As much as I respect Ron Paul, for his sincere efforts to move our govt in a direction supportive of freedom and prosperity, as i read his final speech, he seems to be off the mark a bit in his understanding of the roots of human rights...his speech is very long and rambling, perhaps because he does not grasp the essentials of the issue.
"To achieve liberty and peace, two powerful human emotions have to be overcome. Number one is “envy” which leads to hate and class warfare. Number two is “intolerance” which leads to bigoted and judgmental policies. These emotions must be replaced with a much better understanding of love, compassion, tolerance and free market economics. Freedom, when understood, brings people together. When tried, freedom is popular. The problem we have faced over the years has been that economic interventionists are swayed by envy, whereas social interventionists are swayed by intolerance of habits and lifestyles. The misunderstanding that tolerance is an endorsement of certain activities, motivates many to legislate moral standards which should only be set by individuals making their own choices. Both sides use force to deal with these misplaced emotions. Both are authoritarians. Neither endorses voluntarism. Both views ought to be rejected.
I have come to one firm conviction after these many years of trying to figure out “the plain truth of things.” The best chance for achieving peace and prosperity, for the maximum number of people world-wide, is to pursue the cause of LIBERTY.
If you find this to be a worthwhile message, spread it throughout the land."
There are many comments one could make, but this sentence I underlined seems to be an example of (dare I say it?) his confusion. Compassion, in particular, is an expression of religious morality, and many folks are very happy and content to use this feeling as a motive for bringing the force of government against their fellow citizens in order to help those in need. In this example, they are not motivated by envy or intolerance, they are simply following the word of Christ, that the greatest virtue is Love, and God's love is expressed thru compassion.
Liberty is his touchstone...but why do we need liberty? I think we need liberty because the human mind can only function when it is free...in order to reach a valid conclusion, one has to be free to consider all the facts, free to find all the facts, free to discuss all the facts...blindness, whether chosen or forced, cannot lead to truth.
And, we need the mind to be free because we sustain our lives by using our mind to guide our actions in this world...if we are not free to think, then we are not free to live, and life is the most fundamental value. In order to have a right to life, one must have a right to think, and one can only think properly if one is free.
This piece seems to be absent from Ron Pauls discussion, perhaps this is why he seems to ramble, he does not quite have the proper perspective, the essential issues.
rp |
