Ron Paul; Speech at Values Voters Summit

Finally got around to listening to this, and man, what a great speech! I will be the first to admit, Ron Paul is not the best speaker in the world (in fact, I view that as his greatest weakness in debate and in getting his message across), but this speech was absolutely stirring. Please give it a listen; it's not that long, and it is well worth your time. My comments on the speech below.

Thanks to Tom Woods for making me aware of this.
Please wait to read this until after you've watched the speech.... I get a little heated and I don't want that to take away from the gentle brilliance of Paul's words.

I love the way he just goes right through the Bible and points out how far the current politically active "Christian Right" is from actual biblical principles. He does it in a much gentler way than I could ever hope to (as most of you probably already have realized, if I feel passionate about something, its difficult for me to put on a spirit of tolerance), and yet, he is firm in his assessment. I pray that my Christian friends will pay heed to what Paul has to say, even if they in the end dissent. The point is, that Christians should be the front line on the battle for liberty, yet where do they plant their flag? In the political right, giving themselves over to the powermongers and demagogues of statism. By and large, they have bought wholeheartedly into the notion that the only world fit for a Christian is one in which all other people are either killed or politically insignificant. It's the same tactic that they accuse the Islamic world of heinously putting forth, and yet, here we are with a literal resurgence of Christian "Crusadism" both in the political spectrum as well as the proscribed foreign policy. It's asinine, and terrifying, and more than anything, unchristian. If we allow ourselves to learn anything from early Christianity, it's that true Christianity seeks to be separate and immune to government. To associate and make common cause with the thieves and murders who aspire to rule over us is to give in to paganism. The only God Christians should ever acknowledge and honor is God, not the state, not the president or king, not generals and captains waging mass murder, not the flag, nor patriotism, nor the even the idea of liberty! Nothing should be put into a place of worship other than God, and to do otherwise is idolatry and paganism. And yet, this sort of idolatry runs most rampant through the blood of the American Christian Conservative. Who rushes to defend every pointless bloodletting that America gets involved in first? It's most always the vehemently patriotic Christian. Oh, they have their reasons, be it Israel, or the vague notion of "patriotism," or the fact that we are a "Christian nation" (which is an oxymoron, but I'll deal with that some other time), or any other of numerous ridiculous justifications that are parroted from the Government's press conferences, or our beloved state-sponsored schools, or Faux News, etc. ad nauseum. Christianity has become the marionette figurine of the political right in America, and unless Christians wake up and realize that they are simply being used, Christianity, and those values they hold dear will keep disappearing from society.
Ron Paul made some great points in regards to this. Laws do not make people moral, people make make the laws moral. Society is people, in particular families, not states and nations. To think that anything we do in the realm of government is going to actually make the country moral or ethical or "more Christian" is a complete non sequitur and is utterly absurd. It is people that are the force of morality and ethics in society (they are society after all), and no amount of government intervention is ever going to change that. In fact, government will only and always does only make things worse. There is, of course, much more to be said on this entire issue, but I think I've gone on about it enough for the moment. Feel free to post your displeasure in the comments, as I'm sure many will have. I promise that I may one day respond and hash it out with you. Of course, I also am by nature dishonest, so, take my promise with a grain of salt. Honestly. 

Armistice Day

On this, Armistice day, it is important to remember what war is really all about, not to celebrate it, but to mourn its existence. This song (played by the Dropkick Murphys and written by Eric Bogle) manages to encompass the spirit of this day rather well, I think. It is directed particularly at WWI, but I think it's message goes for nearly every war in human history. It really is a beautiful song, and the lyrics are quite stirring.

And Another One Bites the Dust

It is fascinating to watch how each of these, the Republican Presidential nominees, eventually fall from grace. In Herman Cain's case, it seems a scandal is what it took to knock him from relevance. As far as the Great and Mighty Mouthpiece of the media is concerned, it is quite profound the way in which they swarmed around the alleged sexual misconduct issue--it would be laudable if they used this tenacious tact towards something that was, you know, actually newsworthy. The sad part in this whole affair is that the entire "scandal" detracts from the real issues. What should have gotten Herman Cain out of the race was not any personal misconduct, but his absolute inability to understand anything remotely resembling economics or foreign policy. His middle-school foreign policy requires only the most peripheral glance to witness its gaping holes and childish state-sponsored notions. His supposedly revolutionary tax plan (you know, the one with all of the nines) which does nothing to actually cut spending, is cribbed from a video game. And yet. . . And yet, the issue that does get talked about, that is incessantly bludgeoning our ears and proclaiming "What vainglorious fools we were to trust this man as a candidate!" has nothing  remotely to do with anything that matters in regards to his candidacy. The table has been set, my friends. We are to be treated to a buffet of plastic, toy-food served to us by buffoons that are labeled as pundits and talking heads, and each course will be brought to us not as we please, but as they do, with no substance anywhere in sight. Enjoy the entertaining imitation, my friends, for that is all we will get!

Protectionism and Anti-Dumping

A fairly decent general summarization as to why protectionist economic policies are actually detrimental to the job market it claims to be "protecting":



Courtesy of the Cato Institute.