Capitol Hill Blue Forums Life and Moral Issues Morality & Society Sorry Mr. Franklin, we are all Democrats Now

There is so much truth found in his commentary that I had to share it here.

http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Feature-Article.htm?InfoNo=023075&From=News

Thank you,Sandy,for the "good read".

I "still" have trouble with "the term" "free-market"["it" is not in my dictionary].

I "think I understand":
"market"-people "freely" trading "whatever" with "whoever","whenever" and "wherever".
and:
"capitalism"-people "buying into" [other peoples]"markets".
so-
"what exactly" IS a "free-market"?

Seductive essay, and especially so because there is so much truth in it. Everything Ron Paul says about government encroachment on our individual constitutional rights is terrific. Likewise his scorn for corporations using their wealth to gain all the rights of individuals but avoid most of the responsibilities. But unfortunately Paul builds everything on the idea that all government programs are useless and/or dangerous. Which is simply not true.

There are certainly things that government does that involve unnecessary coercion against individuals, but there are also many things that government does that benefit individuals who could not do that for themselves. The simplest example is the building and maintenance of public infrastructure: The economic friction of every property owner making the road in front of their house their own little toll road would be enormous. It would be the ultimate expression of free market capitalism, but would also be totally impractical.

There are hundreds of similar examples, and the idea of shrinking federal government and turning everything over to the 50 states is just a ploy to make it all fail by making it 50 times more complex. Since every state would also have to interact with all 49 other (and presumably different) state systems, it would make some things 50 * 50 = 2500 times more complex!

If a Libertarian ever gets elected and starts enacting their proposals, they will end up hanging from a lamp post within a couple of weeks.

There is a great deal of truth to this essay. There is also much in it that is not true. Had I the time or the inclination I would point where the truth and the lies are in it. What is unfortunate about this article is that there is enough truth in it to prevent Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. from ever becoming our president. What that says about our political system is not good. But that it at least got published is good.

I wonder what Mr. Paul and Ben Franklin would have to say about THIS.

"You bastards!"[?]

Censoring what your people can read is the final admission of defeat: Your spin can't compete in the marketplace of ideas. The competing ideas are so powerful that you can't risk your people reading them. recognizing them as true, and deciding that your BS is just that.