Anarcho-capitalism

Ron Paul conveyed his usual pro-liberty stance at a variety of public appearances in New Hampshire the weekend of February 25th, 2007. The Union Leader (a conservative paper) had some surprisingly proper things to say about him:

Paul - who had been in New Hampshire since Thursday - found himself treated like a rock star at yesterday’s event, and a couple of hundred people were on hand to hear him speak at the Free State Project’s New Hampshire Liberty Forum. About half the 350 people who attended the days-long conference, at the Holiday Inn on North Main Street, were from New Hampshire, organizers said.

They also covered his best quote to date in his career: “The worst thing that could happen to al-Qaeda is for that war to end.” This is so true. The police actions that the US federal government has supported in the Middle East have done more damage to that sector of the world than all the previous invasions combined. I have seen more hatred by common Middle Easterners — including Christians — now than ever before. Under Hussein’s leadership, Christian congregations were allowed to meet without conviction, but today those Christians have fled Iraq because of the U.S.-chosen government. It is a sad state of affairs when things get worse after a “tyrant” is ousted.

The article also covers Paul’s basic platform thoughts: Among other issues, Paul also voiced support for abandoning the war on drugs, allowing gold and silver to serve as legal tender, repealing the Seventeenth Amendment €” which lets voters directly elect U.S. Senators €” and ending the practice of withholding taxes from one’s pay. Instead, taxpayers would have to actually write checks to pay their taxes, a move Paul figured would soon end what he called the present tax-and-spend philosophy of government.

These are so pro-liberty that it still continues to shock me that it comes from a Federal Congressman, who are amongst the most guilty for destroying the values of liberty in the U.S. Liberty can never come from government, the military or force. I don’t support our troops that think they’re fighting for freedom — they just confused and lied to, and in my own group of friends and family in the military, I know that many of them are there because they love the power that their uniform gives them. It scares me to think of the psychos I know that shouldn’t be armed and badged.

Breaking down that short paragraph, we see the following platforms that I do support in terms of reduced government, even though I won’t vote for Ron Paul or any other listed candidate:

Abandoning the War on Drugs — The war on drugs is one of the worst police-state actions the U.S. has suffered under for decades. It has stolen the liberty to ingest or inject what one wants to, and refuses to allow the average citizen the power for self-responsibility and the consequences of not thinking-before-doing. In my opinion, the drug war is contra-Bible and contra-freedom from any vantage point, and I am shocked at how many people still continue to support it. In many prisons more than half the inmates are non-violent drug offenders who only attempted to ingest or inject drugs, not distribute or corrupt others to take drugs.

Allowing gold and silver to be legal tender — Note that Paul merely wants to de-criminalize non-dollar money as legal tender, he isn’t pushing for an only-gold or only-silver money standard. Paul believes that money should be chosen by the public, rather than by force or fiat. This is a great viewpoint, since we are mandated to accept US dollars for any public or private debt — it is illegal to not accept it for debts, even by contract (as I was informed by my lawyers when I wanted to start a gold/silver-only service).

Repealing the 17th Amendment — This is SO important to return “power” back to the local governments (states and villages). The 17th Amendment changed the U.S. from a Republic to a Democracy, and it has given the Federal government significant power over the states. The selection of U.S. Senators by the individual states rather than the majority meant that Senators were more concerned with protecting the individual states’ powers rather than wrangling for position within the Federal power structure.

End withholding taxes — This is my favorite platform position of Ron Paul’s, other than his desire to withdraw from Iraq. Most people ignore their paycheck stubs and really don’t focus on how much they pay to the federal government (which also includes their employer share that the employee actually pays in reduced income). If we get rid of withholding, the average citizen will get a HUGE portion of their paycheck back each week, but be forced to write a check regularly to the IRS. This would show them how terrible the U.S. tax system is. Instead of moving to a flat tax or a VAT tax, I fully support continuing all taxation as it is, but requiring taxpayers to pay them themselves. I’d even like to see ALL retail prices to be mandated to show the price BEFORE all taxes (including gas tax). When people realize how much is stolen from them, they may be more likely to support reductions in taxes rather than ignore the little bit extra that is stolen each year. The downside is that a taxpayer-paid income tax would likely mean that the Federal government would find new ways to hide taxes in regulatory fees and corporate fees rather than direct-from-the-citizen taxes.

Withdrawal from Iraq — I support this 100%. Ron Paul is right — Congress needs to actually declare war before troops should be sent ANYWHERE. There is not defensive posturing without a declaration of war. As Laurence Vance has shown us recently, the U.S. now has troops in 159 regions in the world. 144 countries and 15 territories out of 192 countries, which is 75% of the countries in the world, plus those 15 territories. Empire, indeed.

Again, I won’t vote for Ron Paul because I only vote for myself on every ballot (which is the only true vote for freedom), but I do support this guy fully for those who must vote for someone other than themselves. If he runs, and you won’t vote for true freedom, vote for Paul for less tyranny.

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