"We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive." C. S. Lewis

I want to be up front with you and let you know I consider myself a Constitutional Conservative in the vein of Senator Rand Paul and Congressman Justin Amash. But I seriously believe while being as objective as I can that progressive ideals are killing America, not to the point of no return. We aren't destroyed; we can breathe free again if we choose. But here are three ways these well-intended, but sadly mistaken progressive plans and principles are suffocating the country that was founded on individual liberty and federalism.

First, progressives largely believe that the collective should be our focus rather than the individual. This is well-intended, but it's a demolition of the Constitution. This belief of putting the collective above the individual has been seen through the last several decades to decay our society by nationalizing healthcare, ignoring the Bill of Rights for the sake of the security of the nation, and by creating a culture of identity politics where everything is right versus left, police versus blacks, citizens versus illegal immigrants, Christians versus Muslims, and communists versus capitalists. By not prioritizing the individual and his or her rights we have forsook the whole reason our forefathers founded the United States. Their purpose was freedom. When we mistakenly try to build a Utopian society that's best for everyone we neglect and ultimately sacrifice the individual rights that give people the dignity, the independence, and the courage to live their lives the way they see fit, as long as they don't physically harm others.

It's much like what we call a people-pleaser who sacrifices their own joy, identity, and destiny to try and make everyone else happy. We know what happens. That person usually ends up depressed, lonely, and dissatisfied with life. They have forsaken the health of their own soul in order to temporarily please those around them. The same thing is happening to our country through progressive idealism that puts the collective above the individual. No matter how much you please and spend and protect a group of people, it will never last. Only when we enable the individual with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness can society actually prosper and be whole again.

The progressive ideal of national security is also killing the idea of America. This runs deep through both the Democrat and Republican political parties. The terrorist attack of 9/11 certainly gave fuel to this but it's been here a long time, perhaps all the way back to former President Harry S Truman through Carter and Reagan, both Bushes and Clinton too. Although President-elect Donald Trump has campaigned on a non-interventionist policy but strong defiance of radical Islam, he is appointing cabinet members who are largely progressive in their national security philosophies. The horrific legislation called the PATRIOT Act is just one example of how much the individual and the states have sacrificed their rights in order to protect the collective.

This also is well-intended, but largely a failure. Spying on people's phones without a warrant, tracking web browsing without cause, and using techniques such as water-boarding are the kinds of things a dictator would do in order to maintain power and control any opposition. Starting wars in foreign nations that are in no way truly in our national interest or a matter of American safety just because we think their government should look like ours is absurd. It causes major blow back. These kinds of policies that stomp on individual freedom and the rights of other nations to do as they see fit does not benefit American society. I'd argue that they don't even work in keeping us safe.

Focusing on 'national' security instead of the security of the individual always sacrifices freedom for safety and that is not a successful, long term strategy. It is killing America.

Thirdly, the progressive belief that the federal government is responsible for taking of the poor and disabled is causing disaster everywhere. When the federal government basically sponsors poverty by pursuing the drug war, by granting endless financial benefits, and by promoting abortion and separation of church & state we find that the poor either remain poor or become worse off than before. The federal government since the likes of President Woodrow Wilson and FDR has only made matters worse when it comes to poverty in the USA. The more federal power and tax dollars you throw at this problem the bigger the problem continues to get.

The solution to poverty is empowerment of the individual, not the collective (again). The solution is not to sacrifice the rights of the states, the choices of individuals, or the ability of religion to solve problems like this through personal charity, counseling, and compassion, but to enable all three. States can help their impoverished a lot more than the distant and all-powerful federal government. Individuals can pick themselves up out of poverty if they are empowered by personal liberty and opportunity. And churches can meet the needs of the needy through charity and local support. The progressives are always thinking that the federal government knows best and is the solution to everyone's problems. How much more wrong could they be?

So I'm not trying to pick a fight with liberals. Progressive ideals are just as much a disease among so-called conservatives. But if the United States wants to not only survive this new century but also thrive, we must return to the ideals of those who declared and sacrificed for our independence and held sacred the individual over the collective, liberty over safety, and personal and religious charity over expansion of a greedy federal government.