ron paul, 2012. yeah, yeah.

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.  -German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.

for years i have been frustrated by politics.  i remember when i was little, we had one of those fake school presidential voting things.  i voted for ross perot, merely because he wasn't one of the major guys.

when i turned 18, i dutifully registered to vote, exercising my freedom and fulfilling my role as an American citizen. each election i try to research the candidates and issues, and i cast my ballot.  however, there is always a feeling of let down after i vote. are things really going to change?  probably not, is what i have always felt.  additionally, i am especially frustrated by the fact that i will never find a candidate that i fully agree with (or even mostly agree with, it seems).

it doesn't help that we plan to live overseas one day.  i guess i like the feeling of escaping the political madness here.  (though i have come to realize that as long as i am an american citizen, what goes on here will always effect me)

i dont know exactly how it happened, but there is someone that i am finally excited about this year.  really excited about.  he's not the savior of the world or even of our country, because the root of all of our problems is sin (only jesus can remove sin and its effects).  but i know that things will start to move in a much better direction if he is elected.

that person (you can probably guess if you know me) is ron paul.

and i want to commend him to you.  if you aren't familiar with his line of thought, i truly encourage you to study up and learn more about it.  before i started to learn more about politics in the past two years, i was fiscally liberal and socially conservative.  but now i lean pretty strongly libertarian.

but, labels aside, i want to share with you a few of the reasons that i really like ron paul, in no particular order (with some videos sprinkled in.  videos are fun).

1. ron paul supports raw milk freedom.

this is one of MANY freedoms that american people should have (the freedom to consume whatever food we want) that the government tries to regulate. 

i find it interesting that the FDA wastes tons of money cracking down on healthy, nutrient dense raw milk because of the extremely small chance of pathogens that may make people sick.  however, they completely ignore the epidemic consumption of pop which study after study has shown the massive health consequences from.  what is the difference?  coca-cola is one of the largest companies in the world and can afford tons of lobbyists and lawyers.  raw milk producers are generally small time farmers with no lobbying group and little money to influence congress. (though, to be clear, i think people should also be free to put pop into their bodies, though i personally think its a horrible choice.  i dont think the government should have the power to regulate milk, pop or any food.  to do so is to steal the liberty guaranteed to us in the constitution.)

more freedom and less regulation means less opportunity for special interests to get their foot in the door in washington.  less freedom and less regulation means more wasted government money and more government control over our lives.



2.  he supports moving medical care out of the public realm and into the private sector.

i mentioned previously that i used to be fiscally liberal.  i used to support obama's health care reforms, but now i have realized that, while they have good intentions, they will never pan out as we hope.

basically any time the government starts to control things, they become less efficient and more expensive.  on the more extreme end of things think communism, which has been marked by weak economies and lower living standards than more free economies.  any time we move away from capitolism and towards government regulation, things become less efficient.

compare, for example, the electronics industry with medical care.  both have seen massive improvements in technology, but health care costs have skyrocketed, while the prices of TV's and computers are always going down. why so?  one of the reasons is that the government has a heavy hand in the medical industry (medicare, medicaid, VA hospitals, etc.) but not so in the electronics industry.

another reason, personally, that i support his views on medical care is because i do not agree with much of main stream medicine and i want the freedom to make my own choices in this area.  i want the freedom to choose which vaccines to give and when, to treat illnesses homeopathically, and to focus on wellness rather than health restoration.  furthermore, i think that lots of americans make stupid choices about their health, and i don't want to pay for the dumb things they do, thank you very much.  in fact, alex and i are considering getting rid of our health insurance, but if obama's health care plan doesn't change, we will be required to get it again in a year, which i find infuriating.

to be clear, i agree that it is very sad that many people dont get the medical care that they need.  i just dont think that more governement regulation is the answer to the problem.

3. ron paul believes in austrian economic theory. 

i almost majored in economics.  i'm SO thankful that i didn't.

when i studied econ in high school and college, all of the talk was about keynesianism.  they brought up austrian economics on the first day of class and then swept it under the rug like it was nothing to take seriously.  alan greenspan (one of the key reasons we are currently in a recession) was revered as practically a god (this is no exaggeration).

long story short, after studying more on my own, i have realized that there is no reason to be certain that keynesianism is true, and all of the evidence that i have seen points squarely at austrian economics being true.  some people (like me) are starting to realize this, but ron paul has been saying this for years, and even predicted the economic downturn.

in fact, there are many very specific, and pretty unpopular things ron paul has been saying during his 11 terms in congress and his message hasn't changed much.  that's pretty unique for a politician.

[if you don't know the difference between the keynesian and austrian economic theories, google it.  its too long to explain here.  but to summarize, keynesianism got us into the current economic mess, which runs deeper than most people realize and is being made worse by government stimulus]

4.  at age 76, ron paul still exercises regularly, walking and biking several miles a day.

this is more of a personal thing than a political thing, but ron paul still exercises and is probably more fit than many of his opponents.  some people have poked fun at his age, but i bet he will outlive many of the people he is running against *cough*newtgingrich*cough*

i guess i just feel like i can trust him more than other candidates because he makes his personal health a priority.  it is one of several ways that i can tell he thinks similarly to me.



5.  the establishment is scared of him.

do you wonder why media outlets and fellow politicians generally ignore him even as his popularity is growing?

the best way i heard it put is this:  the american government is on an IV drip of money.  paul will stop the flow.  politicians and media corporations are scared of that happening. 

6.  ron paul is hardcore about personal rights and liberties, including the rights and liberties of unborn babies.

people have a right to live.  this includes people still residing in their mother's womb.

i love the fact that as an OB/GYN he can speak to this issue from personal experience.  he would still be right even if he didn't have personal experience, but he does have that experience, which is an added benefit.

and just like with so many other issues, he takes this unpopular stance firmly and without wavering, unlike so many flip-floppers out there who just want to say what people want to hear.

i highly recommend this video.  definitely my fave ron paul ad: