Rep. Ron Paul: "Liberty Defined"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-05-03/rep-ron-paul-liberty-defined
Congressman Ron Paul is very popular among libertarians and Tea Party conservatives. He recently announced he is forming a campaign exploratory committee and will make an announcement about a possible White House bid by June. The newly elected chairman of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy joins Diane to discuss the meaning of the term "liberty" and how it is the seed of America.
Guests
Rep. Ron Paul
physician and twelve-term congressman from Texas
Video Extra
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) says that the U.S.'s killing of Osama bin Laden "raises as many questions as it answers." Paul says that "right now" would be a good time for the U.S. to withdraw forces from Afghanistan and that he believes "the connection between foreign policy and our financial problems is very significant." Paul also believes the government should release some proof of bin Laden's death. "Why does our government invite conspiracy theories all the time?" he said:
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul talks about his views on abortion. "If you don't have high respect for human life, you can't have respect for liberty," he said:
Program Highlights
Rep. Paul on bin Laden's Death
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) spoke with Diane about everything from the U.S's killing of Osama bin Laden to his thoughts on how abortion policy relates to the idea of "liberty" as he defines it.
Paul said that in spite of the pleasure most Americans felt upon hearing of bin Laden's death, the event "raises as many questions as it answers."Paul said that "right now" would be a good time to get out of Afghanistan, emphasizing that one of bin Laden's stated goals was to get the U.S. to bankrupt itself through its involvement in Afghanistan.
Paul also had doubts about the U.S.'s ability to confirm that it was, in fact, bin Laden they had killed. "To my knowledge, I didn't know they could do DNA proof that quickly," he said.
Defining Liberty
"Liberty for me recognizes the fact that each individual has a right to his or her life and that the government is not allowed to coerce them into trying to mold their economic life or their personal life. It's the absence of coercive force by government and a rejection of coercive force by any individuals," Paul said.
Diane asked Rep. Paul about the place of regulatory agencies in protecting the public, especially people like miners who work in dangerous situations. "They don't do a very good job," he replied, citing the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig last year in the Gulf of Mexico.
When Diane suggested that there would be even more disasters if we didn't have such regulatory agencies, Paul responded that "...too often, the government gets in bed with big business, and that's where our tragedy comes from."
Abortion
"You believe in smaller government, but you think government should put a stop to abortion," Diane said.
"What I'm most interested in is the recognition of the value of human life," Paul said. "If you don't have high respect for human life, you cannot have respect for liberty, and that's what I'm interested in," he said.
Paul added that constitutionally, the federal government is "not supposed to be enforcing any kind of regulations or laws like that."
"There are strong reasons to believe that the unborn has legal rights."
Scaling Back Government
Diane closed the interview by asking Paul which specific parts of the government he would eliminate if he was elected president.
Paul's list includes: the Department of Education; the Department of Energy; the Food and Drug Administration; and deep cuts to the Pentagon's budget.
Comments
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I am truly disappointed with the number of "ruggrf, individualistic, pull-ourselves-up-by-our-bootstraps" Americans who feel they can't make it without the help of the Federal government. The comments here distress me insomuch that most Americans are no self reliant. Welfare, Medicaid and Unemployment Benefits have become a way of life for many, passing down from generation to generation.
@rtvest
It was not "the government" but individual state governments who required separate facilities under the banner of states rights. It was the ability of individual states to enforce these dehumanizing measures that made segregation possible. I don't know how it could have been changed except by the action of the federal government. If we had had to wait for individual state governments, who knows when things would have changed.
Libertarianism and environmentalism are not at odds with each other. Libertarianism provides a way to protect the environment by enforcing private property rights. Watch this video of a free market environmentalist explain this concept. Ron Paul discussed the same concept in his last book.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMxgYY_q-AI
Also, Philosophy Talk has an interesting investigation into abortion. http://www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/Abortion.html
It might help people better understand the issue .
Back to the FDA:
In the FDA's ever ongoing war against the most elusive and dangerous crime syndicate this country has ever known, they have un-covered the illegal transaction of raw milk between state lines. I repeat RAW MILK was being sold illegally across state lines. You can now drink milk with a clear conscience knowing the FDA has your back. The crime syndicate in question? The Amish. The Amish have been operating for many decades in the fields of Pennsylvania and Ohio performing what look like benign tasks and everyday physical labor. Thanks to the FDA we now know that they have been trying to poison their neighbors with raw milk. We don't know if they have been working in conjunction with any other syndicates ,but this could be the beginning of the end of the Amish.
I salute you Mr. Secret FDA agent man!! I am glad I pay you the big bucks to take down Ma, Pa and the Jersey out back. I wouldn't want to actually buy milk straight from the source without supporting my "local" dairy conglomerate first. Thank you for knee-capping this "threat (competition)" and horrific epidemic before it hit the nation.
The Amish? seriously, sadly this isn't even an extreme example.
Source: "Feds sting Amish farmer selling raw milk locally
Cite interstate commerce violation"
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/28/feds-sting-amish-farmer-...
The marketplace is the greatest regulator. Companies would get sued and go out of business if their products or services harmed people. How is approval from some unaccountable bueracrat going to make us safer?
Yea if a drug company has enough money to buy the FDA the get their product approved.
If a smaller company with less connections or money comes up with a product they get red tape and run around and no approval from the FDA.
So he does not have a right to an opinion on abortion? That does not mean he wants to regulate your choice. It means he does not like it.
Just as he does not do drugs he will still fight for our right to have control over your own body.
Unlike the Bush and Obama Ron Paul does not feel a President can make a decision for the whole nation based on what their cronies want.
@Tremonisha
Did you just say "it was not 'the government' but individual state governments"? So in essence, it was the government? My point still stands, in a libertarian society, there would be no discrimination by any government anywhere, state or federal.
I though it was a great and thoughtful interview. I wanted to understand more about the libertarian movement and Ron Paul's views. While i think the whole "Get Government out the way" manta is nice. Are we willing as a society to live in a Free Market state with no rules. This idea that the free market protects the "little guy" is false, in my opinion. The free market system rewards those to make it by what ever means (barring fraud as the Rep pointed out) other than that your fine. His comments to the caller on what the governments role in a natural disaster, like what happened in the south is very telling of the Libertarian system. House torn down. Too bad. Shouldn't have lived there. I am not my brothers keeper. I agree that government can be a bit too much sometimes, but I also think its good that we have a federal minimum wage, there are restrictions on pollutions a company can put in our water, and that discrimination is not legal in the public sphere. Government can have a role in our lives.
@rmjames007
Americans are a very generous people, if any of us wanted to voluntarily give aid to people affected by a tornado, that's our right. The problem comes when you force people to pay for it. The destructive consequences of the federal minimum wage are best explained by my man Milton Friedman here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca8Z__o52sk
It's a very short video and I encourage you to watch it. As for the pollution argument, if your neighbor was dumping trash in your yard, in a free society with strong property rights, you could sue him or her. Likewise, if a company is dumping garbage into your air, you and the other people around you could start a lawsuit. Ron Paul's beef is with using prior restraint against these companies. And as for discrimination in the public sphere, all libertarians are completely against it.
@rtvest
Ill hit discrimination first. while you may be against it. That is very different than having regulation in place that prohibits it. Like prostitution you may not like it but as a libertarian its permissible. Taking it one step further if you want to run a brothel out of your house you could. because your property is sovereign as a libertarian. The main thing is that there are things that we (as a collective) say we are/are not willing to tolerate morally. The threat of lawsuit. Why not just do the right thing in the first place. So you sue your neighbor for dumping in your yard. Wat if he does it again? he has made the determination that its easier to go through the lawsuit process and fine than just not dump in your yard because there is a law against it.
So while i think there alot of good things in the libertarian argument. I think it is agnostic to reality. People have value judgement as well.
You can grow marijuana and sell weapons to children right now. Deregulation at the federal level allows more freedom to regulate at the state and more local levels.
@rmjames007
You mentioned discrimination in the public sector in the comment before this one, and that would be illegal in a libertarian society. Private discrimination is a different thing entirely. We discriminate every day, I discriminate when I choose who I let into my home, I discriminate when I decide where to eat. While laws against discrimination mean well, there is no way to be sure that an employer discriminates against someone for a "bad" reason and a lot of money is wasted in frivolous law suits. Someone who owns a business or a home or anything should not have to serve, hire, or let in anyone that they don't want to for any reason they choose. Libertarianism is really about the non-aggression principle, if there is no act of aggression or initiation of force, there is no crime. The argument you use about the neighbor simply doing it again is silly. If he or she did it repeatedly, they would go to jail just like any other situation or for any other crime. I urge you to read Ron Paul's new book, he says it much better than I do.
@Eirwin
If you knew libertarianism, you would know that abortion is one of the only issues which divides the philosophy.
It appears the people of the USA surrendered their freedoms and liberties so long ago that they can no longer wrap their minds around the concept. They have grown comfortable with the nanny and police state in which we live. Dr.Paul's arguments are so explicit that anyone can follow them and progressives are aware that life under a Paul presidency will erode their safety blanket called wellfare for the masses that is often given to the undeserving. Like Rome we have ready handouts to individuals and corporations and even countries, while we blast muslims in a gladitorial fest to confusticate and appease the populus so they avert their eyes from the truth that we are going bankrupt paying for the specticle. You cant blame capitalism for corporatism. When governments opt to protect certain industries at the expence of others, it is clearly the people who will suffer and Dr. Paul speaks of this crime often. If you think the feds didn't know what the investment bankers were up to, you are saddly mistaken!! The Government helped perpetuated it and now we have Obama in office who's campaign was financed by wallstreet. Good luck getting that social justice from Barry. Dr. Paul's main point here, whether he is talking about abortion or drug legalization or health care, etc., is the 10th amendment gives sole power over these things to the states and the people. We forget, because the feds have held states hostage through funding for so long, that the federal government is an agent of the states not visa-versa. The federal government cannot declare an extensive and bloody war on drugs, for example, because the power to do so was not spelled out in the constitution as an enumerated power. They could take such a power with a constitutional amendment but history shows us what a failure that was with prohibition! I will vote for Dr. Paul for president and take my chances with the so called libertarian "nuts" and on my own responsibility over my life as a soverign individual.
I finally had to turn off the radio. My blood pressure was rising. He may think he knows what he's talking about, but a lot of what he said was just plain lies.
thanks so much for interviewing Ron Paul. I have certainly heard of him but I don't think I quite realized just how unimpressive he could be. He says a lot of things some people might want to hear but none of it seems to add up. He's hardly coherent and is really quite embarrassing. Thanks for featuring him on your show. Now I can form a reasoned opinion. Oh my.
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@jdvm
I think you should hold yourself to the same standard that you require of Dr. Paul. If things in your opinion don't add up, then don't you think it is fair to at least name one thing and let some others on this list respond to your earnest inquiry? How can you claim to use reason in forming your opinion when there is absolutely no reason in your criticisms.
You are right about him rushing through some of his words. He has an encyclopedias worth of knowledge in his head waiting to burst forth and in this case only 51 minutes to pick and choose the most relevant information to a crowd that can't even describe the idea of liberty. Why don't you look past impressive features such as good looks, a golden voice, or a captivating smile and instead focus on the substance of his message?
RON PAUL IS THE REASON WHY I SWITCHED FROM DEMOCRAT TO REPUBLICAN PARTY. I'M SICK OF PRESIDENTS WHO LIE, KILL AND DESTROY THIS COUNTRY. I BELIEVE RON PAUL CAN RESTORE AMERICA TO THE COUNTRY IT WAS PEACEFUL PROSPEROUS AND FREE.
LAST NIGHTS GOP debate SHOWED THAT RON PAUL WALKS THE WALK.
Might vote for Obama again so he can finish destroying America
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While I think the libertarian philosophy has many pluses i really dont think it make sense in a society. I dont say that as a knock against Ron Paul but more of a lets be realistic about this. In the interview he kept going back to I am for liberty. Which is fine but I cant think of many things that I cannot go do becaus eI dont have leiberty. He brought up a thing about not being able to sell the milk you want. Well the only reason why there is a restriction on that is because people died when it wasnt regulated and we as a society said we want to regulate this. I likw hearing Ron Pauls arguments becuase the sticks to the fundamental principals good or bad.