This feels like an appropriate time to admit something.
Ron Paul was the first congressperson I ever voted for when I could vote in 2010. My excuse is that I didn't know about the newsletters where he gave people advice on how to prevent black men from stealing your bicycle, and he was just about the only congressperson vocally opposed to the Iraq War.
He's also the first presidential candidate I ever heard speak, in front of the infamous University of Texas Austin Clocktower, that rally was the first time someone ever offered me weed. A plane was flying around the rally dragging a banner that read "Re[love]ution".
I was a Ron Paul guy myself, but he wasnt the first guy I voted for... I did vote for him in the GOP primaries though. Having said that I think he's wrong on most things now that I have matured my views on things, but at least the dude puts in effort to actually lay out heory unlike 99% of Libertarians, and he is definitely principled, if wrong.
When I was a kid I kind of liked Ron Paul, didn't really agree with him but thought that if he became president, he would push the country toward his direction and that would be overall good. Very, very wrong, although I guess correct in a few limited ways. Y'see, this was back when libertarians were the only mainstream people advocating to end wars and legalize drugs.
I borrowed his book and it was just so fucking stupid and weird and unreadable, and I was immediately done with that. Then I moved left.
I really fucking hate war. Always have. I always thought it was foolish at best, malevolent at worst. Looking at it through a materialist lens is like having my hatred fermented. Beyond that, the war on drugs is demonstrably an expensive, unhelpful, unpopular disaster (unless you own a private prison). Ron Paul was against those two things - I liked Ron Paul.
Hes the best republican out there. Libertarians get a lot of hate, but they do share a lot of the same goals as us. Opposition to state power. Ending wars, reform criminal justice system, prison reform, end the drug war, stop corporate subsidies. I think we should work as temporary allies in these domains. Yes they ignore that oppression can happen through private entities, but the goal is the same.
Overall I think if we worked on the stuff above, it'd make it easier to address the economic issues. We wouldn't need to spend as much for welfare if poor kids had parents in the home instead of locked in a cage for crimes of poverty or addiction. We'd have extra money from cutting military spending that could be spent on healthcare. Taxing and regulating drugs in a licensed professional establishment to put toward education. Etc..
If you go at it the other way around, tackling economic stuff first, it'd require raising taxes and expanding government, which will get a lot of pushback.
This feels like an appropriate time to admit something.
Ron Paul was the first congressperson I ever voted for when I could vote in 2010. My excuse is that I didn't know about the newsletters where he gave people advice on how to prevent black men from stealing your bicycle, and he was just about the only congressperson vocally opposed to the Iraq War.
He's also the first presidential candidate I ever heard speak, in front of the infamous University of Texas Austin Clocktower, that rally was the first time someone ever offered me weed. A plane was flying around the rally dragging a banner that read "Re[love]ution".
Fuck you, Ron Paul, RIP(if you die).
Edit: I said 2012 when I meant 2010.
I was a Ron Paul guy myself, but he wasnt the first guy I voted for... I did vote for him in the GOP primaries though. Having said that I think he's wrong on most things now that I have matured my views on things, but at least the dude puts in effort to actually lay out heory unlike 99% of Libertarians, and he is definitely principled, if wrong.
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When I was a kid I kind of liked Ron Paul, didn't really agree with him but thought that if he became president, he would push the country toward his direction and that would be overall good. Very, very wrong, although I guess correct in a few limited ways. Y'see, this was back when libertarians were the only mainstream people advocating to end wars and legalize drugs.
I borrowed his book and it was just so fucking stupid and weird and unreadable, and I was immediately done with that. Then I moved left.
Wild. I grew up in TX-14 as it existed before the 2003 redistricting.
Self-crit is good, folks.
I really fucking hate war. Always have. I always thought it was foolish at best, malevolent at worst. Looking at it through a materialist lens is like having my hatred fermented. Beyond that, the war on drugs is demonstrably an expensive, unhelpful, unpopular disaster (unless you own a private prison). Ron Paul was against those two things - I liked Ron Paul.
Hes the best republican out there. Libertarians get a lot of hate, but they do share a lot of the same goals as us. Opposition to state power. Ending wars, reform criminal justice system, prison reform, end the drug war, stop corporate subsidies. I think we should work as temporary allies in these domains. Yes they ignore that oppression can happen through private entities, but the goal is the same.
Overall I think if we worked on the stuff above, it'd make it easier to address the economic issues. We wouldn't need to spend as much for welfare if poor kids had parents in the home instead of locked in a cage for crimes of poverty or addiction. We'd have extra money from cutting military spending that could be spent on healthcare. Taxing and regulating drugs in a licensed professional establishment to put toward education. Etc..
If you go at it the other way around, tackling economic stuff first, it'd require raising taxes and expanding government, which will get a lot of pushback.