What Don't You Like About Ron Paul?

I've just finished reading Ron Paul's book, The Revolution -- A Manifesto.

In it, he describes in simplest terms exactly where he stands on the issues that face us as Americans. He also explains why a great number of his ideas aren't appreciated by the establishment of Government as it has become.

Here are a few of the topics he discusses:

The fact that the policies of the Federal Reserve are flawed, in the sense that as hard as they "try" to fix the problems our economy faces, their band-aids will eventually backfire, due to devaluation of the Dollar. He also explains the fact that the ones who are well politically connected aren't harmed as much as the working class by the devaluation of our currency because the get the devalued money before inflation has a chance to affect consumer good prices.

Our "interventionist" policing of the world is bankrupting us, and is ultimately making America less safe, due to the fact that the military is stretched to the breaking point, percentages of the ranks expected in a heathy military are decreasing, and we are causing more harm than good in our efforts by just making other countries angry at us. He mentions the term "Blowback" which is an intelligence industry term meaning that things America does in an effort to make things "right" often have detrimental effects that we do not foresee when making the policies that cause retaliation.

The fact that the current Government does not act according to our Constitution in so many ways it's disgusting. He explains how the current war on Terror has never been officially "declared" by Congress, the way declaration of war is supposed to be handled, and that the President has taken away many asspects of our rights under the Constitution by Executive Orders and Signing Statements. The fact is, we may not even be able to tell how screwed we are as "free" citizens until it's too late to do anything about it. The warrantless wiretapping of our entire population is mentioned, as well as suspension of Habeus Corpus (the right to a trial and even to know what charges are being brought against you, causing indefinite detainment), and the use of torture.

He states that the Federal Government is too big and wasteful, that our budgets are out of control and that he fears that the country, or "empire" as it has become, will ultimately self-destruct if things don't change soon. And we're not talking the usual "change" called for by the other "chosen as ellectible" candidates. We're talking about having an understanding of the actual problems that America has, and good, straight forward, and commensense solutions that would work, if given a chance.

I ask you what you you don't like about Dr. Ron Paul. And no need to reply that he's "racist" because that was a dishonest smear tactic used by the establishment to discredit his name. In fact, I can't see any way too discredit this man, as he is the only one in Government, and running for President, that we can trust to make things right.

In order to fix things, you need to have an sound understanding of the problems, and Dr. Ron Paul has done his homework.

Please let me know what you dislike about this man.

I don't like the fact that he's 72 years old which means that if we think McCain has had a hard time due to his age (just turned 72), I don't think we've seen anything yet, that is of course IF he is up to running again in 2012.

reply to post by bigbert81


That may be true, but he's a healthy 72. He used his 72 years to create an unblemmished record of voting for the U.S. Constitution, and making a name for himself as a proud American in every sense of the word.

reply to post by cryingindian


Hey, I'm not the one you need to convince.

The problem with me is his age might hold him back from running again.

Not much to not like...

... but he is not a very good communicator, has very little charisma and does not have 'the look' -- I personally have no problem with any of those factors, but we are talking about your average American citizen... concerned about looks, showmanship and popularity... not substance... due to brainwashing from the media all our lives.

That's why I think Wayne Root actually has a chance, as long as the media picks him up. I don't see why they won't... they love their ratings...

(But I'd like to see a Root/Paul ticket, if that is possible... Root does speak highly of him and they appear to be on 'the same page')


[edit on 5/4/2008 by RabbitChaser]

But on the other hand, it is the ideas of Ron Paul that matter, not the man himself, so to speak. It shouldn't be a matter of who is in the White House, right?

reply to post by Karras


I agree... I said all that other stuff shouldn't matter and I personally look for the substance and the messege. As an American, I am simply being honest about the average American. I hope I am proven wrong, but I know I won't be.

My guess is you didn't even look at my other suggestion and see where he stands. Typical American. ( i hope I am wrong about that too; especially when I'm referring to a RP supporter)

I respect what he says about constitutional government.

But...

I don't believe for a second that a gold standard is the answer. There just isn't enough gold in the world to make that system work. Not to mention that the gold that does exist in the world is mostly under the control of the same people who are in control of the runaway credit creation / inflation of the money supply system.


A fiat currency would be just fine, IF (and this is a big if) money wasn't brought into existence as an interest bearing loan, but rather in proportion to population and productivity increases in the economy. The people who use the money need the information of how much there is, where it is, what it's worth, and where it's going in order to make adjustments beneficial to the public at large.


And government needs the goose that lays the golden egg (the Federal Reserve system) taken out of their hands, because they are abusing the system to their advantage, leaving a pile of debris and misery spread deep among those who are not knowledgeable, participating insiders of the system.

What don't I like about Ron Paul? The fact that he won't run as an indepenent in 2008

reply to post by ianr5741


At this point, how can we create a fiat currency, or fix our current one, when a dollar isn't redeemable for anything? The Chinese and others who have been buying our debt (like 2 trillion dollars now) will soon realize how silly it is to hold dollars, as a "reserve currency" as the feds continue to make those dollars "worth" less and less. Right now the only thing that really backs our currency is military strength, as in, "If you don't use the dollar as a reserve currency, we'll kick yer a**." But the strength of our military has come into question, too, by using force to invade sovereign nations without congressional declaration to do so, and in keeping forces in 130 countries accross the globe for no reason but to show that we have a military.

We don't need to "return to the gold standard." We just need to give the dollar some physical value. If things keep going the way they're headed, we might be able to set the value of a dollar to a certain amount of clean water or carrots or maybe BEER?

The only thing I don't like is that the people who support Ron Paul may become dependant on the man and neglect the ideal. The people must be willing to stand up for themselves, for their own freedom, even without the man. Anyone familiar with the Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind? I believe it was Faith of the Fallen in which this subject is addressed. A good example of the perils of socialism, as well.

However, that's not about Ron Paul, himself. As for Ron Paul, I agree with his ideas. No problem there.

There was only one reason that Ron Paul wasn't on the top of my 'wish list'... his position on Iraq. I want the soldiers home as well, but I know better than to simply pull them out. That's a good way to get shot in the rear as you withdraw, losing more of our boys, and to allow the mess we've created escalate to a total disruption in the area. No, we must first clean up our mess as best we can, and then withdraw safely. The sooner the better, but not immediately.

That said, I agree with his foreign policy as a whole, and wholeheartedly agree with his constitutional stance. Ron Paul is a great man, and I would gladly vote for him or anyone espousing his beliefs in November, as I did on Super Tuesday.

TheRedneck

I like the man, but am less thrilled about his supporters.

I fear zealotry in whatever form it appears.

reply to post by TheRedneck


I think that is precisely why he was essentially "blacked-out" media wise.
a lot of people stand to make a lot MORE money, as long as this war continues.
There is also that sense of American Pride..Leaving Iraq would be equivalent to losing. Pride is one of the 7 deadly sins, isn't it? Seems deadly to me.

About what I dislike..
His tendency to talk economics at a level WAY over the head of the average American. Not really a dislike, but frustrating.

Originally posted by cryingindian

We don't need to "return to the gold standard." We just need to give the dollar some physical value. If things keep going the way they're headed, we might be able to set the value of a dollar to a certain amount of clean water or carrots or maybe BEER?

Well, that just goes to show how there really is no better time than any to address the need for economic reform.

I love it how the capitalist west consistently denies that it's nessecary to change the way our countries continue to operate under a flawed imperialist system devised by the romans, and then refuse to acknowledge that the longer we take to do it, the harder it's going to hit us in the long run.

As for your question, of "what don't you like about Ron Paul" - I say this; Judge a man by his actions, not by his words.

I'll agree that his words are very pretty ones at that.

p.s; Mornin'.

[edit on 16-5-2008 by Anti-Tyrant]

!. His wildly offensive newsletter, Even if he did'nt "KNOW" what was be written its ludacrious to be a poltician and be that irresponsible. So either hes a racist or incompentent

2. NAFTA highway conspiracy. News Flash NAFTA highways were built alreay, ITs called THE AMERICAN INTERSTATE SYSTEM!!!!! Notice how they connect canada to Mexico. but Oh my GOD I just realized the creation of national highways was a plot for a one world order started in the fifties.

3. His crazy ideas of cutting government disbanding the department of education are you serious!!!!

4. Lastly his old man demanor during the debates.

Originally posted by obamafan14
!. His wildly offensive newsletter, Even if he did'nt "KNOW" what was be written its ludacrious to be a poltician and be that irresponsible. So either hes a racist or incompentent

by this reasoning obama should be held accountable for the rev. wrights oratory

2. NAFTA highway conspiracy. News Flash NAFTA highways were built alreay, ITs called THE AMERICAN INTERSTATE SYSTEM!!!!! Notice how they connect canada to Mexico. but Oh my GOD I just realized the creation of national highways was a plot for a one world order started in the fifties.

news flash the nafta super highway runs from texas to canada and is in the planning stages it is not the interstate highway system

3. His crazy ideas of cutting government disbanding the department of education are you serious!!!!

very serious federal government involvment in the educational system does nothing except dumb down the population.

4. Lastly his old man demanor during the debates.

maybe he has an old man demeanor because he is an old man

the problem with this country is we have a government not of,by and for the people but of the corporate shills,by the lobbiests,for the corporations.elected officals swear an oath to the constitution then ignore it.the majority of the people have no idea what the constitution is let alone what it says.go out on the street and ask them if you don't believe that.if the people do not hold thier elected officals accountable to thier oaths who will?the problem is not right or left,blue or red,dem or repub.they all do it.this is just a bunch of people who have figured out the people do not know the constitution and how to use that fact to make vast sums of money by ignoring the constitution at the expence of the american people.having said that obama maybe the least of the evils but then that's what the people thought about bush to.I doubt I'll see it in my lifetime but hopefully someday the people will wakeup and stop voting for the least of the evils then our country can return to being the most envyed country in the world.

1) I do not believe him to be fair and balanced. I think that, like most, he presents himself more moderately during the campaign to win votes. (The reason for him running as a Republican rather than Independent).

1b) I fear he very well may harbor racist tendencies.

1c) I fear he is more against abortion than he lets on (meaning in office he will outlaw it)

2) Way too much states rights. Sorry there are simply too many of us these days to let large groups run off in different directions. We need standards that apply across the boards and I do not believe he is willing to do this.

3) The man is simply NEVER going to win so why bother putting much energy or thought into it.

There is more, but I just woke up so I will have to chime in later

The only thing I don't like about Ron Paul....is Ron Paul. His personality I mean. I like most of his ideas, but he strikes me as rude and arrogant when I see him speak in public. If he had a shot to win, I'd vote for him. He doesn't, so it's a moot point.

Please let me know what you dislike about this man.

The man is right on the money.

That's why I'm voting for him as a write-in.

I'm tired of being told by the media I have only two choices for President (especially when its a choice of more of the same Bush policies, or an inexperienced, wishy-washy guy who likes to vote "present" instead of his feelings on issues).

That's rubbish. I'm going to vote for someone that I feel best represents my own feelings on issues, and for someone who isn't afraid to state his stance on the issues.

So, people say he can't win. I don't care. I have to vote my conscience, and in speaking my mind, maybe, just maybe, there will be enough of us who vote this way to show the establishment that yes, we are well aware that we have more to choose than just A or B, and the more everyone realizes it, the better off we'll all be....

Right now the only thing that really backs our currency is military strength

I'd disagree, and state that it's the fact that we're a HUGE base of consumers of world goods, and that it's the faith in that continuing consumer base, that the dollar is based upon....(which is why the dollar loses value in a recession...less confidence in that consumerism...)

[edit on 5-6-2008 by Gazrok]