Clarence Thomas delivers searing speech on origins and dangers of progressivism

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivered a rare public speech this week that focused on the origins of progressivism, the movement's ties to dark times in Europe and the dangers posed to modern America by progressivism.

Thomas, 77, who is known for using the fewest words among his Supreme Court colleagues, and once even went for a stretch of seven years without uttering a single word from the bench during oral arguments, had plenty to say this week at the University of Texas at Austin. The 250th birthday of the United States of America was the occasion, and Thomas used the opportunity to lecture about the rise of progressivism in the U.S. in the early 20th century to its twisted manifestations today. 

He traced the start of progressivism back to Woodrow Wilson, the country's 28th president. “Since Wilson's presidency, progressivism has made many inroads into our system of government and our way of life,” Thomas, the longest-serving current justice on the high court, said. Wilson, he explained, contended the U.S. should move away from the founding ideals of the country and toward a European style of governnance. Across the pond, it was all downhill from there, Thomas continued. 

“The century of progressivism did not go well. The European system that Wilson and the progressives scolded Americans for not adopting, which he called nearly perfect, led to the governments that caused the most awful century that the world has ever seen," he explained. "Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao all were intertwined with the rise of progressivism and all were opposed to the natural rights on which our declaration [of independence] are based. Many progressives expressed admiration for each of them shortly before their governments killed tens of millions of people. It was a terrible mistake to adopt progressivism's rejection of the declaration's vision of universal unalienable natural rights.”

"Progressivism," Thomas concluded, "is retrogressive.”

Thomas argued Americans should learn more about the Founding Fathers' intent, which was codified in the Declaration of Independence, and that everyday Americans should do more to take ownership of the country. Otherwise, he cautioned, "we are slowly letting others control how we think and what we think."

Below, watch Clarence Thomas' full speech at the University of Texas at Austin.