"Why Not Ron Paul?" by Old Fart Rants

A lot of people have asked me what I think about Ron Paul. He's obviously the only sincere Republican presidential candidate - I think he really believes in what he says. And he's been consistent all along. Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate calling for the end of America's horrendously wasteful wars - I 100% agree with that. He thinks the war on drugs is a joke and that drugs should be legal - and he's 100% right about that. How can anybody defend a government that puts people in prison and ruins their lives for simply possessing a harmless weed while none of the Wall Street crooks who ruined the lives of millions of Americans have been charged with anything or spent even a minute in jail? He's for auditing and even getting rid of the Federal Reserve Bank and going back to the gold standard which I'm all for too - hatred of central banks is one of the reasons our forefathers moved to America. Fractional reserve banking is the Achilles heel of our economic system which is doomed to fail, and we're seeing the beginning of that right now. I remember when gold was $32 an ounce - gold hasn't changed one bit since then - it's the dollar that's changed - it's only worth about 1% of what it used to be. He's also against the massive corruption that has overtaken our government and I 100% agree with that too. A lot of what he stands for is right on - the problem is it's wrapped in an overall misguided ideology. Like any extreme ideology, libertarianism offers a single answer to complex problems. On the surface it's very attractive - defending liberty. Who's against that? As long as you don't hurt anybody else by what you're doing, who doesn't want the freedom to do what they want and not be told what to do by some big horrible government? It seems like a noble cause, doesn't it? The problem with libertarianism is that it excludes too many other values modern society depends on. Libertarians believe that individual freedoms should never be sacrificed no matter what the consequences are. Civic responsibilities, including survival of the poor, the sick and the vulnerable all take a back seat to the individual's liberty. Libertarianism has 3 flavors: ethical, economic, and political. The ethics of libertarianism, are best exemplified by Ayn Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged. She said that personal liberty is the only true virtue - which is just another way to describe being selfish. Economic libertarianism claims that the free market is the true and only source of prosperity. Political libertarianism is the idea that government intervention a "road to slavery." But modern history has proven that democratic governments that provide public goods and help for the poor, don't really threaten liberty. If you don't think so just remember that most of Scandanavia, and Europe and even Canada are all kicking America's butt now in economic mobility, healthcare, and overall quality of life. You have to be mighty stupid to be at the back of the pack screaming "we're number one, we're number one!" And none of these other governments have anywhere near the amount of corruption we have in Washington D.C. If you take libertarianism to its logical conclusion there are no public spaces. Take communism to its logical conclusion there is no private property. The way we are headed in America today with corporations being people and money being free speech, it's just a matter of time before corporations will control every square inch of what used to be our country, and we will have become the Corporate States of America. It's already happening - and to embrace pure libertarianism is at this point is like pouring gasoline on a fire. The logical answer to our problems is simple - it's a mixture of capitalism and socialism - a mixture that requires compromise of some principles by both ideologies. And anybody who refuses to compromise is the true enemy of progress. Ron Paul is running as a Republican, and the word compromise isn't even in their vocabulary.

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[worldgate989]

Yea lets legalize cocain, that will be fun, avoiding the crack heads trying to drive. Freeways will look like madmax.

[oldfartrants]

@worldgate989 No, that's alcohol's job ;)

[oldfartrants]

@ledaril I appreciate your position. However, I always say in my videos that the influence of religion on politics is the issue with me. I could care less what you believe as long as you don't try to force your beliefs on others who don't believe. I agree it's almost impossible to deconvert a Christian. However, 4 of them have walked away from Christianity as a result of me prompting them to re-examine their beliefs more critically. I know 4 isn't a lot - but like you said it's really hard!

[beyondbeyondness]

We're tenth in the American dream. That's like Mexico being tenth in the Mexican  hat dance.

[wistoncap]

Ron Paul would be fun to watch as POTUS... if only for the hilarity that would ensue when he crashed and burned (and hopefully take scumbag nation down with him).

[EatMAndSml]

@bbburton "Ignorance is the practice of ignoring facts."? Whose ass did you pull that IGNORANT statement out of, Bill O'reillys? Buy a dictionary and shut the fuck up you steaming pile of shit in a skin suit.

[gonzo361]

reason i can't get behind paul is when he talks about an unregulated wall street the end result is even worse economic collapse then 2008, it like saying after 911 lets get rid of all airport security what is the worse that could happen, also when it come to pauls newsletter he is either a racist in denial or ignorant of his own newsletter that he didn't even know what was written in them til years later nethier of these two scenarios make him qualified to lead

[oldfartrants]

@bbburton To call someone ignorant who apparently doesn't understand that it was the Civil War that ended slavery is being generous. And yes I know the Bible is full of slavery - God apparently is a big fan of it. That's one of about 1000 reasons why it's easy to see the Bible is pure bullshit and fairytales, Or did you not know that either?

[bbburton]

@oldfartrants No, I call you a stupid fuck.

[bbburton]

@soundboy3 You are so far off base as to be totally absurd. The only way slavery can exist is by gov sanction. Without the force of gov, slavery can never exist. The Civil War happened because of state government's legal sanction of slavery. And your understanding of libertarianism is just as out of whack as your understanding of how slavery is enforced. Libertarians believe in the rights of individuals. Gov is about power and force, the opposite of what libertarians believe.

[bbburton]

@oldfartrants You condescending piece of shit. Now that's name calling. Ignorance is the practice of ignoring facts. Is that you? And you completely ignored the point I was making - that libertarians believe in individual rights and dignity. Oh, and by the way, you're still an ass.

[MarkCrimson]

"One of the more pretentious political self-descriptions is "Libertarian." People think it puts them above the fray. It sounds fashionable, and to the uninitiated, faintly dangerous. Actually, it's just one more bullshit political philosophy." -George Carlin

[auntsusan1]

Excellent!!!

In regard to seat belts, uninsured motorist, motorcycle helmets, etc -----most laws are written for the AllMighty Insurance Corporations. As matter of fact that is why we have Medicare today-----no Insurance Corporation wants to insure OldFartSeniors.

We all know that it takes Congress to get anything done----so GOP candidates can say anything they want. Look at President Obama----he was handed a Broke & Broken USA and is trying to have Hope & Change while catching a ton of fa