Dr. Wright,

Defining the "progressive view" in terms of neo-romantic values runs 
counter to Raymond Williams' account of the term in Keywords. As your 
assertions become more heated--"the progressives are still 
fantasizing about the Child"--your definition seems more influenced 
itself by your personal and spontaneous gripe than by an honest 
assessment of this word's ambiguity. Were you to consider the 
complicated status of this word in American history, for example, I 
doubt you would cast it in terms of all things undisciplined, 
childish and enthusiastic. That's the problem with such words: they 
resist pat definitions-- consider "reactionary," for instance.

Michael Dee

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