What is referred to today as progressivism (more accurately collectivism, corporatism or democratic Socialism) took root early in the twentieth century. Teddy Roosevelt the 26th president cleared the ground but it was Woodrow Wilson who planted the seeds and FDR the small letter socialist who applied the fertilizer.

It would be left to LBJ however to begin the harvest with his 'Great Society'.

This period in the sixties would prove to be a watershed moment for the country. Capitalism was drowned like an unwanted puppy, and a new system emerged, a marriage between large corporations and the government.

This was the result of a cooperative effort during WWII which many so called progressives wished to continue in peace time. 

The tentacles of this weed have spread to every nook and cranny of American life, and has strangled what may have been some of the greatest breakthroughs in history, along the way.