by Ron Paul
As we enter the fall political season, we will hear a great deal of rhetoric from both major political parties and their many candidates for office. It’s important for us to remember, however, that words can be made meaningless by misuse or overuse. And when we as citizens allow politicians to obscure the truth by distorting words, we diminish ourselves and our nation.
For example, we’ve all heard politicians use the words “democracy” and “freedom” countless times. They are used interchangeably in modern political discourse, yet their true meanings are very different. They have become what George Orwell termed “meaningless words”. Words like “freedom,” “democracy,” and “justice,” Orwell explained, have been abused for so l?ong that their original meanings have been eviscerated. In Orwell’s view, such words were “often used in a consciously dishonest way.”
Without precise meanings behind words, politicians and elites can obscure reality and condition people to reflexively associate certain words with positive or negative perceptions. In other words, unpleasant facts can be hidden behind purposely meaningless language. As just one example, Americans have been conditioned to accept the word “democracy” as a synonym for freedom. Thus we are conditioned to believe that democracy is always and everywhere benevolent.
The problem is that democracy is not freedom. Democracy is simply majoritarianism, which is inherently incompatible with freedom. While our Constitution certainly features certain democratic mechanisms, it also features inherently undemocratic mechanisms like the First Amendment and the Electoral College. American is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. Yet we’ve been bombarded with the meaningless word “democracy” for so long that few Americans understand the difference.
If we intend to use the word freedom in an honest way, we should have the simple integrity to give it real meaning: Freedom is living without government coercion. So when a politician talks about freedom or liberty–regardless of the issue being discussed– ask yourself whether he is advocating more government force or less.
The words “liberal” and “conservative” have also been abused. “Liberalism,” which once stood for civil, political, and economic liberties, has become a synonym for omnipotent coercive government. Liberalism has been redefined to mean liberation from material wants, always via a large and benevolent government that exists to create equality on earth.
“Conservatism,” meanwhile, once meant respect for tradition and distrust of active government. But in recent decades conservatism has been redefined as support for big-government grandiosity via military adventurism, corporatism, and inflationary monetary policy. The modern political right has redefined conservatism into support for an all-powerful central state, provided that the state furthers supposedly conservative goals.
Orwell certainly was right about the use of meaningless words in politics. Our task, therefore, is to reclaim our language and reclaim our liberties. If we hope to remain free, we must cut through the fog and attach concrete meanings to the words politicians use to deceive us.
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It is still very unfortunate that the endorsements coming from white supremacists, are instead perceived as if it was in fact Ron Paul, his supporters or libertarians in general who had been expressing support for the white supremacists.
Racists mostly support libertarian candidates because of the property rights and legal right to “discriminate” (in other words the right to choose who you want to associate with). These DO NOT however in any way give a racist the right to use force or threats.
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The “civil war” was not fought merely over slavery, and since slavery had been perfectly legal legal, the south *was* in part right. They did have the (legal) right to own slaves AND the (legal) right to leave the Union.
Slavery had been made part of the constitution, since it was already a widespread economic phenomenon throughout America and the constitution might not have been widely accepted if it hadn’t included it.
There is also the (long shot) argument that war could have been avoided.
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He continues to address all groups, since we as libertarians are individualists and believe that what is most important is the education and rights of the individual, not simply the collective ideas held by the group. Racism is an illogical (and unscientific) collectivist idea.
A few lines in those newsletters were actually not racist, but caused confusion about what Paul was actually criticizing (not race) and the rest of them where not even written by Paul. Unfortunately he did publish them.
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I’ve noticed that Ron Paul supporters used the Marxist tactic of “Critical theory” to avoid thinking. Perhaps the Frankfurt School has infected their movement
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I’ve noticed that Ron Paul supporters used the Marxist tactic of “Critical theory” to avoid thinking. Perhaps the Frankfurt School has infected their movement
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Americans have been brainwashed for years to get that idea.
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Americans should protest against the bias media. There are the real criminals who distort public opinion and influence elections. The only reason why Obama & Romney have support is because of the treasonous media. Americans have been tricked to think Obama & Romney are doing a good job.
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Americans should protest against the bias media. There are the real criminals who distort public opinion and influence elections. The only reason why Obama & Romney have support is because of the treasonous media. Americans have been tricked to think Obama & Romney are doing a good job.
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RNC=DNC=CCCP
“The GOP is smarter than we”!
While, We The People, have hopes of saving our Nation — THEY, the GOP Elite, have none.
We are idealistic — believers that Truth, Liberty and Justice will eventually prevail, thus saving US from imminent economic collapse and the loss of all freedoms!
The GOP Establishment has no such illusions — THEY want to assure that ONLY THEY and THEIR OWN have first dibs on the choices pieces of meat, when the carving of the American People starts. THEY do not want rejuvenation of the Republican Party, nor is stagnation enough — PURGING is needed, so THEY are first in line to pick our bones clean when the economic collapse starts. (Same goes for the Dems in power).
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We, the Real American People (the producers), are the HOST — and THEY, the Non-Producers, are the Parasites!
While the Host was strong and healthy in the past — the parasites fed well with little notice on OUR loss.
But, NOW the Parasites have become GREATER than the HOST — meaning in order to survive, THEY have to suck MORE blood out of US than we can produce for ourselves, let alone THEM.
Realizing this, THEY are preparing the road ONLY for THEMSELVES and THEIR OWN to strip our carcass clean (after they’ve sucked US dry).
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Now, back to working two jobs Real Americans, so you can produce some more to feed THEM longer…until THEY are finally ready to send you to the glue factory… (“Animal Farm” by George Orwell).
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has lots racist supporters – white supremacist website Stormfront, the John Birch Society, neo-Confederates who believe that the South was right during the civil war. And the support is mutual. While Paul would like you to believe that his connection to racism ended with his newsletters, he has continued to address this group . Take at some of Ron Paul’s supporters. If it makes you feel better to just blame it all on someone else then go right ahead but dont say you did’nt know.
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Orwell teaches us that you can manipulate fearful people. Most all of the American people are afraid. They think there’s a terrorist under every bed. The government likes it that way. Just give us more money and you can go back to watching “Dancing with the Stars”. You poor fat stupid Americans.
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While the answer to 99 questions in 100 will always be “Money!”, the defense & maintenance of a “republic” is not all about “money”, but how individuals & their lawful communities remain free to govern themselves. The issue here is that, as power is becoming increasingly centralized, as concentric circles of that power are ever-more financially dependent on & emanating from that central power are controlling an ever-increasing portion of our daily lives, liberty & self-government is ignored.
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your position, that RP undermined the Primaries, is dubious in the least, but specious at best. is it possible you’re unaware of the means & manner in which Dr. Paul was ignored by the MSM & rebuked by the Republican Party since 2008? I doubt it. It’s just not possible for you to blame anyone who fights toxic political machinery any way s/he can. In the face of overwhelming odds, fight one must; lest s/he surrender; to become slave. The fact is, Ron Paul was the only one to defend your liberty.
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Ah, so it’s basically returning to a pseudo-parliamentarian system where Congress gets to have hand on the budget ?
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Indeed, inasmuch as the ministry of The Christ, Jesus, taught just 2 Commandments [(1) Love Our Father in Heaven with all our Heart and Soul; and (2) Love others as we love ourselves], for those who listen, the message of Dr. Ron Paul contains similar principles [(1) Trade with all countries, form alliances with none; and (2) the role of government is to secure our liberty. Full-stop!]. With that said, I can think of no one else I’d prefer to represent my values to the world.
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Before the Federal Reserve, history reveals that Congress (controlling the purse & the Treasury) was the most powerful institution in America; indeed, the Speaker of the House (not unlike a Prime Minister) was the Chief Architect of national Public Policy (see, Iron Duke of Congress, wiki/Joseph_Gurney_Cannon). However, a year before the Fed was born, a revolt against Cannon splintered & fragmented Congress, forming its new “Committee” system; giving the Executive Branch full (budget) control.
»crosslinked«
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You mean basically dismantling the institution of President of the USA, as it is power in the hand of a single man and instead give power to congress and the state legislatures in the form of their respective assemblies ?
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Ron Paul and the screaming fanatics who support him were trying to steal the election. He used a bunch of arcane GOP rules to take over caucuses in various states, using legalism to circumvent the democratic process. What he did was strictly speaking legal, but it was unethical and disenfranchised voters.
But when the GOP uses the same arcane rules to disenfranchise the fraudulent Ron Paul candidates, the Paulites don’t like a taste of their own medicine. What goes around comes around…
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I am very ASHAMED of Ron Paul for not supporting the Republican nominee Mitt Romney. It goes against being a real American and trying to make a difference. I supported Ron Paul from the first time I ever saw him and he is WALKING AWAY from the Republican party and not supporting Mitt
Romney which is SO DAMAGING to his reputation and I feel it will be RON PAUL’S FAULT IF OBAMA WINS ANOTHER TERM when he WALKS AWAY from the Republican nominee choice. I believed and agreed with Ron Paul’s ideas and love for his country and wished 100% that he was our next president. I began donating to Ron Paul’s time bombs, posted several of my donations with my name on my Facebook page, I canvassed my neighborhood, all of my friends KNEW I was a Ron Paul supporter. Today, when I saw Ron Paul leave the RNC and openly say he IS NOT SUPPORTING MITT ROMNEY, I am ASHAMED of RON PAUL it shows that Ron Paul was more for himself being the president rather than helping this country which is such need of coming together, NOT WALKING AWAY. I will post this on EVERY site, every Facebook page, every contact, every email contact, everywhere I can to make the point that Ron Paul is ‘NOW’ not acting as a TRUE AMERICAN trying to help other Americans.
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As a Democracy is antithetical to a republic & as the several states were constituted as republics & as the federal constitution (of the several Member states) guarantees each state a republican form of government, the system of government that must be restored to the several Member states & to the federal agency that represents them to the world must be the republic of our founding, not the Presidential Legislative Democracy that usurped it; thanks to the 14th Amendment. /watch?v=40_4ujNBQ5I
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Without any malevolence, what do you want instead ? You gotta have a system.
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“is there any chance he can still get in?”
None, and it was never part of the plan. He’s there co-opt knowledgeable people and bring “transparency” to a fraudulent system so a world central bank can better monitor regional fiat garbage and ultimately debase all the worlds debt tokens from a position beyond our reach.
Until we end it, you’ll see nothing but propaganda and a world filled with covetous chimps fighting for their share of a fiat scam as they cover their eyes, ears, and mouths.
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from an irishman who recently found out about this guy (all we hear we about is romney and obama)
is there any chance he can still get in?
hope you guys get him in there
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I hope MANY today’s teens and young adults become tomorrow’s Ron Pauls and Gary Johnsons. Replace today’s greedy banker and lobbyist-driven politicians. On the negative, many of today’s teens and young adults could ALSO become tomorrow’s greedy banker and lobbyist-driven politicians. So, to those latter mentioned, WAKE UP& WISE UP!!!!
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I don’t know much about politics, but he sounds like he knows word definitions.
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#WriteInRonPaul
spread it around. even if he doesn’t win, we can still make a statement.
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I think he should, expose 911. Make it year to remember. Politics, the entertainment division of industry
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Can we PLEASE band together to defeat Obama? That is the true conservative patriot’s goal and plea. PLEASE be the one to lead toward this end. You are strong enough to do this, Mr. Paul, and you have enough followers to make a difference for all our futures. Splitting the party is NOT in our best interest at this point in time. PLEASE consider we the people and stand tall for us all. Blessings, Gigi
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Actually not all states count write-ins, so I’ve heard. This pretty much means there will be a divide in Paul supporters votes. Some will write in Paul, and some will vote Johnson. Doing this is completely useless. We all really need to vote the same thing. Paul said he’s not endorsing anyone. Maybe a miracle will happen and Paul will run as Johnson’s vice?
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He said at the RNC that he has no plans on endorsing anyone. He knows it wont make a difference. Maybe the only thing that will work now is for Paul to go as Johnson’s vice. But it’s unlikely.
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Everyone knows the racist comments were written by James E Powell, not Ron Paul. If your friends didn’t know that then they probably should be doing more research before formulating an opinion.
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housepate only goes to show that people are so gullible that they will believe anything they hear, without any proof, if they are dumb enough.
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Do a little research – all the alleged racist stuff was actually written by a guy named James E Powell, and Ron Paul was the publisher of that newsletter, not the editor, so he didn’t read it before it went out. This issue was debated in 2008, but I’m surprised there are still people in 2012 who believe that “racist” or “anti-semite” garbage… Goes tho show how lazy people are that they can’t just google it and find the truth!
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Ron Paul got alot more than 1% of the vote in the primaries and caucuses. And there are enough democrats disenfranchised by Obama’s broken promises, and Romney’s cheating to win the nomination, that a huge voter turnout for someone like Gary Johnson, or a huge write-in vote for Ron Paul could definitely turn the tide. Up until last week I was thinking I should write in Ron Paul, but I’m coming around to the idea of voting (and campaigning) for Gary Johnson.
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Beyond Democracy – Why democracy does leads to unrest, runaway spending and a tyrannical government. beyonddemocracy . net
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