"The impulse to have government “do something” to protect us in the wake [of] national tragedies is reflexive and often well intentioned. Many Americans believe that if we simply pass the right laws, future horrors like the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting can be prevented. But this impulse ignores the self evident truth that criminals don’t obey laws."
(via laliberty)
Reps. Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich, both about to leave Congress, are teaming up to try to force the office of the President to release its legal justification for drone use, which so far has been entirely free of scrutiny, transparency, and accountability.
(Source: hipsterlibertarian, via the-altar)
"To achieve liberty and peace, two powerful human emotions have to be overcome. Number one is “envy” which leads to hate and class warfare. Number two is “intolerance” which leads to bigoted and judgemental policies. These emotions must be replaced with a much better understanding of love, compassion, tolerance and free market economics. Freedom, when understood, brings people together. When tried, freedom is popular."
Ron Paul (via robot-notes)
Obama Administration to Congress: You’re Irrelevant
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta gave testimony in the Senate yesterday that was just breathtaking: asserting that the Obama administration believes it can go to war against Syria by obtaining permission from an international tribunal — the United Nations and/or NATO — and that no authorization from Congress is needed.
The people do not matter. The Constitution is void. All hail the king.
(via thefreelioness)
"In free countries governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed. When the people have very clearly withdrawn their consent for a law, the discussion should be over. If the feds refuse to accept that and continue to run roughshod over the people, at what point do we acknowledge that that is not freedom anymore? At what point should a people dissolve the political bands which have connected them with an increasingly tyrannical and oppressive federal government? And if people or states are not free to leave the United States as a last resort, can they really think of themselves as free? If a people cannot secede from an oppressive government they cannot truly be considered free."
Ron Paul: You’re Not Free If You Can’t Secede From An Oppressive Government - OpEd
"Why is patriotism thought to be blind loyalty to the government and the politicians who run it, rather than loyalty to the principles of liberty and support for the people? Real patriotism is a willingness to challenge the government when it’s wrong."
Ron Paul, Farewell Speech to Congress (Nov. 14, 2012)
(via lalibertarienne)
Don’t let the state-media’s war propaganda either fool or spread to you the anti-Iranian disease that currently plagues America, for there is no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear weapon.
Iran is not building a nuclear weapon:
- According to the IAEA report, Iran is not using its nuclear capabilities for military purposes and has reduced its breakout capability
- According to the 2007 and 2011 National Intelligence Estimates Iran is currently not building a nuclear weapon.
- Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty, Iran has the right as a sovereignty nation to enrich uranium as long as it is for peaceful purposes and they are open to intrusive IAEA inspections.
However, currently Iran is surrounded by unfriendly neighbors and is a constant victim of American-Israeli threats and acts of aggression. If the push towards war does not stop, Iran could very well use its nuclear capabilities to build a bomb for defensive purposes. If it is a bomb that the west does not want, then a policy of non-intervention is the only approach that makes strategic sense.
Sanctions:
Sanctions are an act of war. Or at the very least, in our case, are a significant step towards an American strike. For an example of this fact, one can look to the Iraq sanctions, which were used as precursor to war. The Obama Administration’s tough sanctions over Iran are not only inhumane, but are blatant aggression. They show that American is not willing to engage in diplomacy, the only way to prevent Iran from deciding to obtain nuclear weapons.
Take Note:
- Iran has stated that if they are attacked, they may then leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty giving them the capability to build nuclear weapons on demand.
- Many top Israeli security officials believe attacking Iran would be strategic suicide.
- The only reason Iran would build a nuclear weapon would be for defensive purposes, beings the Obama administration has taken a stance which will not tolerate a nuclear Iran — meaning Iran knows that it cannot build a nuclear weapon without being attacked by the world’s largest military superpower. However, if they feel they are going to be attacked anyways, a nuclear weapon would only make strategic sense in order to deter any invasion of their country.
- An Iranian Nuclear Weapon is no direct threat to American national security. The United States spends over 900 billion dollars a year on defense spending and is the world’s largest economic powerhouse, while Iran is a poor, middle-eastern country which can barely provide 10 billion a year for defense.
- Furthermore, the chances of Iran providing the nuclear weapon to Al-Qaeda are essentially nonexistent and the chances of them providing the weapon to any other terrorist organization are also almost nonexistent. Due to the negative international image, threats of tightened sanctions, and threats of war Iran currently suffers from, Iran would not find it beneficial to do such a thing. Not to mention that Iran would sacrifice all the perks of being a nuclear power.
- the state media has been claiming Iran is on the verge of a nuclear weapon since the 1980’s.
Conclusion:
Iran is No threat to American national security and is currently not building a nuclear weapon. These realities will continue if America if America changes its attitude towards foreign policy. The truly America foreign policy is that of non-intervention, where we trade, travel, and engage in friendship with all nations, yet refrain from military conflict.
"Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul will retire from Congress next year after serving for 12 terms, but several Republicans influenced by the iconic libertarian-leaning lawmaker will be arriving to take his place."
(Source: hipsterlibertarian)
"
A lot of people, possibly even the majority, don’t want their worldviews challenged. They want endless goodies. They want checks with their names on them. They want to be flattered. They want: “You are the awesomest of the awesome, and that’s why your government is hated around the world. Because of your awesomeness.”
Someone at this level of moral and intellectual development is not going to understand Ron Paul, much less support him.
"(via laliberty)
When all else fails, blame the Paulbots
Clearly it is all our fault.
All because we won’t fall in line and support a warmongering corporatist like Mitt Romney. If Romney doesn’t win they have no one to blame but themselves. The Republican Party and Romney can go fuck themselves.
"Let’s quit pretending we don’t know how to make people prosperous, when the evidence is all around us."
Ron Paul, The Revolution: A Manifesto
"Some Americans appear to believe that there would be no arts in America were it not for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), an institution created in 1965. They cannot imagine things being done any other way, even though they were done another way throughout our country’s existence, and throughout most of mankind’s history. While the government requested $121 million for the NEA in 2006, private donations to the arts totalled $2.5 billion that year, dwarfing the NEA budget. The NEA represents a tiny fraction of all arts funding, a fact few Americans realize. Freedom works after all. And that money is almost certainly better spent than government money: NEA funds go not necessarily to the best artists, but to people who happen to be good at filling out government grant applications. I have my doubts that the same people populate both categories."
Ron Paul, The Revolution: A Manifesto
"Once government does become involved in something, intellectual and institutional inertia tends to keep it there for good. People lose their political imagination. It becomes impossible to conceive of dealing with the matter in any other way. Repealing the new bureaucracy becomes unthinkable. Mythology about how terrible things were in the old days becomes the conventional wisdom. Meanwhile, the bureaucracy itself, with a vested interest in maintaining itself and increasing its funding, employs all the resources it can to ensure that it gets a bigger budget next year, regardless of its performance. In fact, the worse it does, the more funding it is likely to get—exactly the opposite of what happens in the private sector, in which those who successfully meet the needs of their fellow men are rewarded with profits, and those who poorly anticipate consumer demand are punished with losses."
Ron Paul, The Revolution: A Manifesto
"Imagine that: Wealth can’t be created out of thin air by a central bank. It only comes from work, saving, and sacrifice."
Page 159 The Revolution: A Manifesto By Ron Paul (via tylerferrari)
Ron Paul nails the “foreign aid” issue. I linked to 4:24, but go back and watch the whole thing because his answers on Bernanke may intrigue you.
