My friend Carol is a fringe Ron Paul supporter and she recently told me that she doesn’t know what to say when people ask her about Ron Paul. I guess it could be as simple as Dr. Paul says in some of his speeches — it’s all about “Freedom, prosperity and peace.”
That’s the short answer. Here’s a longer one.
The Ron Paul movement is a broad and diverse one that people come to for different reasons. It is made up of small-government Republicans, anti-war Democrats, traditional Constitutionalists, freedom-loving Libertarians, gun-toting right wingers, pro-pot stoner left wingers, and even some anarchists.
Each group takes Ron Paul’s platform and reorganizes according to their own beliefs. For example, my top three items would be: small government, personal freedom, and sound monetary policy.
Carol’s may be very different. For instance, her top three may include: non-interventionist foreign policy (no aggressive wars), respect for the Constitution (especially the first and second amendments) and getting rid of the federal income tax.
Some people may have only one key issue. For my sister Gina, it would be educational freedom. She home schools her three children and doesn’t want to be told how they must be educated. She may not care too much about domestic monetary policy or a non-interventionist foreign policy, and she may completely disagree with the idea of small government, but when it comes to her children, watch out!
So, below is a list of some of Ron Paul’s platform items. Let me know if I’m missing any major ones and leave a comment to let me know what your top three are.
- Limited government (Government is force, not reason)
- Non-interventionism (No policing the world and meddling in the affairs of other nations)
- Respect for individual rights (We can do what we please as long as we don’t harm anyone else)
- Respect for private property (We can do what we want with our own things)
- Strict adherence to the Constitution (This document was made by the people to limit the government, not the other way around)
- Parental control over child’s education (Curriculum decisions shouldn’t be made in an ivory tower far away)
- Free trade and free markets (Government interference, no matter how well-intentioned, always has consequences)
- National sovereignty (We shouldn’t give away our authority to outside bodies like the U.N., the WTO, NATO, etc.)
- Paying off the national debt (As long as we live beyond our means, we will be destined to live below our means in the future)
- Limited government spending (Government should only provide basic services that no other agency can)
- Limited taxation (People can purchase most services more efficiently and wisely than bureaucrats can)
- Non-centralized powers (states to decide on drugs, abortion, right to die, gay marriage, etc.)
