The myth of progress There is a certain mythology we tell ourselves about progress. It is the story of big ideas and stubborn people, of dreamers who imagined the future before we could all make sense of it. The American railroad fits this narrative perfectly. We picture smoke rolling from steam engines, steel tracks stretching far into the western horizon, and an iron horse knitting a divided land. The railroad was the great equalizer, we’re told, the bridge between old and new, the engine that made American an industrial power. But this tale, like most origin myths, omits the blood and sweat that made it even possible.