I support liberty, not Ron Paul

If you’ve seen some of my Facebook status updates, you might know that there are a lot of good reasons to vote for Ron Paul.

Image via Invest It Wisely

You might also think that I’m a strong supporter of Dr. Paul.

While that is true, my true goal is actually not to promote Dr. Paul, but to promote liberty.

I care about the issues: foreign policy, monetary policy, freedom, due process, debt, the proper role of government… and, whether you’ve noticed or not, the issues are always the focus of my status updates and tweets. I virtually never attack or analyze a candidate’s looks, personality, or reputation. Instead, I incessantly research and distribute information about their positions on these issues and, even more importantly, why they hold those positions. I debate the issues and policies, trying to determine which are best for this country and this world as a whole.

So the reality is that I support liberty, not specific candidates. That said, there’s no overstating the importance of Ron Paul in educating citizens about the freedom movement. Indeed, Ron Paul is the candidate who woke me up to the idea of liberty– prior to discovering him in 2007, I was a big-government interventionist without even realizing it. I supported George Bush in 2000 and 2004, and I thought the War in Iraq was a good idea.

How naive I was! I bought into the war propaganda of the mainstream media and the “popular” candidates.

Liberty is a grand experiment that, historically, has only been tried in very few places. We had more liberty here, in the United States, than any other country in the world. You could argue that we still do. What Ron and I are trying to do is educate people about what liberty is, and what it means to preserve it. And point out to them that we are starting to go backwards: In the past decade or two, we have lost a lot of the liberties that we used to have in this country.

Sometimes I wonder which places in the world have come close to matching the degree of liberty that we have here in the US. Well, two examples that Ron Paul has given in the past are Hong Kong and Switzerland. Indeed, while certainly not perfect, these two places, in addition to the USA of the early-to-mid-20th century, have done a pretty good job. What we need to do now is make sure that we stay on top by continuing to promote liberty in this country.

I used to worry that, at age 76, Ron Paul won’t be around for much longer. The world’s oldest man living today is 114 years old. Though Dr. Paul is extraordinarily healthy, it’s not very likely that he will match that record.

However, because the ideas of liberty are so clear, concise, and revolutionary, I no longer worry about that. If he dies, we’ll certainly be sad, and we’ll feel the impact; but it will not be disastrous. The liberty movement is about the ideas that Ron has championed for a long time. They are not completely new ideas; Ron didn’t invent them. Most of them were first articulated by the Founding Fathers of this country!

What is liberty?

Quite simply, it is freedom from oppressive restrictions and control. Protecting liberty should be the government’s #1 priority.

What are some specific ways in which we’ve lost liberty?

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of these. Just take a look at Guantanamo. Read these true stories:

• Notes from a Guantanamo survivor
• My Guantanamo nightmare

Romney is a big supporter of Guantanamo. Paul wants to shut it down.

Another issue that’s going to have a huge impact on our future is SOPA/PIPA, which seeks to regulate and censor the Internet.

On the civil liberties front, take a look at the PATRIOT Act, and the recently-enacted NDAA.

So, the test for determining a true liberty-minded candidate is pretty simple.

1. Does the candidate oppose secret prisons?
2. Does the candidate oppose censoring the Internet?
3. Does the candidate oppose spying on American citizens?
4. Does the candidate oppose the indefinite detention of American citizens without trial?

Based on these specific points, no other presidential candidate, Republican or Democrat, comes close.

If one of them changed their positions so as to comply with the above test, I would seriously consider supporting him or her.

Sadly, it does not look like that’s going to happen.

If you don’t yet support Ron Paul, please take the time to educate yourself. I have every confidence that you’ll come to discover the truth, as I did.

Ron Paul has many supporters not because of his charisma, speaking ability, or “presidential” look. Rather, he has many supporters because of his ideas, policies, and deep understanding of what makes this country great.