Who is Ron Paul Really?
Ryan Cady | Jan 10, 2012 | Comments 10
Who the hell is Ronald Ernest Paul?
To his supporters and admirers, he is a shining beacon of hope, honesty and true politics. He signals a return to a politics for the people, not for the government, a philosophy steeped in the work of Ayn Rand and the ideals behind libertarianism.
To everybody else on the political spectrum, Paul is a dark horse; virtually unknown, a nutcase or worse. More than a few Americans of voting age simply know him as “that weird old guy.”
His campaign, often simply referred to as a “revolution,” has gone from a few cardboard signs and Internet ads to full mainstream media coverage, and since the rest of the Republican candidates are essentially total jackasses, maybe it’s time to consider Paul as a serious politician and dispel the rumors surrounding him.
First, a little background. Paul was born in Pennsylvania in 1935 (yes, he is 76 years old, I know, that’s pretty old). Paul’s father owned a modest but successful dairy company, and his parents were successful enough to afford to send him to medical school at Duke University. He went on from there to serve as a surgeon in the Air Force for two years, and then the Air National Guard for another three. In 1968, he and his wife moved to Texas, where he opened up a private medical practice. Inklings of his political philosophy show through here: although Paul commonly lowered fees for patients in need and even did frequent pro bono work, he refused to accept payments from Medicare and Medicaid. A few years later, on Aug 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon ended the backing of the U.S. dollar’s gold standard, making money an entirely economic construct with no concrete value. To this day, Paul cites it as the moment he decided to enter the political arena.
He hasn’t really left it since.
In 1976, he won his first seat in Congress, under the Republican ticket in Texas. He maintained positions in the House until 1984, when he chose to run for the Senate, and lost.
He blamed his retirement from the House of Representatives on the House’s overall focus on special interest groups, and its deviation from the people’s wants and needs. For the next decade, Paul became a sort of political philosopher, spreading libertarian ideals through various corporations as well as maintaining his work as a physician.
His enterprises ended up sowing the seeds for the political groups that would later become the infamous Tea Party, and it is because of this that he is often associated with the reactionary movement, even though Paul himself has never ran in the party.
In 1998, Paul once again ran for Congress, the most trying election of his life, and has maintained a position in the House since then.
Since 2004, he has campaigned as a presidential candidate, both as a Libertarian and a Republican.
When it comes to his political beliefs, Paul has often been sorely misrepresented until very recently.
Last year, however, a Gallup poll found that 80 percent of Americans consider him to be the most admired man in Congress. For example, although Paul is a faithful Baptist, and a highly conservative person, all of his political views directly support individual freedom. Above all, Paul supports states’ rights and the rights of the individual via the Constitution.
Unlike most of his fellow Republican candidates, Paul supports same-sex marriage, complete separation of church and state and the removal of U.S. troops from all current foreign conflicts. He also believes that drugs should be regulated on the state level and that marijuana should be legalized. Because of his experience as an obstetrician, Paul believes that life begins at conception, so he is pro-life; however, he still believes that abortion should be regulated by the states.
Somewhat more typically of a Republican, Paul does not support raising taxes for social programs, or affirmative action, believing that it only makes the government stronger and discourages actual racial harmony. Above all, Paul longs for a free market economy with the maximum individual rights possible.
And would that really be so bad?
Does he really sound so crazy, now that the media’s spin isn’t on it?
When taxes are high and freedom is lower than ever, but our economy is still spiraling into collapse, maybe Ron Paul’s America is something to seriously consider.
Ryan Cady is a second-year psychology major. He can be reached at rcady@uci.edu.
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Filed Under: Opinion
My generation is not interested in real change. Only a comfortable retirement and they’re willing to spend your “inheritance” to maintain it.
Change will have to come from earlier generations and if there’s one thing 50 years has taught me , it’s that BigNewsCo owns the media and they have absolutely no desire to see you educated.
Thank you for the great article, Ryan. As long as people understand that a vote for Ron Paul is a vote for their liberty, and that liberty is the only way to be a prosperous nation, then they will seriously consider Ron Paul. With people going to the internet more and more over the TV, they will find the truth for themselves.
Ron Paul 2012!
finally someone who speaks the truth about Ron Paul, great article! Thanks!
I agree with most of his views but not all, but an honest politician is rare. That is why I support Ron Paul in 2012
This is basically a good article, but it does contains a couple factual errors. Dr. Paul did not run for president in 2004. He ran on the Libertarian ticket in 1988, and was a candidate for the Republican ticket in 2008 and 2012.
He also does not support gay marriage. He voted to end DADT, but does not favor Federal action on gay marriage, either for or against. He believes that marriage is reserved to the states under the 10th Amendment.
Again, this article is pretty good overall, and I’m not trying to nit-pick.
Ron Paul 2012!
Thank you for an unbiased article; they are generally in short supply.
I’m voting for Dr. Paul. He is the only electable candidate.
When I think of the ways in which each candidates presidency would affect the current national state, Ron Paul’s America is the only one I’d like to live in.
Well done article. You summarized Dr. Paul’s views and positions quite well. And yes, a nation with maximum freedom and true free markets would be imperfect, but still so much better than any kind of economy or government with interference. The only interference should be because someones liberty or rights were violated.
Ron Paul is the only one of these crooks that is even worth a vote. He has more support from our troops than all the other candidates combined. That is enough reason alone to vote for him.
Ron Paul ran for president in 1988 under the Libertarian Party, then ran for the republican nominee in 2008.
I read the books Blowback by Chalmers Johnson and The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin to get an in depth understanding of Ron Paul’s economic and foreign policy views. Ever since I’ve been a believer that his views are spot on.