 It is a delight to be here and obviously we're among friends and that makes it easy and one of the things that I have advocated over the years, especially talking to young people coming in to the liberty movement is that you ought to have fun doing it because you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow You know some crazy guy might start a war someplace or the economy may collapse Which is a possibility So if you sit and pun or only that rather than thinking about what the strategy is to try to prevent it or Provide the answers to those problems when they really come forth So it is it is something to get together with like-minded people and invite new people in There's always somebody new that are being that will be introduced to these ideas, but It's it's important that we do enjoy ourselves one thing that I Often marveled at when I went to the university steering the campaign was the fact that I talked about the dire straits that we're in you know, our civil liberties being undermined perpetual war and All this all the things that were happening that were all negative for us and so often You know there was a lot of you know support for Being positive they say what we like is your optimism and I keep thinking well about 50% know about 80% of my talk was telling you what the problems were but of course when you talk about liberty and Explaining it doesn't take you a long time to give people a little bit of hope by just understanding how liberty solves our problems that we need to deal with I Remember very well when I first met Murray it was in my Congressional office Lou Rockwell as somebody you know quite well. He knew was my You know chief of staff he came to work for me in 1979 I had been in office in the early part of 80s I Was in one one term I came back in office in 78 which started in 79 but the one thing that we did share was enthusiasm and understanding about Murray's works and And we were enthusiastic about it. So one day Lou and I were sitting there. I says have you have you ever met Murray? He says yeah, I think I met him, but I don't really know him I said let's call him up and see if he might come and visit with us and He called him up and Murray was there and not too long after that and I can remember the first day You know the his one statement He says I never thought I'd see the day when I meet a congressman that quoted me in a speech and talked about fluctuating Fiat currencies so he was so amazed and he made me feel very good that I knew at least what what he was up to but Murray And Lou and I then did a lot a lot of work together not too long That was probably in 79 maybe early 80s, but in 1980 there was the gold commission report passed by the House and the Senate Which was set up to study the role of gold in both domestic and international affairs and We had no dreams about what was happening, but we did have the commission and I was on the commission But actually Murray came on board and he Worked as a researcher for us and at the time I was convinced that he didn't he did well Of course, we didn't have the internet. I was convinced he didn't need any books I think he was able to do his research right out of his head Because he was able to produce it so we got to know him real well then But I think one of the things that impressed me most Was the monetary issue because that's what got me involved in in economics politics. I I wanted to talk about economics I wasn't interested in politics, but the first time I ran for office was 1974 in a Watergate year and at that time the Republicans in Texas had a total of three seats So nobody wanted to run in a Watergate year let alone in Texas as a Republican But I did that just so I could talk about monetary issues Well, sometimes politics leads to accidents and unusual events and unintended consequences and what happened was I got elected Carol worried about that she says what are you doing this for she says you're you're allowed to get elected I says there's no way that that's going to happen But she says there's a danger of that you can't tell and you know, I remember asking her why would you think that she says people will recognize you're telling the truth and I think there's something to that that people do recognize that because you know when we did the presidential campaigns I would talk about the Constitution and living up to your promises and all the things that we take seriously But other candidates would say the same thing so they would come up and they say well, I like what you're doing like What are they doing? I said well, they essentially say the same thing. I said why don't you accept and they said we don't believe them So That's one thing is if you're talking to a Murray Rothbard or you're talking to somebody at the Mises Institute We and they were all believer Believable and I think that makes a big difference That's the big hurdle because you can listen to a lot of garbage and you get a lot of garbage from our university You see a lot of garbage on the internet But the thing of it is it's a believable and now that we live in the age of fake news There's a bigger challenge, but I still think the message of liberty is believable And it is not difficult to explain and that's why we should be excited about it. I remember very well the last time I talked to Murray and that was at the beginning of 1995 and Murray passed away on the 7th of January so it was either at the end of December the beginning of January I had just made a decision that I was going to attempt to go back to the belly of the beast and run for Congress again and He knew exactly what I was all about There was not interested in the political career or just having a platform to talk about the issues I thought were important so I called him to tell him that because it was obvious that I thought he would Welcome the news and indeed he was so that was one of my great disappointments that He he didn't get to see the results of that election because you start early on the beginning of 95 was for the election of 1996 and at that time I tried to get the support of Republicans and which was rather naive so I went to the Republican I said I want to run against this congressman. We have he's a Democrat and you know, I know you don't like Democrats and They nod and I met with our delegation. I thought I'd get some support and I because I promised them I said I can get rid of that Democrat in this office and you know in about three weeks I did I got I got rid of them They got him to convert to become a Republican So then new gang raids and the senators and all the congressmen poured the money into this history in order to to support him but the the whole the whole thing is is that The issue of politics always comes up Should I run for office to prove to promote the cause of liberty and my usual visit don't bother Unless it's done for the right reason if you're doing it to be a Politician or in office or to win or become a chairman a lot of people argue. We're on you You need to back off a little bit because you could become chairman of the banking committee And if I would have done everything I was supposed to do at the beginning and stayed in continuously I would have had the seniority and I could have become a chairman of a Department chairman of bank may think of all the good things I could do as chairman of the banking committee and The whole the whole thing is I said, yeah, that is true And then you have to raise about 20 million dollars in order to buy that chairmanship and I said Yeah, I could be but I think that in the meantime. I would have lost my soul in order to do it Well, I want to read a quote to talk a little bit more about what our challenges are and And and what we're up against because I think most of us know exactly what the answers are and they have been In so many ways provided by people like Murray and so many others in this audience that continue this tradition But I want to read a quote and I'm not going to tell you who this quote is from but I'll give you a hint He used to be mayor of the New York City And he he ran for the presidency once and didn't do all that well But this is the quote I want to read because I think it's it tells us a lot about the enemy Actually, if it tells you what I think it tells you about the enemy. They shouldn't be that hard to defeat This is the way the mayor talked What we don't see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want be anything they can be Freedom is about authority Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to see to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do that tells you where they're coming from and And he did not win the presidency, but it seems like almost anybody that ends up in the presidency Actually believes this garbage So but that's that's the enemy and that should be easy to take take care of You know, I work on the assumption that our our efforts are getting easier It's long and tedious, but I think we have done the work I think philosophically and intellectually the ground work has been laid by so many here by Lou Rockwell with a Mises Institute and when we had the spontaneous rallies during the campaign I remember one in particular very early on in 07 at the University of Michigan It was not I that became a cheerleader and you know say well, this is what we're going to do we're going to chant this and this and it started spontaneously and And that is the reason that one little booklet I wrote about the Fed They started chanting and the Fed and the Fed and burning Federal Reserve notes now that didn't come from me I might have cheered them on I might have encouraged them, but the message has already been out there It's even in a university University of Michigan liberal universities there's always a group in there and and that is the of course the group we want to talk to and Talk with and and motivate those who are leaders in the ideas of liberty because as we should remember Numbers are unimportant What numbers are important, but it isn't a numbers game only you can't wait until We have the conversion of 51% You have to have the conversion of the Philosophic leaders of a country the teachers the universities the movie theaters the newspapers and everything else talking about something else And this is where we lost out especially since the 1930s because the universities were then and they're still doing it They were teaching Socialism communism and especially Keynesian is so the Americans like Keynesian ism. They like intervention. It's softer It's not as quite as authoritarian. They don't put their guns in your face They used to not put them in our face, but they do more often now which which is a problem. So But intellectually that has happened, but now they're under under siege because of one reason it's failing Just as a Soviet system was doomed to fail though very very few said, you know what you know into 1989 1990 the Soviet system is going to come crashing down and there's going to be this Revolution going on. Well, I always marveled on that thought it was a great event because I was drafted in the military in the 1960s and we were warned about the Cold War and nuclear exchanges and that was You know, not totally unnecessary. It was a bad idea communism horrible idea It killed itself but Keynesian ism right now is killing itself and we better be there to help fulfill the replacement you know the GDP is used frequently and sometimes not accurately but Sometimes it will give us some information. There was a chart on the internet this week and showed about the GDP according to the Individual in the line throughout recorded history was a line like this because before the industrial revolution It's just what you as an individual could produce and not much more Until you know the industrial revolution and then GDP per individual goes like this skyrocketing but it was during the time of the industrial revolution that we had the recognition of the individual and understood liberty better than in the past and it was You know endorsed by the principles of the founders of this country and it had some religious connotations of the importance of the individual and so we live in very Short-order What we're witnessing the recording of true history is very very minimal And I like the analogy and don't tell me to prove this but there's been some estimates They've you took all of the history of the of the the billions of years of the presence of our solar system Then and you broke that down to 24 hours Mankind's been around for about 10 seconds You know, it's it's just amazing how quickly things move and right now We live in an era where things are moving quicker than ever. So yes the the the GDP grew miraculously and We have this communication, which is a double-edged sword It's great that we have the internet and we spread our message but we also have the collusion of big government and the internet and The companies that will be willing to provide information to our government So it's indeed a two-edged sword that is going on but I think the way I see it things are moving very very rapidly and Things can happen quickly wars can break out and the system can fall apart the bank banking system. It's very fragile and Something has to replace it now the Soviet system collapsed and there was a replacement and I figured That was a great event, but it looks like they want to sort of copy us, you know interventionism and government controls and central banks and taxing system so as Beneficial as that was it did not come up with a libertarian answer so the only way we can improve things that it's a challenge and I think it's available like never before in history is to Have the intellectual community preaching one message and that message is very simple and clear Liberty solves our problems governments do not You know the whole question is where where are the people that are going to help us? You're often they say you're optimistic wrong, but there's nobody out there We can't find anybody go to the universities. Well, I find them when I go there. Yes, their numbers are limited But you know, there's a biblical story that talks about this looking and looking for the remnant And of course Isaiah was instructed to go out and talk to the remnant and and tell him good What was going on? But God warned Isaiah. Don't worry. I mean one thing is is you're not going to find anybody I know he's going to listen to you and He's well. I will go out and do this and of course nobody could really identify Elijah tried to identify the remnant But he had difficulty telling and it was small in number but the remnant is out there and I see what's happening is that remnant I see it popping up when I go around the country and I think it's more significant than than we realize and I feel like there's a remnant and so the old right Is a remnant of the the understanding of what liberty was all about I see Murray as sort of in a transition of the of the old right and the picking up of remnant I think of Leonard Reid as part of that and the many others in the old right and and Murray identified with them and and then Murray actually introduced the new age of libertarianism Intellectually and now just look it was mentioned about how fantastic His works were and and they're living now more than they were when he was alive And you can't kill these ideas like this. You can't kill an idea whose time has come We know that and the idea of liberty the time has come So we should be very happy about what's happening, but concerned enough that we have to keep searching for those and and growing what we'll call the remnant even if we don't fully identify each and every one of them and the whole the whole purpose is the That the instruction to Isaiah was that They're they're out there and You won't be able to find them, but they'll find you So yes, the Mises Institute or anybody else involved in this you and we can't personally go out Identify them and grab them and put them to work No But if the message is allowed and clear and if it's positive it's moral and it provides practical benefits over all the authoritarianism They will come they will come and just think of the growth of the Mises Institute think of what Lou did in along with Murray, you know in 1982 started the Mises Institute and meetings like this go on constantly by the Mises Institute bringing new people in so the people will come and And that to me it has always been an encouragement You know, I spent a lot of time, you know trying to put my little program together the Ron Paul Liberty report and when I thank you But I do my a lot of my paperwork and reading and attempts at writing and things like that at my house and I have a nice office and And what I get tired of it, you know hour to I get a little restless my bones get restless And I don't sit still I know some people now Murray was one that his bones rested You know from three in the morning till one p.m. But then his bones were restless and he got up and you know and he got busy But when I get restless, I have a couple things to do First I need a little exercise and a little bit of movement So I do that I'd walk and ride bikes and swim and keep active But the other thing I do is I get involved in gardening, you know, I love with the garden For instance right now I can tell you if you don't live in the south You won't understand but my tomato plants are this high and I have blossoms on my tomato plants And I'm hoping to get my winter crop in and I'll watch those tomatoes grow and take care of them So that that to me is important But I also like to work with plants and grass mow my lawn and keep my lawn mowing So when I mow the lawn, this is the kind of thing I think about we have Bermuda grass and we have St. Augustine and St. Augustine is a great grass, you know that crawly stuff We used to call grass crabgrass, but St. Augustine is beautiful And you know what you don't need to do a heck of a lot for it what you need to do is When the weeds creep up and before they go to seed you mow them mow them down So your job to have a nice lawn is to cut down the weeds for us to have a great economy What all of us have to do is cut down the bad ideas and the weeds and the grass will grow this winter though I Have to confess. I was listening to too much of the government propaganda and they said warm miss warmth is coming Don't worry about your area won't see frosts anymore. Just don't don't worry about that and We're at the frost line and I I thought well if it's getting warm I don't have to take in my plants and I have had some very very nice plants I take care of and chivalry is beautiful chivalry is and there was one chivalry that I had there that I Grew from a stem. It was a single stem. It was about that high, but it had a nice bush and I knew that I have you know brought this plant to life and and But I left it out and I left my big chivalry was out and left a lot of other ones out and they all froze Badly and it's chivalry or especially right to the bottom You couldn't see a thing and even this the stalk was gone and so spring came and I have somebody working for me. He says why are you watering there? There's nothing there I said there's but there's a root there and I said that root may just come back I don't know but I believe it was big enough that it will have retained some a root system There's a remnant of that bush under that ground. So I kept watering and watering and I go I don't think this is gonna work work one day. We were sitting out on the patio and Carol was there She's what do you have in there? I said, oh, there's a plant. She said, what's that little green thing right there? So she discovered and I said wow I said this plant is going to make it but you know the magnificent thing about that plant It's now like this, but it's not a single plant A single stem it has Dozens of little stems and it looks very bushy so the setback with the frost Actually created a great plant But he came back and all it needed was a little TLC a little bit of water a little bit of sunshine No fancy fertilizers no digging nothing else. So I think that Sometimes that's all we need to do cut down the weeds and give them a little water and give them a little sunshine and liberty will thrive Now I want to Counter the mayor's quote with one of Murray's quotes and we want to answer that mayor Although I thought the best answer I ever got during the campaign was you know, they didn't expect me to do Well, I think I did better than they claimed but the neatest headline was after two or three primaries I was like second or third but At the early stages they were pumping pumping up Giuliani and the headline he was in Los Angeles And the headline was Ron Paul beats Giuliani for the second time so He I got a little enjoyment out of that but Murray gives us even better enjoyment about counteracting that nonsense this justification for authoritarianism and the force of government and This comes from a new liberty Murray says one liberty can achieve man's prosperity Prosperity fulfillment and happiness in short Libertarianism will win because it is true because it is correct policy for mankind and truth will eventually win out I think that is absolutely true. I really do and a lot of time I confessed when I gave my talks and I said well, you know I recognize if I listen to my talk or if you type it up I'll recognize all my errors and all my mistakes and and this could have been said better And this could have been done better. I should have paused here and that sort of thing But the one thing that nobody has been allowed to challenge me on is the authenticity of the message of liberty CS CS Lewis had a statement and he explained that We're all like a bunch of eggs an egg and he thought that just being a good a is not all that Much of the solution. He says if you're an egg and you're a viable egg And you do nothing if you don't hatch what happens You rot away it becomes a bad egg and nobody wants to know anything about it But he says mankind and individuals should be hatched and that is become something become a bird that can fly Or do whatever and I think that has been so much of our problems We have these ideas of what to do and sometimes the individuals who don't come to me like this They don't even understand that and they don't have much desire to do it, but I think that is You know the important thing so often the young people at the university would say yeah, all right Congressman Paul I agree with you that sounds good, but tell me what I should do I want to know what to do and I very I gave them a very complex answer I said do whatever you want to do because Because everybody's going to do something differently just just go out and do it and remember if it's worth anything They'll find you they'll find you somebody will somebody will use you so as far as I'm concerned the most important thing We do and something that I worked on for many many years and decades is trying to understand the message starting to understand the Importance of liberty. I'm also convinced that we're all born with a libertarian instinct But I think in a very early age, you know if the terrible to gets into trouble We have to suppress that if teenagers want to branch out well, we have to protect them But also it's an individuality, but by the time you get to the universities you have to conform you have to conform with the system and Certainly if you want to get ahead in In a political sense in Washington, you better conform or else I think the amazing thing that I personally think is how in the world did I ever get elected and how did I get Reelected, you know, but I think the truth does help and I think the district I think having a big family that would be seen throughout the district and Carol going with me. It's helpful Those are helpful things for people to see but if If if everybody has a job If there will be difference and then we and we have a responsibility and Mises talked about this and hi I talked about it that and I always put the honours on the young people who come I said if you understand this message and you feel comfortable with it I believe you have more moral responsibility To deliver the message and spread it then somebody who doesn't even know what's going on because you do know What is the truth, but we have to continue to work on refining it and delivering it why it baffles me Why is it that if we have a message of liberty, which is a moral issue? Which recognizes peace and prosperity? and No aggression. No wars What why do we do such a lousy job? Why why do we get overwhelmed and There's various reasons because one one thing that I think happens is when that GDP started going up People did like materialism. We all like materialism. We like nice things But they concentrated on the material benefits of liberty Which means better houses and cars and everything else and that was easy to do and till those who decided yes This is great. I want more. I want control I want control the banking system and the military industrial complex. We want to spread our message we want to spread American goodness and make sure everybody knows how great we are and And and then that prosperity that introduced this notion of using force to create more prosperity What did it do? It destroyed the ability to produce and if you look at the economics statistics That's one of the big problems we have and we have a lot of people that are underemployed and a production isn't as great as the government tells us and That's why a lot of people live in poverty. Misa said the middle class gets wiped out if you wipe out them a Currency and that's where we aren't but the answer is a beautiful answer because it Satisfies people of all faiths and those without faith Because it allows the individuals to make up their mind as long as they follow that rule of no aggression If you can follow that principle and live up to your promises not too complicated But why haven't they listened my explanation is they got too too greedy and forgot about how this is that how the wealth Has been created so when the crunch comes Hopefully it's not so bad that we lose all efforts to spread our message But it's a wonderful opportunity for us to spread a message and I find it's already that way a lot of people Know there's something very much wrong. They don't have the answer yet So our responsibility as individuals are very clear our responsibility in organizations and it's amazing to me How many young people I meet in the last few years that were influenced way back in 07 and 08 and they have their own Organization, I mean I have no idea where they are and who has idea whose their friends are on their you know Facebook the message is out there and spreading much more so so my Conclusion is there's a lot to be optimistic about it's a moral issue And we can't be more thankful than we are today about how well Murray was able to present this message And all the work that he has done it should inspire us all to continue to do our very best. Thank you very much