February 17, 2003

Principles of Liberty

Jan 29/03 Sorry, Mr. Franklin, “We’re All Democrats Now”
by Ron Paul in the U.S. House of Representatives
Also here

This amazing speech seems to cover almost every major libertarian issue in the context of American history and government. A few quotations are selected:

“…It is obvious that the Republic is gone, for we are wallowing in a pure democracy against which the Founders had strongly warned.”

“…Hysterical reactions to dangers not yet seen prompt the people – at the prodding of the politicians – to readily sacrifice their liberties in vain hope that someone else will take care of them and guarantee their security. … failed system all around us, there seems to be more determination than ever to antagonize the people of the world by pursuing a world empire.”

“…In contrast, a Republic was decentralized and representative in nature, with the government’s purpose strictly limited by the Constitution to the protection of liberty and private property ….”

Government programs for the poor are inefficient. “…Wealthy elites learn to benefit from the system in a superior fashion over the poor….”

“…Public financing of housing, for instance, benefits builders, bureaucrats, insurance companies, and financial institutions, while the poor end up in drug-infested, crime-ridden housing projects.”

“…Even with an income tax, the planners for war and welfare (a guns and butter philosophy) knew that it would become necessary to eliminate restraints on the printing of money.”

“…Instead of the government’s goal being that of guaranteeing liberty, equal justice, private property, and voluntary exchange, the government embarks on the impossible task of achieving economic equality, micromanaging the economy, and protecting citizens from themselves and all their activities.”

“…Whether in Venezuela or Columbia, Afghanistan or Pakistan, Iraq or Iran, Korea or Vietnam, our intervention is always justified with a tone of moral arrogance that “it’s for their own good.””

“…The tragedy of 9/11 and its aftermath dramatize so clearly how a flawed foreign policy has served to encourage the majoritarians determined to run everyone’s life.”

“…In a democracy, all earned wealth is assumed to belong to the government. Therefore any restraint in raising taxes, and any tax cuts or tax credits, are considered “costs” to government. Once this notion is established, tax credits or cuts are given only under condition that the beneficiaries conform to the democratic consensus. Freedom of choice is removed, ….”

“…The American people must get permission from the government for their every move, whether it’s use of their own property or spending their own money.”

“…A system that rejects voluntary contracts, enlightened self-interest, and individual responsibilities permits the government to assume these responsibilities. And the government officials become morally obligated to protect us from ourselves, attempting to make us better people and setting standards for our personal behavior.”

“C. S. Lewis had an opinion on this subject:

“Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated, but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.””(3)

“…Support of international government agencies that manage trade, such as the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, and Nafta politicizes international trade and eliminates any hope that free-trade capitalism will soon emerge.” (1) (2)

Stop the War

Jan 31/03: Not Our Finest Hour by Charley Reese
“Notice that he more and more uses the personal pronoun — “I” am sick and tired, he says, and “I” have no desire to watch the rerun of an old movie. This is an emperor talking, not the president of a republic.”(4)

Europe and America: Some know more about war
“West Europeans, generally speaking, do not share America’s ambitions of vast global reform or visions of history coming to an end. They had enough of that kind of thinking, and its consequences, with Marxism and Nazism.”

“…Germany’s current resistance to President George W. Bush’s war coincides with the re-emergence in Germany of articulated memories of exterminatory bombardment …” (5)

 

Notes

[1] http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul76.html
LewRockwell.com, Sorry, Mr. Franklin, “We’re All Democrats Now” by Rep. Ron Paul, MD, Ron Paul in the US House of Representatives, January 29, 2003

[2] Other source for Ron Paul’s speech: http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr012903.htm

[3] C.S. Lewis quotation from God in the Dock. Another source:
http://spoerlein.iwarp.com/affirm43.html

[4] http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20030131/index.php
Charley Reese, Not Our Finest Hour, Friday, January 31, 2003

[5] http://www.iht.com/articles/84666.html
International Herald Tribune Europe and America: Some know more about war by William Pfaff IHT January 27, 2003