“Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference. Government cannot create a world without risks, nor would we really wish to live in such a fictional place. Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal, because it would require total state control over its citizens’ lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons.”
For the life of me, I can’t get all that interested in Canadian politics. I probably should, since it has a greater impact on my day-to-day life, but I find myself much more captivated by American politics. Maybe it has to do with the personalities. Or the coverage. Or the spin doctors.
As I’m sure you’re already aware, the race among the Republican Party is well under way with several candidates already dropping out of the picture. The GOP needs a leader and one guy who wants the job is Ron Paul. This certainly isn’t Paul’s first time at the dance, but it looks like his campaign is slowly picking up momentum.
Now, I can’t say for sure whether I agree with all of his political opinions and viewpoints, but we do share a similar perspective on the relationship between security and freedom. In order to achieve greater freedom, you have to risk bad things happening. Security, by its very nature, is restricting. As a libertarian, Ron Paul leans much more toward the side of personal freedoms than he does of a more controlled and secure state. He values liberty and that’s at the forefront of his platform.
If you want to live free, you have to accept the dangers of living free. You could fall down. You could hurt yourself, but you have to recognize that you were given the choice. And that has intrinsic value. That’s why Paul has always pushed for smaller government.
“America was founded by men who understood that the threat of domestic tyranny is as great as any threat from abroad. If we want to be worthy of their legacy, we must resist the rush toward ever-increasing state control of our society. Otherwise, our own government will become a greater threat to our freedoms than any foreign terrorist.”
Whether or not Ron Paul eventually gets the Republican nomination to face off against President Barack Obama in this year’s election, I think it’s great that he’s finally getting some recognition from the mainstream media. He is a serious contender and should be treated as such. His voice needs to be heard. After all, as this YouTube video illustrates, the man is a psychic! 🙂
Or, you know, you could raise Cain instead. Either way, remember to exercise your civil liberty–and responsibility–and vote.
I have to disagree with you here Michael, but Ron Paul has no traction as a mainstream candidate and never has.
His views are way too right wing for the general populous and is just marginally important because he has enough money to support himself and his campaign for a limited amount of time.
While the Republican party believes in less government intervention, they believe in big business, which in turn leads to worse working conditions and sweatshops. We had that when our country was in it’s early stages and just 100 years ago with the Pinkerton Men. I have no wish to go back to that, which is what Ron Paul wants.