Ron Paul’s Closing Comments at the Latest Debate (plus more)
While Giuliani and Romney will evoke “terrorism” and “9/11″ 100 times each in their respective speeches, hoping to prod you like cattle into voting for them out of fear, Ron Paul truly believes in the ability of free individuals to overcome challenges, live peaceful lives and obtain prosperity for themselves. I agree with the good doctor.
The fact of the matter is the overwhelming federal government - which grows at a ridiculous pace, and now owes over $9.0 TRILLION dollars in debt *source* (not including future social security and medicare obligations which dwarf that figure) - is bankrupting our society. Few are speaking up. Mainstream democrats and republicans are content with the status quo. Many of the mainstream candidates would treat the problem with its own cause - more government action!
We are headed down the wrong path and need change fast.
Unfortunately, ignorance continues, some unwitting, some purposeful. Many people are in denial. Others don’t really understand the issues at hand. Still others are led astray by purposeful misinformation by current leaders. It is a truly sad state of affairs.
Fortunately, there exists Ron Paul and a number of truly freedom-loving people out there who continue to speak up reasonably. Unfortunately, the mainstream mentality that is the source of many problems is so well established that it feels nearly impossible to break through with simple common sense analysis of where we stand.
Meanwhile, Bush (Cheney?) seems to really want war with Iran.
And as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the Fed lowered the Federal Funds Rate and Discount Rate 50 basis points today to a FFR of 4.75% from 5.25% previously. Fear of an economic collapse is what caused the surprisingly large move. Too bad easy credit isn’t a solution for problems caused by easy credit in the first place. The US$ is in trouble and any boost the economy receives will be temporary. Bernanke has proven he is a complete fool.
Filed under: Politics, Social Mood, Economics
This election will prove one thing for me. When Ron Paul does worse than Perot did during the 1992 election, I will know for sure that the only vestiges of the founding fathers’ virtues are the brave souls like Ron Paul and that Americans are truly unfamiliar with liberty and justice.
I was recently talking to some Americans and when I mentioned that China would likely have the world’s largest economy in a short amount of time, their response was, “If they start anything, we can bomb them back to the stone-age.” Is that where we are today? If America can’t compete, bomb the competitor?
I’m done with this country. I resent that I will have to live here for the next 20 years before I get enough money to expatriate.
I understand why you’re so excited about Ron Paul’s small government ideas, but I don’t think you fully comprehend what life would be like without U.S. government runing nine-figure deficits year after year and redistributing money from rich to poor.
To put it simply - in a free market without trade barriers or income redistribution, there’s no reason why common Americans should have higher living standards than common Chinese and Indonesians.
FYI -
http://strangemacroeconomics.blogspot.com/2007/09/ron-paul-pt-3-what-if-hes-elected.html
If that is true, which is extremely debatable in the first place, you can thank government paternalism for keeping individuals from gaining the individual skills needed to become a valuable member of the productive American society.
If you create incentives for being unskilled, don’t you think that will lead to more unskilled people over a period of time?
One thing that is true is that it would be very hard to one day snap your fingers and eliminate any influence of the government within the socio-economy without having some repercussions, however, we need to ask ourselves where we want the trend to go. Do we continue to give up more and more of our freedom to government dictates because that is the path that has been established and breaking that path would cause some short-term adjustment? Or do we decide to step back a little bit and ease up on the government control and begin to scale things back?
Nine-figure deficits may make us feel all well and good RIGHT NOW, but you would also be able to live pretty high off the hog as an individual if you borrowed a hundred grand a year for personal consumption. The problem is, ONE DAY THE BILL COMES DUE.
So, yes, it may not feel great seeing the economy with the debt tap turned down a little bit, but that short term prudence would allow for long-run success. Without a belt tightening, face it, we’re all screwed - every honest man and woman in the country. The elites who have latched on as government parasites will be ok, because we have given the government the ability to create perks for certain cronies.
Even if we stay the course we are on, our standard of living will be much closer to that of the Chinese and Indonesians more rapidly than you think as our unsurmountable debt and below-market interest rates are likely to decimate the dollar and thereby lower our ability to trade our currency for goods at a premium in the global marketplace.
So, SD Scientist, feel free to fear-monger regarding Ron Paul and the outcome of his election, but the outcome of staying the course will be worse for everyone, so if you really want to live in an ugly society, vote Hillary or Giuliani or whoever the hell else wants to expand the government and tax and inflate us to irrelevancy.
Best wishes through the storm!
Kemp
SD Scientist, I think that you are living in a fantasy world, saying that the government redistributes money from the rich to the poor.
In reality, it’s quite the opposite. Not only has the gap between the rich and the poor widened by all measureable terms, but monetary policy is structured that it can only be this way.
The Federal Reserve ostensibly acts for the entire American constituency while it furtively supports only Wall Street. Wall Street overextends in good times to make windfall profits with the tacit guarantee of indemnity from the Fed, should things turn bad.
It must be nice to make the biggest profits during good times and be protected from losses in bad times.
And it all comes at the expense of the average American, who struggles increasingly every year to keep up with the Federal Reserve and banking system created inflation (diminishing purchasing power).
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of paying for some Wall Street joker to fly to Paris in his private jet and drink expensive wine.
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