Tuesday, July 10, 2007
***Note I Am Editing This As On 12/15/07 Because I Think The Original Post Was Somewhat Uninformed & Biased Against Ron Paul***
Ron Paul, Republican candidate for president, has created quite a buzz with his anti-war anti-interventionist positions. He has also gained quite a bit of interest and support from liberals who would normally never even consider supporting a Republican. And it's precisely that, that I want to address here.
While I respect Ron Paul for speaking truthfully about the war in Iraq I do not think that his stances on other issues are right for America. I respectfully disagree with the tenants of Libertarianism.
I think that Ron Paul truly believes that Libertarianism is right for America and that he's doing the right thing. This puts him in stark contrast with most politicians who just say whatever they think needs to be said to get a vote today. He has integrity.
I also believe he is wrong. The simplest way to show this will be to look at his positions one by one:
PRO:
Iraq War"The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them."
On this issue Ron Paul is right on the money.
The bigger picture is that Ron Paul wants to stop our interventionist foreign policy. He wants to bring home our troops all around the world which would not only save our country a huge amount of money (meaning we wouldn't have to pay so much in taxes) but I also believe this would help to make our country more safe. Regardless of the nonsense that neocons say we were not attacked on 9/11 because of our "freedoms" we were attacked on 9/11 because of our (at best) meddling foreign policy. If we stop trying to control the world, the world will stop being so pissed off at us. History shows that whenever an empire tries to grow too big that it just doesn't work.
CON:
Health CareRon Paul is NOT for universal health care. As a Libertarian he would never support the government's involvement in health care. This is unfortunate because it's clear to me that something as basic as health care should be the realm of the government just as firemen and policemen are. Would we want a private company policing our streets? no of course not. So why do we place something as basic and important as our health in the hands of businessmen who have nothing but their profits in mind?
Ron Paul supporters have pointed out that states could create universal health care plans. These plans may be leaner (less wasted money) & more effective because of a smaller bureaucracy required to run them.
As a bleeding heart liberal I still like the idea of all Americans being covered with a single payer universal health care plan but I am willing to consider that it may not actually work best at the federal level. Perhaps once some states implement a universal health care plan and it is successful then other states would soon follow suit.
CON:
AbortionRon Paul does not support the right of women to make their own choice about whether or not to have an abortion. He believes each state should have the ability to make their own law regarding abortion. If the states were to make their own abortion laws this would inevitable lead to most southern states making abortion illegal. This would bring us back to the dark ages before Roe. Why should a woman have the freedom of choice in New York but not in Georgia? All women in America deserve the right to make their own choices about their bodies. To me this should be considered a basic civil liberty that is protected at the federal level. That being said I am not willing to not support Ron Paul just because of the abortion issue. As voters we are too easily controlled by these sorts of hot button topics.
PRO:
Privacy and Personal LibertyBeing a Libertarian (he ran as the Libertarian candidate for president in 1988) Paul is extremely strong on privacy & personal liberty issues. He voted against the horrible Patriot Act.
This is a huge huge issue. I'm tired of politicians (especially supposedly "liberal" democrats) who don't seem to really have any belief in the importance of our civil liberties.
PRO:
Ending the War on DrugsPaul favors the legalization of marijuana.
He voted against all federal employees being subject to random drug tests.
He sponsored the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act.
The War on Drugs is a horrible waste of tax payers money and is morally reprehensible. It is wrong to put people in jail for doing nothing but doing drugs. We should live in a free society where people can put whatever they want into their own bodies. The right to do drugs should be considered a basic civil liberty. It amazes me how many people have been fooled into thinking it's the governments business whether or not they should be allowed to smoke marijuana or snort cocaine.
CON:
EducationPaul believes that the US Department of Education should be abolished. He thinks that all education decisions should be left up to the states, local governments, and personal decision. While this may seem like a reasonable position, in reality it will stretch the divide between the rich and the poor even further.
Every child in America should have the right to a good education. I believe education should become more federalized not less so. Why? Because right now children in rich districts (those with rich families) get a good education while those in poor districts (those with poor families) get a poor education. There must be more equality of opportunity in this country. All children whether poor or rich deserve a quality education. This is not only a matter of fairness to all Americans but a matter of national prosperity.
Ron Paul supporters point out that federal education system has been a failure. Most of the money spent goes towards the bureaucracy of the system and not to the actual schools. School performance has dropped since the federal government started becoming involved in education. Perhaps this is a matter best left up to the states? That being said I have a hard time thinking that it's OK for children in backwards states to not get a proper education. For example children who are taught that creationism is an alternative "theory" to evolution. That's just not OK, it really isn't. But that being said I'm not sure what a good solution is to this problem. I like the idea of all children all over the country getting an equal education but perhaps that's just too idealistic. Perhaps the federal government's involvement in education has actually been a hindrance and not a help?
CON:
Environment/Climate ChangeLibertarians such as Ron Paul believe in a free market to the highest degree. This means little if any governmental oversight. This means that big businesses would have even more power if Ron Paul had his way. Big business must have governmental oversight or they will absolutely trash our environment. With global warming a scientific fact this is an extremely important point.
Ron Paul supporters have pointed out that according to his beliefs people actually have a right to not be polluted so that he doesn't really believe that there should be no oversight of big business regarding the environment.
CON:
He's against the United Nations.
While I agree with his non interventionist policy militarily the last thing America needs is to make more enemies internationally. The United Nations has done a lot of good for the world and we should be a positive part of that. Ron Paul wants America to pull out of the UN.
In Conclusion:I think it's important that an anti-war candidate who is speaking the truth be supported in this election but Ron Paul is the wrong anti-war candidate to support. Instead of Paul consider Dennis Kucinich, Mike Gravel, and possibly Al Gore if he enters the election and sticks to his guns. Not only have they been anti-war from the start but they also have solid positions on other important issues such as education and health care.
The Iraq war is a very important issue but it is not the only one.
New Conclusion:
I've been thinking about this a lot since I originally wrote this article and I have changed my mind somewhat. While I still prefer Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel to Ron Paul, it's clear that their campaigns are not going anywhere fast. Liberals (as a group) are too scared of losing the general election again to even consider voting for the person they actually agree with on the issues (and that would definitely be one of those two) but instead are voting on "electability" and are supporting candidates such as Barack Obama and John Edwards.
Because of this Kucinich and Gravel have not been able to gain any significant footing heading into the primaries. Meanwhile Ron Paul's campaign has taken off. The "Ron Paul Revolution" appears to be a real phenomenon.
In other words I think I have become one of the progressive liberals I was originally writing about. I support Ron Paul despite not agreeing with him on everything. I think his stances on foreign policy and civil liberties are so strong (much much MUCH stronger than those of the mainstream Dem. candidates) that I feel I must support despite not being sure of his policies overall. I've also learned more about his ideas regarding the economy & IRS and I must say he makes a lot of sense. This country appears to be on the wrong track in many ways and I think just moving a little bit back to the left with someone like Edwards, Obama, or Clinton isn't going to be the shift necessary (although I would certainly support them over any of the other absolutely disgusting Republican candidates.) I think it's time for a real change.
The Ron Paul campaign has been so exciting because it has woken up so many Americans to what is really going on in this country. It has united people who normally would never agree on anything. It has people interested in politics who have never even bothered to vote before. It has people questioning the mainstream media and their ability to decide who our president should be for us.
With all that being said: Donate To Ron Paul (even if you don't agree with him on everything.)
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