progressivism, individualism, and the public ... - Telmarc Group

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PROGRESSIVISM, INDIVIDUALISM, AND THE PUBLIC
INTELLECTUAL
individual dissent, in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union demonstrate the limits of
social indoctrination.
For a community to be truly responsive--not only to an elite group, a minority or even the
majority, but to all its members and all their basic human needs--it will have to develop
moral values which meet the following criteria: they must be nondiscriminatory and
applied equally to all members; they must be generalizable, justified in terms that are
accessible and understandable: e.g., instead of claims based upon individual or group
desires, citizens would draw on a common definition of justice; and, they must
incorporate the full range of legitimate needs and values rather than focusing on any one
category, be it individualism, autonomy, interpersonal caring, or social justice."
6.4 JOHN RAWLS
Rawls is one of the foremost players in the area of neo-Progressives. Rawls is an
interesting study in how one becomes a neo-progressive. He is in sharp contrast to
Nozick, a colleague at Harvard. Where Nozick wrote what he mean and that was the end
of it, Rawls wrote and evolved his theory of justice most of his professional career. Rawls
had attended Princeton and upon graduating in January 1943 enlisted in the Army as a
Private. He fought at Leyte, in the Philippines, and then at Luzon where he earned the
Bronze Star, which was exceptional for an Army enlisted man 166 . Leyte and Luzon were
bloody campaigns, which I have written about and have spoken to dozens of men
involved in that campaign. Thus Rawls was subjected to one of the most difficult and
long lasting battles of the War.
The Army was under MacArthur and had to dig the Japanese out of the Philippine
strongholds. As I have experienced with many men in that operation it would be
reasonable to assume that this had a profound impact on him from that point forward.
Thus, unlike all of the other men of his age who managed to avoid the War, like
Hofstadter, Galbraith, and others, Rawls was in the bloodiest of engagements. One would
suspect based upon the interviews with others that this was seminal to his thinking going
forward. In what specific way is difficult without having the details.
Thus the issue of justice, and the application of this principle in a broad and compelling
manner as a life work may most likely have its roots here as well as his studies at
Princeton, which combined established the basis of what was to come. Rawls and his
principles of justice can be applied in a broad set of circumstances, from equitable
distribution of income and health care to simple topics such as universal services for
telephone customers. We shall deal with the simple case since it represents a real life
example of Rawlsian justice in application.
166 It should be noted that in the book by Freeman the author a student of Rawls erroneously says that Leyte was in
New Guinea. That would have been an error since the New Guinea invasion was well before Leyte. Also in my boob,
USS Albert W Grant, which was my father's ship, he and his fellow crew were in the battle of Leyte at the same time as
Rawls and I had interviews with over 30 crew men regarding that specific operation.
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