Sunday, July 24, 2011

The Truth About What Ron Paul Was Really Like 30 Years Ago

The great economist Murray Rothbard wrote an introduction to Ron Paul's 1981 monograph, Gold, Peace and Prosperity.

Rothbard's introduction is really quite amazing. Thirty years ago, Rothbard understood what a special man Ron Paul was. But most remarkable is that everything Rothbard wrote about Ron Paul accurately reflects the Ron Paul of today. Ron Paul is a man of principle, who doesn't change his views based on the latest polls.

President Obama may have run for President on a platform of ending the war in Afghanistan--and instead expanded the war. He may have run on a platform of limiting the influence of banksters in Washington---and put to former banksters as his top advisors. But it is very difficult seeing the principled Ron Paul flip-flopping on his promises in such a way. Here's Murray Rothbard, thirty years ago, on Ron Paul, though it could have been written this morning without changing a word:
Ron Paul is a most unusual politician--in many ways. In the first place, he really knows what he's talking about. He is not only for the gold standard. He knows why he is for it, and he is familiar with the most advanced and complex economic insights on the true nature of inflation, on how inflation works, and how inflationary credit expansions brings about booms and busts. And yet Ron has the remarkable ability to take these complex and vital insights and to present them in clear, lucid, hard-hitting terms to the non-economist reader. His economics is as sound as a bell.

But, even more important, Ron Paul is an unusual politician because he doesn't simply pay lip service to moral principles. He believes in moral principles in his mind and heart, and he fights for them passionately and effectively. High on his set of moral principles is the vital importance of individual freedom, of the individual's natural right to be free of assault and aggression, and of his right to keep the property that he has earned on the free market, and not have it stolen from him by confiscatory taxes and government regulations.

Ron Paul, in short, is that rare American, and still rarer politician, who deeply understands and battles for the principles of liberty that were fought for and established by the Founding Fathers of this country. He understands that sound economics, moral principles, and individual freedom all go together, like a seamless web. They cannot be separated, and they stand or fall together.

Ron Paul understands that all three parts of this system of liberty have been under grave attack for decades, and that the main problem is the federal government itself. The government has systematically eroded and invaded property rights, has piled on ever higher taxes, ever more onerous regulations, and, most sinister because most hidden, has eroded the value of the dollar and of all our savings through inflation. Ron Paul is an unusual politician because he is not content to shrug his shoulders, to "go with the flow," as Californians say, or to go along in order to get along. He is a man of honor as well as a man of principle, and so he has, ever since he got into politics, been doing something about it. He has fought, sometimes single-handedly, for our liberties and for our savings.

Inflation, as Ron Paul points out, is caused by the government's continual creation of new money, by what amounts to its system of legalized counterfeiting. But, if that is so, why not simply urge the government to stop the creation of money? Why not point out to our rulers the bad consequences of their actions? But Ron Paul realizes that this kind of education, or even pressure, is not going to work by itself. For we are dealing not simply with ignorant or misled people; we are dealing with a pernicious system.

Let us put it this way: give any man or group power, and it will tend to use that power. If the power is inherently abusive, then that power will be abused. Our present system gives to the federal government and its Federal Reserve the unlimited power to counterfeit. The problem is that if the Fed has the power to counterfeit, it will inevitably use that power.
Read the rest here.

11 comments:

  1. That was awesome!

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  2. Fact Check: Obama ran for president on a platform which included expanding, not ending, the Afghan war. Instead he promised to wind down the Iraq war.

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  3. No wonder he is so feared by the "estabilshment" politicians, Dem and Rep alike.

    Imagine, a truely diciplined, consistent politician that actually understands the real issues... Aren't those the traits of the Founding Fathers?

    Unheardof! (for a LONG time, anyway!)

    GO RP12!

    Member of Bastrop TX TEA Party...

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  4. [i]Fact Check: Obama ran for president on a platform which included expanding, not ending, the Afghan war. Instead he promised to wind down the Iraq war.[/i]

    And now we're in Afghanistan, Iraq, and LIBYA

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  5. "And now we're in Afghanistan, Iraq, and LIBYA"

    And Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan..

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  6. Ron Paul's support comes from WE THE PEOPLE, not from crooked corporations that want to continue to buy a government that will do their bidding!

    The FIRST thing you have to learn about Ron Paul is that he calls it like it is. He doesn't just blindly support a person or a party 100% on every issue and no matter what they do. If they're wrong on an issue, RP points it out and plainly says why he believes they're wrong on that issue. That doesn't mean he is their mortal enemy, it simply means he doesn't agree on that particular issue. To insinuate that Ron Paul is deceptive or that he flip flops on issues is absurd!

    The quickest way to get the Federal Government back in line with the Constitution and the freedoms and rights it documents is by electing Ron Paul president!

    RON is REAL! You can count on him to tell the truth, abide by the Constitution and do what he says he will do. That should be RP's slogan.

    This is what WE THE PEOPLE are looking for! He has held the same positions for over 30 years, so we know we can count on him to continue. The good news is, NOW MORE PEOPLE ARE LISTENING and WE THE PEOPLE are noticing just how right Ron Paul is, despite the corporate owned lamestream media doing everything they can to quiet his Constitutional voice! Check out this clip about Ron Paul’s 2008 presidential campaign, he was right then and he still is! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG2PUZoukfA

    “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” - Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.” - Sen. Barack Obama, 2006

    Exactly Right Mr. Obama! It’s a disgrace that you have such low principals and you deceived the people that voted for you in such a blatant manner! We The People do deserve better and Ron Paul is the right man, with the right plan.

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  7. Romney is just another big government, corporation financed, Constitution ignoring, neocon. His money didn't get him nominated in 08 and it won't in 2012. No Constitution respecting American is going to forget that Obamacare is based on a Romney model.

    Bachmann voted FOR the unconstitutional misnamed Patriot Act and she just voted to renew it again. She claims to be a Tea Party candidate. You can’t support the Constitution and vote FOR the Patriot Act! She’s right on a few issues that she patterns after Ron Paul’s lead but she’s wrong on too much to make her the right choice.

    Ron Paul supporters started the Tea Party, the largest and most effective BIPARTISAN grass roots political movement by WE THE PEOPLE in the history of the USA. The core values of the Tea Party are supported by the VAST majority of voters in ALL political parties. They are the same values Ron Paul has promoted for over 30 years… Constitutionally Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutional Rights and Freedoms and Free Markets. Every other candidate that claims to be a TP candidate is only following RP's lead. The Tea Party IS the Ron Paul REVOLUTION!

    Ron Paul has NEVER voted to raise taxes, NEVER voted for an unbalanced budget, NEVER voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership, NEVER taken a government paid junket, NEVER voted to increase the power of the executive branch. He voted AGAINST the so called Patriot Act. He voted AGAINST regulating the internet. He voted AGAINST the war in Iraq. He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program. HE RETURNS A PORTION OF HIS ANNUAL CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE BUDGET TO THE U.S. TREASURY EVERY YEAR. He does NOT support raising our debt and making us and our children slaves to our creditors. He will bring the troops home and end the undeclared and unconstitutional wars we are fighting across the globe. He will end unconstitutional, wasteful and unproductive Federal departments and return Constitutional authority to the States and the People, where it belongs and he will restore sound money but he won't devastate the needy or society in the process.

    We don’t have a revenue problem we have a spending problem and a Federal Government that acts far more like a kid with a credit card than responsible representatives of the People and the Constitution.

    There is a reason they call RP “Dr. No” in Congress, he won’t go along with the unconstitutional waste, loss of rights and freedoms, nation building, unconstitutional wars and host of other Federal actions that are contrary to the Constitution and the will of the People, yet supported by the far too many in the Federal Government.

    Wake up if you haven’t already! Stop worrying about what party a person belongs to and start looking at the person, their platform and their track record. If you’re not a Republican and you support Ron Paul, change your party long enough to help get this man elected. You can always change your party again later. The first step is getting Ron Paul nominated as the Republican candidate.

    Electing Ron Paul is the most important political decision most of us will make in our lifetime.

    How long since you had a president you could trust to say what they mean and do what they say they will do? How long since you had a president that weighs everything they do in office by the Constitution?

    Ron Paul in 2012!

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  8. RP has maintained an exceptionally clear vision of ethical and constitutional government for decades, while holding public office! I don't know of a similar record of resisting temptation for corruption, either intruding into the rights of private citizens or taking payoffs.

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  9. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then we all win...

    (paraphrased from Gandhi)

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  10. Last elections were only the start,a strong majority in both houses with President Ron Paul will require replacing the secret service with seals & rangers might prevent another Kennedy brothers fiasco. Make no mistake they won't give up their power w/o a fight.

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