American excess has periodically been checked by pragmatism. We believe in the right to realize freely our full potential, but traditionally we have also thought that this potential should in some way contribute to the national good. That's why patriotism is crucial to a progressive revival. Americans are idealists as well as competitors. We want our system to produce private profit and public pride.
Progressives can take the moral lead by defending the country's essential integrity.
All Americans should be as free as possible to find their fortune provided they don't try to rig the market on their own behalf. Or destroy opportunity for future generations. Moral regeneration is obviously necessary in other realms as well. Voters would rally behind a tough progressive leader who stated aloud that contributing to the common good was an essential American value that needed to be reinstitutionalized in our tax codes, schools, and professions. Simultaneously, with or without the government's help, all of us need to combat nihilism.