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