Ron Paul – Nothing to Be Afraid Of
By Dave Hitt on Jan 10, 2008 in Big Brother, Politics
Thoughts on the New Hampshire Primary
That’s it. We’re fucked.
No one had more money than Ron. No one had more grass roots support. The day before the primary Jay Leno gave him a half hour on the countries most popular late night talk show. The primary was held in the Live Free Or Die state. The Free State Project state.
And he got 8%. Eight miserable fucking percent. A third less than some evangelical asshole who thinks the earth is 6,000 years old and wants to add not one, but two amendments to the constitution to make his superstitions the law of the land.
I figured America was over when the Supremes outlawed private property and ruled that the feds could use the interstate commerce clause to regulate everything, including things that didn’t involve commerce or anything interstate. But the Free State Project looked encouraging, and full of possibilities. Slim possibilities, but still, possibilities. And although I knew Ron was a long shot, the groundswell of support made me think there just might be hope for the country. We could get it back from the fascists and the socialists and start living like Americans again, instead of as slaves. I didn’t really expect him to win, but figured capturing a large portion of the vote would start pushing American politics in the right direction.
I’ve been interested in politics since the Nixon administration. I’ve never seen anything like the huge populist support Paul has had. I’ve never seen anything close to it. It filled me with hope and joy and a belief that there was still a chance there were enough Americans in this country to eventually defeat the United Statsits. And with all that enormous support, the fantastic publicity and with the incredible enthusiasm of millions of people, he gets 8%.
All that hope, all that enthusiasm, all for nothing. Now our only choice is being crushed under the thumb of socialism or the heal of fascism.
“But,” says the True Believer, “We’re getting our message out there! People are hearing the message of liberty and liking it!” Yes, what an impressive showing. Libertarians have been preaching the message for thirty years. And in the most popular, well known, liberty oriented candidate ever, in the most liberty oriented state of the union, you got 8% of the vote. Whoop De Fucking Doo. Maybe in another thirty years you can double that number. Won’t that be impressive.
The US is finished, my friends. It’s over. It’s done. The Ron Paul Campaign is finished. The Free State Project is a joke. We are a nation of cheerful retards lining up for Special Olympics. We say retarded things like “I have a right to health care” or “the rich don’t pay enough taxes” or “this is a Christian nation” or “we’ll stay in the Middle East for a hundred years if that’s what it takes to fight terrorism,” and the politicians pat us on the head and say “there there, you really are smart.” We race our spastic race while they clap and cheer us on. They’ll be at the finish line giving big hugs to everyone with no regard as to who actually won, because all that really matters is that you try. And while they’re passing out their hugs they’ll be winking at each other, amused at how well they’ve fooled us again and eager to get back to faithfully serving their corporate masters.
“Change!” they all shout. “We stand for Change. Real Change this time. Not like the last time and the time before and the time before that and the time before that when we lied to you and you believed us and we lied to you again and you believed us again and again and again. This time we really mean it!”
You want to feel change, my friends? Then put your hand in your pocket and finger your coins.
The war on Some Drugs will continue. Our standing as the country with the highest percentage of our population in prison will remain unchallenged. We’ll keep jailing people for non-violent victumless “crimes” and prisons will remain a growth industry. Our dollar will remain fiat currency and drop in value every time they print up more. The Patriot Act will remain in place. Habeas Corpus will not be returning. Nor will private property. We will all get our Real ID cards and, like good little Germans pre WWII, obediently present them to uniformed thugs every time they demand to see our papers. The pussification of the country will continue to accelerate. More and more personal decisions will be taken from us as the government continues to pass laws telling us how we must raise our children, what we can eat, where we can have a smoke (not in your homes, comrades!), what we can drive, what we can say and where we can say it. And 92% of the population will smile and say “It’s a free country!”
I’m done with political activism. It’s useless. It’s pointless. The game is so deeply and thoroughly rigged that there’s no possibility of real change for the better. Part of that rigging is a system that makes it impossible for anyone who isn’t one of the “two” parties to have even the slightest chance of winning. But most of the rigging is simply pandering to the gullibility and stupidity of the majority of “Americans.” Real Americans, those who truly understand liberty, who have studied the constitution and the writings of the founding fathers and really know what it is, are such a rare breed that we have absolutely no chance of overcoming the multitude of assholes who mouth the word with one sentence and cheer on the expansion of the government with the next.
Screw it. I’ll still bitch and moan, because it’s fun, but getting involved is for suckers, and I’m tired of being one. I’m getting too old to keep tilting and windmills, and it’s time to concentrate on having as much fun as I can for the rest of my years. It’s time to kick back with old friends and make a new ones and stop wasting time trying to change things. I haven’t played video games much, because I haven’t had the time. But maybe I’ll go get an Xbox and waste every evening in pointless battles against teenagers I don’t know or care about. Or put a bigger hard drive on the Tivo and renew my Netflix subscription. Or devote my time to perfecting some new vice or nasty habit. Because trying to improve this country is a pathetic waste of time and effort. The best we can hope for is to have a few laughs watching it circle the drain.
Another one bites the dust?
Wow, that was more depressing than your July 4th podcast from a while back… You seem to be suffering from the terrible affliction of libertarian disenfranchisement. Not that I don’t agree with you 100%.. because I do. I hate to see this happen to people, and I sympathize with you.
There are lots of libertarians that have abandoned the political process because of the exact same reasons you have listed. They just do not believe that anything can be gained in trying to change the system from within. As a libertarian that does not believe it is all pointless, and that one day our effort might pay off, I can’t help feeling abandoned by these people.
Taking more libertarians out of the political pool does not help anyone except the United Statists (great term BTW).
Maybe this country has reached the point of no return. Maybe it is a pointless battle that will never bear fruit, but that will never stop me from fighting.
If I give up, it means they have won.
I can definitely understand your position though, and can only offer the encouragement that people like you do make a difference. It’s not visible, but it is there. Almost every libertarian I talk to has a story about the person who made them realize the truth. For me it was Penn & Teller and their show Bullshit. Just like I’m sure they have no idea how much they’ve influenced my worldview, I’m sure there are some out there who have been influenced by your smartinization.
Keep up the good work, I listen to a lot of podcasts, but yours is my favorite by a wide margin.
John | Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
I completely understand your frustration. But I also agree with John above. And one of the points he makes bears comment. “Almost every libertarian I talk to has a story about the person who made them realize the truth. For me it was Penn & Teller and their show Bullshit.” For me it was people like you and your analysis of the anti smoking bullshit. I’d never even heard of the word “libertarian” till I came across such writings.
I still consider this as a time of hope and possibilities. There are more libertarian minded people today than ever before precisely because of the relentless incursions of the statists. I don’t expect Ron will win the nomination either but he has started a bigger movement than has ever existed before. It is better informed and organised than ever before too as shown by the “money bombs”.
There is enough state suppression to have already awakened a lot of people. The direction of the state is toward it’s own destruction. It is very likely it will fall apart in the not too distant future. If the liberty message continues to flow we may yet have a chance.
Bernie | Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
Right, so republicans have chosen a crazy candidate over a sane one. Well, obviously they have, because if they chose a sane candidate they would by definition be democrats.
So what’s the big deal? As long as the democrat nominee beats the republican nominee, who really cares much which candidates are nominated?
Andrew | Jan 10, 2008 | Reply
@Andrew
Wow, you must really misunderstand libertarianism. Or possibly not know what it is at all.
Libertarians disagree with both Democrats and Republicans depending on the issue. They typically agree with Republicans on fiscal issues (or rather, they do when Republicans pretend to actually be fiscally conservative), and with Democrats on civil liberty issues. There are of course exceptions to the rule, but that is how it is in general.
When a libertarian decides to vote for a non-Libertarian candidate, they will have to decide which side (civil liberty of fiscal) they have to decide is less important to them at that time. If they are more concerned with fiscal issues, they will typically vote Republican, if they are more concerned with civil liberties, they will vote Democrat. And they just have to accept that they are absolutely going to hate the candidates position on many of the issues.
The beauty of the possibility of the Ron Paul Presidency is that we didn’t have to sacrifice (many) principles. I agree with 95% of what Ron Paul says.
So, to say we can just vote Democrat, is not a very satisfying answer to us. In fact, those of us like myself who is very worried about the where our country is going economically are in even more of a bind because not even the Republicans are fiscally conservative anymore. Gone are the days of Goldwater, so we don’t even have a candidate we can partially agree with.
Sigh.. now I’ve depressed myself, when I’m trying to cheer Dave up.
Maybe the showing that Paul has had will show the Republicans that if they actually tried to be fiscally conservative, more people would support them. As it looks, I’ll be voting big L in the main election again this year.
John | Jan 11, 2008 | Reply
I do feel very similar to the rest of you except this weekend I got a surprise. My son, who is a junior in HS, came to me to ask questions about Ron Paul. I have not really talked to him about it that much but it seems that he is well liked by the younger generation (I knew he appealed to college students, but it seems to go deeper than that). He has stated to me that other students in his school liked what Ron Paul has to say. I guess the biggest smile I got was when my son told me that he was able to convince the History teacher to teach civics for the next few weeks. Its sad when a student has to request to be taught something like civics.
I hope that by sharing this little story some of you might be able to see the deeper impact that Ron Paul is having on society in general. The chance of being elected may be over but his message is getting out.
Now if we can ensure we keep that message going. I am going to continue to give some money to the Paul campaign provided he continues to stay in there(he has stated as much).
One another note related to this thread. I do have to blame the MSM for their lack of mentioning Ron Paul. He did get some press but not near as much as others. Especially when I talked to my mother in-law, who does pay attention to the news, about him and she didn’t have a clue who he was.
I haven’t voted for a Republican or Democrat for president since I began voting at 18 and 20 years later it doesn’t look like I am either. Another year voting for a Libertarian. At least I can feel good about my vote an know that I didn’t vote for the lesser of 2 evils. That alone makes my vote worth it.
Tom | Jan 13, 2008 | Reply
I do have to blame the MSM for their lack of mentioning Ron Paul.
Yep, that’s all part of the system. And this is a perfect example of how well it works.
John, Big Brother loves dependent little bitches like Andrew. His first exposure to the ideas on this site resulted in him having a horrible hissy fit because of the mere suggestion that he wouldn’t be protected from the slightest whiff of second hand smoke. He can not be educated. He’s *exactly* the kind of asshole I was referring to.
But don’t worry about cheering me up. I’m back to my happy, cantankerous old self, just focusing a bit differently now.
Hittman | Jan 13, 2008 | Reply
The nice thing about living in Nebraska is that I know my electoral vote will go to a Republican no matter what, so instead of voting against the Republicans I can support whomever I choose. That being said, although I stand against Ron Paul on issues like reproductive freedom, gay rights, and immigration, it’s always sad to know that independent thinkers are not welcome in our political process. It could be that to those in New Hampshire, Ron Paul was just not libertarian in the right places.
Dan Pearson | Jan 15, 2008 | Reply
Well actually the “hissy fit” was at your deliberate and repeated use of an argument you admitted was bunk, but that road leads to hell so let’s ignore it.
@John:
You’re right that I don’t really know what libertarianism is. It’s a word we don’t have in the UK. I just meant that the Republican party looks, to me at least, like basically a big church that holds primaries, so personally I’m not the slightest bit surprised that its members repeatedly make bad decisions. I don’t know a lot about Ron Paul’s position, but it seems to me that if he’s a credible candidate then he never had a chance in the Republican party anyway — almost all their candidates are fundamentalist nutters, more so the successful ones, because that’s what Republicans seem to want. Anything else just won’t get nominated. I don’t know if this is a new situation, but come on, we’re dealing with an organisation that thinks Mike Huckabee is not a bad choice for leader of the free world. What do you want from them, realistically?
I agree with most of this page: it’s a stupid, rigged system and it doesn’t work — except that it isn’t a two party system this time. The Republican candidates with a chance of getting nominated this time around are all mental. It’s a ONE party system.
Andrew | Jan 17, 2008 | Reply
So one election and the FSP is a joke?
Only 250ish people have moved (plus the 250 who already lived in NH)…. the FSP is just getting started. In fact about 3 people have moved since the election.
Did you know a FreeStater was elected to the NH house?
Many FSPers work on NH issues… give us a few years before you judge it.. also we need about 1K-3K to be super effective…
Come and join us.
http://www.freestateproject.org
FreeStater | Jan 17, 2008 | Reply