Saturday, January 05, 2008

Ron Paul Is the True Conservative

Many conservatives consider Texas Congressman to be a crank, fascist, antiwar fanatic, neoNazi, a kook, crazy, and other opprobrious adjectives. But if this were the 1920s, Ron Paul would be the prototype conservative. So what has happened?

For years the Old Right Conservatives ruled the GOP. Indeed, from 1919 to 1947 they controlled the GOP and ran the government from 1919 to 1931. So what do the Old Right Conservatives believe in?

First of all, we (since I consider myself to be in the ORC camp) believe in the rule of natural law. That means all people are equal and have equality of opportunity. We believe in the sanctity of life and being governed by the Judeo-Christian principles as outlined in the Bible.

Secondly, we believe the role of the Federal government is to adjudicate disputes between states and provide for the national defense. That's it.

Thirdly, we believe the states should be the preeminent ruling polity in the United States. The states should rule and set their own rules for welfare, taxation and social issues without the interference of the Federal government.

Fourth, we believe the United States should not get involved in ANY foreign disputes or send troops on foreign soil unless it affects the national security and safety of the United States. We are opposed to all foreign aid. We believe the US should have the strongest national defense in the world. We are not anti-military and support the military. We are just against getting involved in foreign disputes if it does not affect our national security.

Fifth, we believe in the nationhood of the United States. We are opposed to all illegal immigration. We welcome all legal immigrants and hope they become citizens. We believe our language should be only the English language for political and business transactions.

Sixth, the United States Constitution should rule in all matters. If it is not specified in the Constitution, then no political entity or elected official has the right to create new powers in the Constitution.

We are NOT libertarians. Libertarians believe in open borders and unlimited immigration. They also believe in abortion on demand and the national legalization of all drugs.

We ORCs believe the states should rule. For example, if Vermont wants to legalize homosexual marriage and legalize all drugs, that is Vermont's business. If that state wishes to create a socialist economy and have state control, that is their right. On the other hand, if Mississippi wishes to ban ALL abortions and make it a crime punishable by death for performing an abortion, Mississippi should be allowed to do that. If Mississippi wishes to make homosexuality a crime punishable by a jail sentence and drug usage punishable by imprisonment, it should have that right. And if Mississippi wishes to have a capitalist, free-market economy, it should have that right to do so.

From the founding of our Republic until 1931, state government spending was TWICE the amount of Federal government spending (except for war). The Feds were rarely involved in controlling the economy and sending troops overseas. Until 1917, all of our wars were fought on the North American continent. And with the exception of the War of Northern Aggression ("Civil War" to you Yanks.), there was no military draft. Indeed, Old Right Conservatism was the ruling belief. It is hard to believe that until 1901 all drugs were legal and until 1934 marijuana was legal (I'm not advocating drug legalization. I'm opposed to the use of drugs and never tried drugs--or tobacco or hard liquor.).

That changed with the Federal income tax in 1913, the Federal Reserve banking system and America's entry into a stupid war in Europe in 1917. But the main invasion of Federal power came during the Great Depression and World War II. Today the Federal government wants to reign supreme in our lives. In fact, they are now telling us what light bulbs to buy (honest!).

The ORCs faded away with the Cold War. But they made a comeback after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. For 150 days, there were no enemies to the US. Then came the first Bush's foolish invasion of Iraq. And thirteen years later his son decided to invade Iraq again. The neoconservatives took over in the first Bush's administration and run the GOP.

The neoconservatives believe in big government conservatism and the foolish notion of spreading democracy to lands that are under a different government structure. They are in favor of big government--just not as big as the liberals would have. They have taken a page out of liberal President Woodrow Wilson's foolish playbook and are trying to make the world "safe for democracy." We are now involved in the tar pits of the Middle East with no exit strategy in sight.

Read the Republican Party platform of 1964 and compare it to the one in 2004. You would not recognize that it is the same party. The GOP has morphed into a liberal party but just not as liberal as the Democrats. The Old Right was prevalent in the 1964 platform as far as domestic policy was concerned. The neoconservatives wrote the GOP 2004 platform.

Ron Paul is an Old Right Conservative. He is campaigning as such. If you read Joseph Scotchey's book Revolt in the Heartland, you would know exactly where Ron Paul stands (It is an excellent book with great sources.). He is a radical only because he wants to go back to the roots of limited government in the domestic and foreign spheres. He is condemned as a nut and a kook. But that was the common sense of our nation from 1789 to 1913.

The Old Right Conservatives' credo has been the same from the founding of our Republic to the present: Less government, more responsibility---and with God's help, a better nation.

In the 2008 Presidential race, there is no question as to whom the REAL conservative is. It is Ron Paul.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for your article. Your definition of the "role of the Federal government is to adjudicate disputes between states and provide for the national defense. That's it." is clear-cut and succinct.
Ron Paul gets called names because he is intelligent and has educated himself by studying economics as well as national and international policy. Most people (including, of course, most politicians) don't have the discipline to do this (they would rather repeate/create soundbytes), so his knowledge scares them.
But Ron Paul is, for sure, America's - and the world's - last hope.
Ron Paul 2008 !!

Randolphus Maximus said...

The part where you talk about how state spending was twice that of what the federal government was spending shows how far we've gone away from the idea of a limited Constitutional republic.

Great post!

Unknown said...

Ron Paul is a good guy; I feel he is the best GOP candidate. My great aunt Ann lives in his county and knows him very well. He is overall a great person. Also I have to say from an older post that Mike Sumrall is a great guy. I meet him at trail of honor, that Harley rally in Jackson. My roommate is the head person that set up Trail of honor as a non-profit and I was able to meet him. I just graduated from MUW in accounting and I was talking to him about what to do for jobs. I would like to talk to you if you could e-mail me. My e-mail is AliefDuffey@yahoo.com. I also know Evans, Elaine CPA from Columbus if you have ever met her. She taught me individual tax and governmental and non-for-profit accounting this past semester.