I am a huge Ron Paul supporter but there are two things that are hurting us tremendously.
1) Treating government and other politicians as if they were "evil".
This is ridiculous, and it is one of the main reasons why the average American and the MSM thinks we are "fringe". I agree 100% that the policies of all the other candidates are the usual recipe for Socialism and international conflict, but this is not because the other candidates are "evil" or have bad intentions. They are simply ignorant of economics and can only envision the government fixing society's problems. Our politicians and government in general are simply a reflection of the ignorance and ideology of the very masses that put them in power. No one is to blame! This is all just part of the democratic process and our economic ignorance. Most politicians have good intentions. Socialist ideology did not spread because its adherents were "evil", it just made sense to their economically ignorant minds and egalitarian tendencies. We are not fighting a battle of "good" vs. "evil" we are fighting a battle against economic ignorance. Government is not evil. It is composed of average human beings who for the most part have good intentions. Sure there are some blatantly corrupt people in government, but for the most part it is definitely not "evil" . We do not have an "empire" that we collect tribute from to enrich ourselves. Our military bases all over the world were put there with good intentions and to prevent Communism from spreading. For the most part they are welcomed by the local inhabitants, and are paid for by the hapless US taxpayer. I'm all for closing them down, but the point I want to make is that our "government is evil and runs an empire" talk just sends the wrong message and contributes to our "fringe" status and is doing us a tremendous amount of harm. I personally don't believe in the concept of "evil", when did natural selection suddenly create it? It is a cultural relic from more theistic times. But anyways. We gotta stop making fools of ourselves in the eyes of Americans by stopping this.
2) Preaching freedom for freedom's sake and ignoring economics as part of the freedom message.
To the vast majority of people, individual freedom and very small government is a recipe for chaos.
"Won't the rich exploit the poor? Won't employers pay less than the minimum wage to exploit the workers? Won't the poor go uneducated and lead to all kinds of social problems? Won't the "white man" hoard all the wealth? Won't the drug companies exploit us even more? Who will help the less fortunate?"
This is the kind of stuff that the vast majority of people think we need government to prevent, and for the same reason they think that without government we will have some sort of social chaos. This relates to preaching the constitution as well. The constitution is a recipe for individual freedom and therefore small government. Most people believe that so much freedom might have worked well in the simpler past, but the complexities of our modern world and the aforementioned fears lead us to think that so much freedom and so little government is antiquated, and again, a recipe for social chaos. Only an understanding of economics can really help someone understand how individual freedom, as opposed to leading to social chaos, is the key ingredient to a prosperous social order. Without this understanding of economics, it makes perfect sense why the vast majority of Americans, as well as pretty much everyone else in the world, falls for big government ideas.
Bottom line... Economics, patience, and understanding of other people's fear of freedom is the key. Not combative, polarizing confrontation or shouting. Ron Paul supporters should try to become an educational army. Maybe not an "army" more like economic evangelicals, no need to seem violent, we want to be understanding and confidently soothe people's fears. Anyways... I think I made my point.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
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