sockparade

ron paul supporters have no heart

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a long time. The reason I haven’t written it is because I usually steer clear from politics on this blog and people are usually overly sensitive about their political leanings. However, there are just some things that have to be said.

Admittedly, I used to be apathetic about politics. I’ve never voted in my life. But since pursuing a degree in social work, I’ve had my eyes opened to the world of politics and more specifically, social welfare policy making. If you asked me three years ago, I would have told you that I didn’t care for politics but that if I had to vote, I’d vote Republican. Not because I’m a Christian or because I’m conservative in my values, but simply because I was a business student. Capitalism, laissez faire, and small government were all things that appealed to me.

That was then.

Now if I were to vote, I’d vote Democrat. I’m not voting this year because it won’t make a difference in Texas (that’s a whole other post) but I’m hoping a democrat will win.

If you support a Republican government there’s no point in reading the rest of this post.

What really upsets me and makes me want to write this post is seeing the way my generation has suddenly become interested in politics– not because of global justice or sudden consciousness-raising, but because of presidential candidate, Ron Paul. I’ve heard them talk about his opinions on how our nation should be run and they relish in the idea of no income taxes and more freedom. Who could oppose more freedom? Isn’t that what America is all about? His popularity has spread over various social networking websites (i.e. Facebook) with people donating their time and money to create a grassroots campaign with flyers and posters made at Kinko’s. Supporters are organizing local meet-up groups in bars and restaurants to discuss libertarian ideas over beer, coffee and cigarettes. It’s all very romantic.

There are a lot of things in Ron Paul’s platform that are absolutely appalling to me. I don’t know where to start. You may want to take the time to orient yourself with Ron Paul’s website first. I don’t know how many supporters are thoroughly aware of what all Ron Paul supports. Most people hear one or two of his ideas and jump on the mini bandwagon. It frightens me.

A few weeks ago, I came across a powerful article, “Why the Left Should Reject Ron Paul” by Sherry Wolf of CounterPunch, that expresses much of what I want to say. Since she’s much more informed and eloquent than I am, I will break it down here for you by quoting her especially poignantly written points.

“Though Paul is unlikely to triumph in the primaries, it is worth taking stock not only of his actual positions, but more importantly the libertarian underpinnings that have wooed so many self-described leftists and progressives. Because at its core, the fetishism of individualism that underlies libertarianism leads to the denial of rights to the very people most radicals aim to champion-workers, immigrants, Blacks, women, gays, and any group that lacks the economic power to impose their individual rights on others.”

“Put simply, he is a racist. Not the cross-burning, hood-wearing kind to be sure, but the flat Earth society brand that imagines a colorblind world where 500 years of colonial history and slavery are dismissed out of hand and institutional racism and policies under capitalism are imagined away.”

“Citing statistics from a study that year produced by the National Center on Incarceration and Alternatives, Paul concluded: ‘Given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.’ “

“‘A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked,’ reads his site. And he advocates cutting off all social services to undocumented immigrants, including hospitals, schools, clinics, and even roads (how would that work?).”

“Here we come up against the limits of libertarianism-Paul wants a strong state to secure the borders, but he wants all social welfare expenditures eliminated for those within them.”

“In that same book, written as the AIDS crisis was laying waste to the American gay male population prompting the rise of activist groups demanding research and drugs, Paul attacked AIDS sufferers as ‘victims of their own lifestyle.’ And in a statement that gives a glimpse of the ruling-class tyranny of individualism he asserts that AIDS victims demanding rushed drug trials were impinging on ‘the rights of insurance company owners.’”

“Paul wants to abolish the Department of Education and, in his words, ‘end the federal education monopoly’ by eliminating all taxes that go toward public education and ‘giving educational control back to parents.’ “

“Paul also opposes equal pay for equal work, a minimum wage, and, naturally, trade unions.”

“Libertarians like Paul are for removing any legislative barriers that may restrict business owners’ profits, but are openly hostile to alleviating economic restrictions that oppress most workers. Only a boss could embrace this perverse concept of ‘freedom.’”

“But the conclusion that the problem is ‘big government’ strips the content from the form. Can any working-class perspective seriously assert that we have too much government involvement in providing health care? Too much oversight of the environment, food production, and workplace safety? Would anyone seriously consider hopping a flight without the certainty of national, in fact international, air traffic control? Of course not. The problem doesn’t lie with some abstract construct, ‘government,’ the problem is that the actual class dynamics of governments under capitalism amount to taxing workers and the poor in lieu of the rich and powerful corporations and spending those resources on wars, environmental devastation, and the enrichment of a tiny swath of society at the expense of the rest of us.”

“Those of his supporters who are wholly ignorant of his broader politics beyond the war, should be educated about them. And those who advocate his noxious politics, should be attacked for their racism, immigrant bashing, and hostility to the values a genuine Left champions.”

“When the likes of Paul shout: ‘We need freedom to choose!’ we need to ask, ‘Yes, but freedom for whom?’ Because the freedom to starve to death is the most dubious freedom of all.”

Disclaimer: I did not take the time to verify Wolf’s fact finding abilities. If you find any false information or discrepancies, please bring them to my attention as I would love to learn more about the truth instead of just a particular argument.

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Honestly, I think the only people who would want to support Ron Paul are middle class and upper class white collar workers who are white and have no concern for the welfare of the poor and the oppressed in our country. If you do not fall in that category, you really should reevaluate what you are supporting.

I apologize in advance for anyone I offend by saying this. I really just want to make people think beyond “Anti-War, Anti-Taxes, Pro-Freedom– great! Where can I sign up to vote for Ron Paul?”

Next up, the tragedy of bipartisan politics. Haha, don’t worry, I’ll post some cute panda photos from the San Diego Zoo in between.

I like.

My main issue with Paul is how he would handle the transition from a welfare state and all the asymmetries and inequalities that exist in our society, to a society of nearly total independence from central authority and ostensibly a “personal responsibility society”. I agree it is enticing, almost seductive as it reverberates with very American notions of total self-reliance (Walt Whitman anyone?), but he leaves out the “how” of transitioning an entire society away from the dependencies of today.

I am not sure if I can agree yet that Libertarianism is completely lacking in heart or compassion, after all, he is against all war and empire, and he does speak about the natural charity that ought to emerge as people keep more of what they earn and can act philanthropically as individuals or in groups as they please.

So the jury is still out for me on Paul. The most I can say for the moment, is that I find it refreshing to consider a conservatism of life without any references to religious, traditional or social conservatism to conflate the theoretical exploration of self-reliance, not only as a philosophy of life but as a philosophy of governance at the same time.

He often makes the point that there are no valid “groups” to address policy towards, but instead “individuals”. The evidence for thinking, he suggests, is the chronic failure of all attempts to deal with society as a large collective, whether it’s communism, socialism or the “welfare state”.

There is at least some truth to his points, and since we have still not found any system that does not either create great disparities between rich and poor, or distortions of personality and thought, or a stifling of creativity, we at least owe the human race a continual open mind, in the name of humility and the continuing quest to find a better model for managing the needs of humanity.

Just some musings!

i hear and read a lot of stories and comments about people and politicians that are pretty radical in wanting freedom and change and how everything is wrong. and all that pops into my head when i hear and read that stuff is “animal farm.”

i could explain further but if you’ve read the book i won’t have to.

Wow where to being with your naive take on things? You liberals are continually morally bankrupt…

When you cite “global justice or sudden consciousness-raising” – global justice for whom, for what? You are not responsible for controlling what others do here let alone in other countries, and what consciousness are you raising, and for what?

Next, in the article you cite, “libertarianism leads to the denial of rights to the very people most radicals aim to champion-workers, immigrants, blacks, women, gays…”

I am sorry to inform you but blaming someone who wants freedom for everyone else’s woes is MORALLY WRONG. Our Constitution guarantees everyone their ‘rights’ no matter who/what color/gender/orientation they are but if you think our rights come from government, first you are sadly mistaken, and second, ‘rights’ usually means handouts. That’s called socialism…dearie, not rights.

The second comment about racism is just too flabbergasting to even consider. I doubt that capitalism could be considered the cause of racism by ANY stretch. How outrageous. We are supposed to feel guilty for taking care of ourselves? Who have I oppressed today because I am not on the welfare rolls because I worked my butt off for 40 years? For shame.

The quote about the black males is not even his…so that shouldn’t even be in there.
The author is flirting with dangerous assertions that are simply NOT true. Can you find me the place where Dr. Paul said any of this stuff? Why is it out of context?

About the benefits for illegals — have you ever tried to get a doctor in Canada while you were traveling even when you offered to PAY CASH? My friend almost died of an ear infection. They did not want him in the government system, period! PAID! Why should we feed, clothe and give medical care to anyone who comes here, anytime they wish, other than visitors in an emergency? Outrageous.

As for the AIDS, it has been proven that this is how people get it. Have you been living in a cave?

The federal department of education is what comes into the schools and imposes UN/International law, under the UN treaties. This is in direct VIOLATION of our Laws in the Constitutional Republic. The UN grants rights from their wannabe world government. They have no right or authority to tell parents what to do from Geneva Switzerland, let alone even hold any authority over our government WHATSOEVER.

Paul never said we should have no air traffic control. Who is the moron who wrote this article you cite? She is making up things that Paul said with things she made up out of the clear blue.

The following is one of the MOST appalling statements: “…racism, immigrant bashing, and hostility to the values a genuine Left champions.” Paul does NOT purport to be a Left champion. God forbid! There is NO racism or immigrant bashing. By now these statements are libelous and this author could be sued. (And you for repeating the lies in public)

Also, saying that his supporters must be “middle class and upper class white collar workers” is amazingly ignorant. Did you know the man who is handling the recount in NH is a poor black limousine driver with 5 kids? If you ever attended a Paul rally, such as the 4,200 person one in Minnesota on Monday night you would see all ages, genders, races and colors.

There is only one absolute and that is, there is NO FREE LUNCH. Being poor is a condition that anyone can have, and being oppressed still happens, but only with help from the government!

You need a good shake and some education, because wherever you went to school they cheated you. You are pursuing the way of Marxism, and that’s treasonous. Shame on you…

Wrong. Your generation has gotten interested in politics not because of the man Ron Paul but because of ideas. The same ideas that made this country the greatest country on earth. The ideas that have basically been wiped away from today’s discourse. Ron Paul is the most humane because independence is humane.
Making people slaves to any system or government program is not humane.
Ask the social security recipients who can’t hardly afford to eat because they
are dependent of the system.

Because of the failing dollar, because of the national debt that is nearing 70 Trillion dollars including entitlements, because of coming bankruptcy, because of the war lies,lies, and more lies, from the republicans and democrats., because of the draft Charlie Rangle just introduce, because the welfare state causes dependence not independence, because medicare for our elderly is becoming bankrupt, because the social security fund will see a massive explosion of new recipients in the next few years from baby boomers that our old people will not be taken care of if we don’t do something now. Because of the foreclosures and the hundreds of thousands of people losing their homes, Because young people are going to be forced to pay social security for nothing, it was robbed a long time ago, so they will not see one penny of what was stolen from them. Because of the national id card that will be able to track your every move, because you are guilty until proven innocent, because we are losing our freedoms and country fast to treaties, because our jobs are leaving, I could go on and on. You will figure it out after it’s too late to do anything about it.

Do some reasearch and learn the difference between a democracy and a republic. The illuminati created a democracy to seperate the people from their government. Divide and conquer is their motto. Thats why we waste our time arguing over two of the same things. If you really think the democrats care more about this country then the republicans your crazy. Neither give a shit about the people. Our government is there for the perception of control. They are all greedy evil people with the exception of a few. We are slaves from birth. The illuminati bankers are almost finished with their NWO and its not on Fox news buddy. You better wake up and really understand why the Ron Paul Revolution is so big. We are in a world of shit and you havent seen nothing yet. Wait until Martial Law comes and they start using the Fema Camps. North American Union is around the corner National ID is at our doorsteps. Fluoride is Poison and its in 66% of our water and we brush our teeth with it. Lets see we had a Bush president then a Clinton and then a Bush and now a Clinton again. Quit being a sheep and do some research. Jordan Maxwell: Illuminati. Alex: Jones Endgame, Aaron Russo: America Freedom To Fascism,Loose Change, Mike Ruppert.

Instead of trying to paint an illusion, just like everyone else who is collective orientated, I would recommend you to think and possinly read about some things in the term individualism.

Then think about them once again, and again. You might awake from the slumper.

You are brave to write this story, if Ron Paul supporters find it you could be overwhelmed by comments for the things that you quoted here.

The Department of Education is becoming a big problem. They are getting to much say in our childrens lives. If your child has a problem they try to stamp them with ADD or ADHD with meds to follow. I am in such a battle right now. My youngest is having problems in class. Yes, she is hyper, but that is no reason to say she is ADD or ADHD, it needs to be looked into first. You see, the teacher is focusing on hyperness, and does not know much about any of the other learning disorders. The same goes for dyslexia. My child has problems with time frames, common sense, and understanding peoples emotions. Like knowing when someone is serious or not. Now, those are symptoms of non-verbal learning disorder and Aspergers (in the Autism family). The teacher does not know anything about these disibilities. She is only interested in putting her on the ADHD meds so that my child will not bother her class anymore. When I talked to her about these other options of what could be wrong she actually said “it doesn’t matter what lable you give it.” I was shocked and amazed that a teacher would actually say that. It does matter, the treatment is very different for each problem. It sickens me to think that this is happening in our schools. ADHD is all they know and that is what they push for. I must also point out that my child gets A’s and B’s and this is not common with ADHD. Their grades usually suffer as well. When I asked her if I needed to make arrangements to home school her she said “NO, that is not the solution.” I told her that my husband was very smart and could do it and she said “being smart has nothing to do with it.” Wow, another shocker, I did not realize that how intelligent you are has nothing to do with being qualified to teach children. But when you think about it, why would it. They are told exactly what to tell our children. They don’t have to be smart anymore. The lesson plans are handed to them, as well as the tests. All the teachers do at this point is follow the rules and make sure the kids do the work. That is why it doesn’t matter to her what my child really has. She just wants my child to be still and quite so that she can present her pre approved, pre packaged plan.
How is this kind of learning benifiting our children?
Oh and just wait, they want to do mental evaluations on ALL of our children without so much as a warning to the parents. I believe that should be a decision made by the parent. Not the Government, or the Schools!
Ron Paul wants to stop that. He also wants to give tax breaks to the teachers, I believe that will help as well.
I do not want the Government telling me what I can and can not do with my child.

Those statements above are riddled with flaws from beginning to end. Individualism and denial of rights are contradictions. The first statement makes no sense.

He is not a racist nor has he done anything in his life to suggest that he is. Those are just lies. Some writers of his newsletter may have been racists but there is plenty of evidence that he is the opposite of a racist.

Policies of institutionalized racism and capitalism have nothing to do with capitalism. Institutionalized policies are institutionalized by the government.

The third quote was not written by him.

I don’t see a problem with the fourth quote nor the fifth.

I would need to see the full context of the sixth quote to comment.

In the ninth quote, what restrictions are we talking about. The only perverse definition of freedom is one that gives freedom to one group of people but not to another group of people.

The ninth quote is mistaken. It is the monopoly power of government that creates distortions in the market. Every government action has a transaction cost which takes money from the people doing the transacting. There need to be services, but why should government, a monopoly institution with the power of force and no motive except to keep itself in power be given the power to regulate every aspect of our lives. Hospitals have private organizations that maintain standards and so can every other industry. It is not government that made our food safe, it is capitalism. The standard of living increased significantly during the 19th century. The problems that are blamed on capitalism originated in earlier times and Capitalism was the system that brought us completely out of the middle ages.

The eighth quote sounds good to me.

Saying his policies are racists is just plain slander or ignorance.

As for the last quote, yes, taking responsibility for your own life is part of being free. This doesn’t mean people can’t be charitable or shouldn’t be charitable. It just means that the government doesn’t have the right to steal from one person to give to another.

The accusations above show either an ignorance of economics and/or an ignorance of Ron Paul’s ideas.

And PS: Ron Paul does have a heart, he treated many people for free in the 60’s. This is what private benevolence is all about, which is diminished when the government creates class warefare by creating groups of people it supports (including corporations) and groups of people it steals from.

Dear, you seem to have a very narrow and very shallow understanding of the government and the way it operates. Throwing money at problems (like poverty, education, war) does not make them go away or get any better. Actually, quite the opposite happens in ALL cases. Rather than deal with the real problem, government only deals with the symptoms and the results are always dismal at best.

There is no longer a reason to continue to rail against Ron Paul (the most honest, intelligent and principled politician in America). The only NON CFR member and the only one with a perfect voting record in congress. Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate that actually KNOWS how to put America back on the correct path to recovery. But, Americans have already spoken. They want lots more of the same of what they have been getting for the past eight years. And, as the old say goes… Be careful what you wish for…

The people have voted. They want lots more war and death. They want a military draft. They want a total economic collapse. They want out of control government spending. They want a severe depression. They want a very big and obtrusive government. They want a nanny state to take care of them from cradle to grave and to dictate every aspect of their lives. In other words, they want much more of the same. They have readily given up all their liberty for a little (pretended security). Americans no longer cherish freedom or the rule of law. Americans have cast aside and now spit on the Constitution, that gave birth to the once greatest nation on earth. We as a nation have reverted to a socialist/Marxist country. Only one problem with all of this. America is bankrupt and must borrow all it’s money from China & Japan. America is about to be flushed down the toilet of history. I do not envy what you and your generation have to look forward to. You have absolutely no idea what is coming your way in the very near future. You and everyone else who help drive nails in Ron Paul’s coffin will deserve everything they get.

thanks for sharing. yeah, that article does shed some light on some of the inner mechanics of libertarianism. i’m somewhat disturbed by its upsurge as well. it’s really interesting how young progressives disenfranchised with bipartisanship jumping on the ron paul bandwagon pay so little attention to his political philosophy, especially what it does for immigrants. i’ll just say that it wasn’t a huge shock to me when the press found out that racist literature got published under his name. even if he didn’t directly have anything to do with it, his proximity to it speaks volumes. he’s also kooky — somewhat of a conspiracy theorist.

Our sadistically dishonest author writes: “the fetishism of individualism that underlies libertarianism leads to the denial of rights to the very people most radicals aim to champion-workers, immigrants, Blacks, women, gays, and any group that lacks the economic power to impose their individual rights on others.”

An amazing twisting of words and reason. Claiming that liberty leads to a denial of rights is so dishonest and twisted, it can’t be anything but maliscious misanthropy. Just as the marxists twist words to claim that property is theft so they can steal property, so this fool twists words to pretend that individual rights are a harmful “fetish”. Wrong. It is collectivism (mob rule) and the hunger to steal what you didn’t produce that is the fetish. In the end leftists are all the same – filled with psychobabble and envy aimed at anyone who is not poor. But they do not really love the poor. They merely hate the rich. And most of all, they hate liberty, because free people can’t be robbed.

The idea that individual rights are something to be “imposed on others” is so ignorant and stupid, I fear this writer is another lefty moron.

Remember the lefty philosophy:

poor is good – rich is bad
black is good – white is bad
female is good – male is bad
employee is good – employer is bad
society is good – individual is bad
primitive is good – modern is bad
unpopular is good – popular is bad
suffering is good – happiness is bad
self-sacrifice is good – profiting is bad

These morons aren’t thinkers. They are simply hateful bigots.

Some of Ron Paul’s people can be…enthusiastic. But the real question is…

Mitt Romney. Presidential candidate, or time-traveling android?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz2xwTNTUNU&feature=user

The Romneybot looks like what our future robot overlords imagine we humans want in a president after researching hours of “The West Wing.”

This is why I debated on whether or not to write the post. But I love open dialogue from opinionated people, so no regrets here. Many of you represent a fairly well informed population of Ron Paul supporters and libertarians; I am impressed that you Google Ron Paul and comment on tiny, insignificant blog posts such as mine.

I will probably write a follow-up post to clarify some things but I just wanted to say that I really appreciate all of your thoughts as I know I always have something to learn.

I hate ron paul!

[...] start with an apology first. My previous Ron Paul post was poorly titled. For regular readers, you would have known that I always write hideously [...]