This column, originally printed in the Seguin Gazette on February 10, 2017, was one that I enjoyed writing after reading Dr. Paul's book, The Revolution: A Manifesto. Reading his book inspired me to write this column as Dr. Paul has been one of the many figureheads in the Libertarian movement.
Last week, I got the chance to read Ron Paul’s political novel, The Revolution: A Manifesto, which was published in 2008 during his presidential campaign that year. For a while, I wanted to get the chance to read one of his books, and when I found a copy of it at the library, I checked it out right away, and started reading it when I got home. Personally, I got so much into reading his book that I read more than half of it the same day I checked it out at the library, and I was able to finish it in the next couple of days. My response after reading it was “This is the best political book I have ever read.” Within the book, Dr. Paul wrote about many of the key aspects of libertarianism that he is well known to speak about, and he even added his own thoughts on certain issues as well as recommended books that had libertarian themes, messages, and topics. He even addressed the problematic choices made by the previous presidential administrations along with the revealing choices by the two-party system, which is still going on today as the country has become more divided as ever due to the actions of the Republican and Democratic parties, their supporters, and the choices made by the Obama administration and the current Trump administration. Dr. Paul has been the vocal advocate for our country to abolish the Federal Reserve, and for us to go back to the Gold Standard (which was abolished by the administration of Franklin Roosevelt and convertibility ending when Richard Nixon was in office), so there would be actual value to the American dollar. He has also spoken for non-interventionism (which is often mistaken for isolationism), where our country doesn’t get involved with the internal affairs of other countries (as he was one of the few Republicans who voted against the Iraq Resolution in 2002). He has even spoke out against the War on Drugs, and called out for support of free trade. During his time as Congressman for Texas’s 14th district, he was given the nickname of “Dr. No” due to his votes against any bill that went against Constitutional standards and supported big centralized government actions and intervention. I had the chance to meet Dr. Paul during a Young Americans for Liberty convention at Texas State University where he gave a speech to many young conservatives and libertarians that attended the event, which resulted in the entire room of attendees giving him a standing ovation while he spoke. When I was able to speak to him, although it was short and simple, he appreciated that I was one of many young individuals who respected the aspects of liberty and told me to continue spreading the word of libertarianism. Today, he still active in the libertarian movement by giving speeches and running a online broadcast called the Ron Paul Liberty Report, where he discusses many of today’s current issues. Of course, his son, Rand, currently follows in his footsteps as he is currently one of Kentucky’s U.S. Senators, even though they have their small differences (such as Rand endorsing Trump during the election last year while Ron refused to endorse him due to him authoritarian positions). Personally, I am still glad that Dr. Paul remains very active in American politics today, either it be giving speeches, doing his online broadcasts, or even making an appearance on a news program discussing the problems of the current administrations and the two-party system while proposing solutions of how to fix the current state of our country.
Comments