Progressive policies Progressive policies, in this book, are socialist acts of legislation such as the expropriation of Rearden’s ore mines by the government and their distribution to “needy” men like Paul Larkin. The term progressive, in matters of economic policy, is a euphemism here for the government’s theft of private property and the country’s gradual decline into dictatorship. “Progressive” is usually associated with “favoring, working for, or characterized by progress or improvement, as through political or social reform, (or) of or having to do with a person, movement, etc. thought of as being modern or advanced, as in ideas, methods, etc.”
