With the GOP race rolling along with who seem to be the final contenders for the party’s nomination, it’s appropriate that now we discuss who would truly be the best. If you have been following my articles, along with watching the debates or researching candidates, it should be easy to find the parallel between my thoughts and a certain candidate’s positions. This candidate supports ending the Federal Reserve, ending the war on drugs, sound money, small government, individual freedom, and ending unjust wars. There are only two candidates who would fall under this category, one who I have been following since 2007, and another who I have recently found out about.
Given that there are technically two candidates who would accomplish these goals as president, I am here to lend my support to one at the moment, the one who I know most about. This candidate is no other than Texas congressman Ron Paul (if you are curious the other is Gary Johnson). I give Ron Paul my support for now instead of Gary Johnson due to his refreshingly consistent voting record coupled experience and knowledge. Not to mention his growing and unwavering support.
What separates Ron Paul from all the other candidates[1] is that he does not represent the status quo, hence panic commencement with the Jones’s. He wants to end the wars we have going on in the Middle East, as well as close our hundreds of bases around the world. Keep in mind that he does want to keep defense spending, and protect our borders. What many people frequently confuse about this position is they think Ron Paul is an isolationist. Calling Ron Paul an isolationist could not be further from the truth, he is a non-intervetionalist. In fact, he wants to end our trade embargos with nations such as Cuba and encourage free trade with all nations. Having a less aggressive foreign policy and ending entangling alliances will not bring enemies; in fact it will incubate friends. Wars and aggressive foreign policy are what lead to enemies.
Ron Paul also, and more importantly, consistently, has a refreshingly different view on monetary policy. He predicted the housing bubble would eventually burst years before 2008, and for about 20 years has been predicting the financial troubles we face today. No, he is not a prophet of any sort; rather he looks at the creation of the Fed and the ending of the gold standard. This move led to the United States Dollar being a fiat currency. Fiat currencies and Keynesian economic policies inevitably lead to overwhelming debt though inflating the dollar by printing more and more money and regulating markets, especially during economic downturns.
Paul’s solution to this problem is sound money, going back to a gold standard and having a truly free market system[2]. A system that doesn’t support government leaning corporatism, rather, the increasingly rare true form of capitalism. If you listen closely enough many of the other Republican candidates try to sound like Ron Paul by talking about the Fed’s failed policies. Do not be fooled, they do not see the real problems, but they do see it is a popular idea given the current economic conditions, and piggyback on it.
One might respond to Paul’s position by claiming that free market capitalism causes problems itself, and that being run by corporations who are only accountable to shareholders and board members would be worse for America. However, the opposite is true. Due to the fact that there are so many government regulations and bailouts, banks and corporations are practically encouraged to engage in risky businesses because they know they will be bailed out. In addition, in our system today big banks and corporations have extreme amounts of control on what goes on in Washington.
If we were to have a true free market society, a market controlled by supply and demand, it would be a lot stricter on what the corporations would be allowed to do. Banks would be allowed to fail, thus they would avoid risky behavior, which would protect the consumer. Rather than having giant bubbles due to credit expansion and artificially low interest rates, the market would eventually correct itself, and there would not be a giant mess like there is today. Moreover, if the government handles the economy in the same way they do today, there may be temporary relief, but that is just kicking the can down the road. Eventually, people will face the harsh truth, and the young people are waking up to this harsh reality.
It is no secret that young people love Ron Paul. They are the most enthusiastic and passionate about his message. The subject I believe Democrats and Republicans alike can agree with is individual freedom. The United States itself was founded on the principle of liberty and self-governance. He believes anyone should be able to do what he or she wants as long as they do not interfere with the rights of anyone else. Nor should the government stray from the confines of the Constitution. At the very least people should be able to opt out of government programs. If you are a religious conservative how would you feel if someone told you that you are not allowed to attend church, or talk to others about what you believe? Although others may disagree with your beliefs, you should still be able to practice them. If someone wants to destroy their body with drugs or alcohol, they should be allowed to as long as they do not harm anyone else. With individual liberty comes responsibility. When you are an adult, especially if you can go to war, you should be able to make decisions for yourself, not have a nanny state make decisions for you. One sector of society should not be able to force their beliefs upon another.
One of the most important issues regarding personal freedoms today revolves around the war on terror. Today, we are constantly reminded about the dangers of another terrorist attack. We are forced to disregard the Constitution while at the airport, and have the TSA search our bodies unlawfully. Be wary anytime when any government begins to take away the liberties of its own citizens. When elected president, one of the first things Ron Paul will do is end this dilapidation of our Constitution.
Given that you agree with all of the above, or at least most of what Ron Paul believes, you might respond by saying, “I would vote for him, but he is unelectable”. Well, first of all he has been elected to the United States congress 12 times. Secondly, would it be a bad thing to have someone who does not represent the status quo? I surely do not want anyone who has well rehearsed talking points with perfectly combed hair. Furthermore, if your reasoning for not voting for someone is because they are unelectable, then you probably have extremely weak principles and are easily manipulated by the media.
This brings me to my next point, the media. If you have not noticed, the media seems to treat Ron Paul as if he is a leper. In the 2008 presidential race he would not be invited to many of the debates, much like Gary Johnson today. It has taken years, but now Ron Paul is invited to the debates due to his ever-growing support. However, the media outlets are still shunning him. What is most upsetting are the numerous headlines that look something like this “Romney first, Bachman in third in latest poll”. But wait, who is in second? Oh yeah that would be Ron Paul. It is almost hard to fathom that they get away with something like this, or even think its acceptable. When looking at polls Ron Paul is the most consistent he is holding around a 9-13% (and growing) in almost any important poll while all of the other candidates’ support are always changing in poll percentages tremendously. I attribute these extreme movements to the media. The media seems to have an agenda to maintain the status quo and so they pick their “flavor of the week” so they make it seem like all the other candidates are tremendously different, when they all are pretty much the same. Not only his he ignored in news stories, but he is also ignored during the debates themselves. I have been watching practically every one, and time after time he will get the least amount of time to speak. What is funny is that Fox (I think) did the debate this year with people sending in YouTube questions and voting on who should get what question, and the candidate with the most votes to answer a question was none other than Ron Paul. Yet, he was not given equal time. In the most recent Bloomberg debate, Paul was definitely given the least number of questions, though he responded exceptionally well to all of them.
Clearly, the media and people in Washington are afraid of something that Ron Paul supports. What they are afraid of is real change. If you do not know much about Ron Paul right now, I encourage you to at least just look up some of his positions, listen to what he has to say. Even if you are not interested in politics, or think you do not have an effect on the outcome, just give it a chance. It may take a little while to completely understand what he has to say, especially in regards to economics, but it is truly eye opening and brilliant. Now is the time to turn this country around in the right direction and there is finally an opportunity to do it. If you believe in freedom, economic growth and prosperity, and are in question of our current foreign policy, then Ron Paul is your guy.
[1] All other candidates except for Gary Johnson.
[2] For further explanation of our current system and solutions Ron Paul advocates see my previous articles on Devaluation by Inflation and Failure of Fiat.
