenants provided by their historical forbearers. At this point, it is important to note that "progressive" is not merely another word for "liberal." Liberalism implies a set of ideals based upon the social contract, positive and negative freedoms, equality before the law, and equality of opportunity [4]. Progressivism, on the other hand, is a methodology of problem-solving. Progressivism is an experimental approach to solving societal ills using data, research, and science in a pragmatic manner. This pragmatism allows progressives to take a critical approach to problem solving and to change course when necessary. This movement recognizes that the world is dynamic and solutions must change as the nature of the problems they aim to address change as well. Modern progressivism is mostly found within the larger framework of liberalism as those with liberal values have most often chosen this path. As such, modern progressivism uses the progressive methodology in accordance with many liberal values [5]. Contemporary progressives have often found themselves to be at odds with the mainstream of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Primary held this year in which Bernie Sanders offered a competitive challenge to Hillary Clinton, who is often regarded as an exemplar of the mainstream of the Democratic party, illuminated the stark contrast between the establishment-oriented and progressive elements of the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders was overwhelmingly perceived to be the more progressive candidate and would have been the first choice of progressives [6]. Progressivism is therefore a unique aspect of the Democratic Party and it is useful at this point to turn to an organization which espouses the views of this progressive element of the party for information regarding that for which progressives stand. The Congressional Progressive Caucus is one such organization and in a document entitled "The Progressive Promise: Fairness for All," they list several of the most pressing issues to contemporary progressives. Some of these issues include: upholding the right to universal healthcare access at affordable costs, preserving Social Security benefits, increased infrastructure spending, protecting the right to organize, fighting against the intrusion of government surveillance upon the private matters of United States citizens, protecting voting rights and fighting against discrimination, seeking universal disarmament of nuclear weapons and increased efforts to engender international cooperation for nuclear non-proliferation, protecting the environment, and transitioning to renewal energy sources as a means to obtain energy security and independence [7]. I will now demonstrate several of the ways through which these goals not only fail to present a danger to freedom, liberty, and the United States of America, but, in fact, contribute to the preservation of each of them. Through increasing spending on infrastructure, American citizens will enjoy the benefits of increased availability and quality of public goods. The roads, railways, power supplies, etc. provided for public use grant Americans the freedom and opportunity to enjoy the benefits of national commerce and interstate trade and the freedom of movement within the United States. It is estimated that there are thousands of communities in the United States with greater lead levels in their water than was found in Flint, MI [8]. Addressing this through upgraded infrastructure would grant Americans in those communities the freedom to obtain access to clean water and give their children the freedom to grow up without developmental issues. Furthermore, it is hard to imagine a better example of providing for the safety of the United States than to advocate for the removal of toxins from the drinking water of Americans. Protecting voting rights and combating discrimination is a clear example of expanding the liberties of Americans from the tyranny of others. The freedom to vote for political representatives is one which Americans of all walks of life have long held to be of crucial importance, for how can freedom exist in an undemocratic nation? Perhaps no single example illustrates better that progressives fight for the continuance of the United States of America than the push for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. As long as they remain upon the face of this Earth, nuclear weapons represent a dire threat to all of humanity. The consequences of a nuclear war are well-understood to be uniquely disastrous. Fighting to rid the world of nuclear weapons and to prevent the spread of these weapons to hostile international actors in no way constitutes a danger to the United States, quite the opposite. Finally, climate change, as much as some may wish it were not so, is a dire threat to this world and to the security of the United States of America [9]. Should sea levels rise, millions will be forced from their homes and the ensuing refugee crisis will make the present one seem of no moment [10]. Furthermore, increased famine and drought will necessary resources to become scarce which will, in turn, lead to the increased incidence of war to compete for these scarce resources. International terrorism can only be expected to increase in the face of world-wide instability while the capacity of states to combat it will be decreased [11]. Clearly, the Progressive Movement"s commitment to prevent climate change from worsening strengthens the ability of Americans to enjoy freedom and liberty and provides for the preservation of the United States of America. Sources: 1. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com... 2. https://www.merriam-webster.com... 3. http://www.u-s-history.com... and https://www.laprogressive.com... 4. https://www.britannica.com... 5. http://bpicampus.com... 6. http://www.truth-out.org... and https://medium.com... 7. https://cpc-grijalva.house.gov... 8. https://www.nytimes.com... 9. http://climate.nasa.gov... 10. https://www.theguardian.com... 11. https://www.dni.gov...