"Paul’s libertarian message finds fans" December 31, 2011|By Sarah Schweitzer
Notice the headline is finds fans, not reaches voters.
Just another in a long line of subtle elitist insults by the corporate paper.
Ron Paul has catapulted to popularity in Iowa and New Hampshire preaching libertarianism, demonstrating his commitment to smaller government with a commercial depicting the demolition of the Department of Education.
But while some dismiss Paul’s views as fringe, a wide range of voters has embraced them this election cycle, cheering his denunciations of bloated government and foreign interventions.
Then why are the dismissive ones given a megaphone in my mouthpiece media?
These positions - and the primacy of individual liberty - have been mainstays of libertarianism since it coalesced into an American movement 70 years ago, propelled by the writings of novelist Ayn Rand.
Paul’s popularity has trained a spotlight on the political movement, traditionally a small but inveterate band of believers whose leaders have seen little electoral success. The Libertarian Party has run a candidate in presidential contests since 1972 (including Paul in 1988) and has never garnered more than 1 percent of support.
That's because the two factions of the War Party have made it nearly impossible for third-party competition with their campaign rules and regulations.
“Their story is more one of persistence than popularity,’’ said John Berg, a government professor at Suffolk University who specializes in American political parties.
Of course, Paul himself, running as a libertarian in Republican cloaking, has won election to Congress 12 times from his Texas district. And in recent decades, libertarian ideas have threaded into popular political thinking. The push for lower taxes and deregulation of industries, arguably, links to libertarian emphasis on limited government and a free market.
Indeed, one champion of the ideas, President Reagan, famously was photographed on an airplane in 1980, his wife’s head resting on his shoulder, reading The Freeman, the magazine of an early libertarian organization.
Even in Massachusetts, the movement’s proposals at times have grabbed hold: A libertarian-backed end to the state income tax came close to passage in 2002, taking 40 percent of the vote. It failed again in 2008 by a wider margin, but voters that year passed a law decriminalizing the possession of a small amount of marijuana - a darling cause of libertarians.
But Ron Paul stands no chance in this Democratic(?) state.
Libertarians argue that the philosophy’s staying power owes to its roots in the founding of the country, when the colonists fled restrictive states and churches in Europe and sought a freer existence.
“We were founded in revolution,’’ said David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “Americans have always believed in free enterprise, capitalism, and liberty.’’
I'm not a big fan of Cato. If I remember correctly, he was a Roman who said simply work slaves to death and just get another one.
Others point to human nature. “When you interact with government, sometimes the interaction yields a benefit. But a lot of times it’s the government saying ‘you can’t do that’ and people chafe at that,’’ Berg said.
Libertarians’ well-funded backers have also helped.
“Part of their program is government shouldn’t interfere with the free market, so enough rich businessmen are willing to support them,’’ said Berg, pointing to David Koch, the Kansas oil and gas billionaire who served as the Libertarian vice presidential candidate in 1980. Koch today sits on the board of the Cato Institute and has played a prominent role in financing the Tea Party.
And Koch's billions are not helping Ron Paul.
The libertarian movement’s modern form took hold in the 1940s in the wake of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. While most Americans had cheered the government expansion, libertarians like Rand viewed it as an amoral power grab, reminiscent of events unfolding in Europe.
“They were reacting to the growth of totalitarianism in Russia and Germany and the growth of the welfare state and the perception that FDR was ignoring the Constitution,’’ Boaz said.
Rand and other young intellectuals gathered at her Manhattan apartment to muse on a less regulated, freer world where individuals guided their own fates, not “collectives,’’ otherwise known as government.
They found intellectual support in the writings of two Austrian economists, Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek, who argued that economic planning distorted the market and that the only efficient and fair means of allocating goods and services was freeing the forces of supply and demand.
With the publishing of Rand’s “The Fountainhead’’ in 1943, the movement gained a toehold in the national consciousness. The best-selling novel tells the story of a genius architect named Howard Roark who triumphs over convention and groupthink. It captured imaginations across the country, including that of David Nolan, founder of the Libertarian Party, who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the intention of becoming a real-life Roark.
In the book Roark rigged the demolition of his own buildings.
Through the 1960s, libertarianism’s adherents were loosely affiliated. “The people and organizations pushing libertarian ideas were small in number, mostly obscure, and mostly considered nuts,’’ said Brian Doherty, author of “Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement.’’
The 1970s brought formal architecture to the movement. President Nixon’s imposition of wage and price controls angered libertarians who viewed the move as government meddling. They also strongly criticized Nixon’s decision to take the nation off the gold standard. The monetary policy, combined with the nation’s escalating involvement in the Vietnam War, defying libertarian opposition to intervention abroad, spurred Nolan to form the Libertarian Party in 1971.
“It was vivid proof that the Republican Party didn’t support the free market,’’ Doherty said.
Paul was angered, too, and entered politics, winning his first congressional race in 1976 and quickly drawing a cult following.
Kind of like a newspaper's readership.
Throughout his political career, Paul has hewed closely to the libertarian tenets. Last week he told an Iowa gathering that he will cut $1 trillion in federal spending and recall US troops from hundreds of foreign bases.
Paul diverges from libertarians on abortion, supporting the repeal of Roe v. Wade because, his website states, “it would be inconsistent for him to champion personal liberty and a free society if he didn’t also advocate respecting the God-given right to life - for those born and unborn.’’
(Ayn Rand would have had a bone to pick with Paul on this point. In a letter to the New York Times in 1976, she wrote, “I am profoundly opposed to Ronald Reagan. Since he denies the right to abortion, he cannot be a defender of any rights.’’)
Actually, Ron Paul believes it should be thrown back to the states.
Related: Ron Paul Revolution Excerpts, Continued
But hey, what is one more distortion from a paper full of 'em on a daily basis?
Paul’s success in this presidential go-round contrasts sharply with his fizzled bid in 2007-2008. His message was much the same then - shutting down the Federal Reserve, cutting spending, and ending the wars in the Middle East. The difference is the times, some say.
“Back in 2007 everyone thought the Federal Reserve was doing a good job, Republicans weren’t ready to look at spending because there was a Republican in the White House, and [Senator John] McCain said the surge in Iraq was working,’’ Boaz said. “Now, there’s a Democrat in the White House so Republicans want to talk about spending, the Federal Reserve doesn’t look as good as it did . . . and even Republicans are getting tired of the war in Afghanistan.’’
Take it from this Republican, we are NOT ONLY TIRED OF THEM, we HATE THEM and DO NOT WANT ANYMORE!!!
Whatever the electoral outcome this year, Paul’s unexpected success in capturing national attention may have cemented his legacy as Rand’s successor.
To some, Globe. Not to me.
“In 10 years, you may find that Ron Paul has become the answer to the question of: ‘How did you get into libertarian stuff?’ ’’ Doherty said.
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Let's dig a little deeper in the Globe:
"GOP candidates’ families humanize the campaign" December 30, 2011|Shira Schoenberg, Globe Correspondent
Often, families provide moral support.
They are the only ones that were ever really there for me.
Representative Ron Paul of Texas brought 25 family members to an Iowa straw poll. Linda Paul, 21, a Texas A&M student, and Lisa Paul, 23, a medical student at the University of Texas, campaigned with their grandfather in New Hampshire in December. Their role, Linda Paul said, is “traveling with him, just being here to support him.’’ Paul featured his family in a cookbook, and his son, US Senator Rand Paul, recorded an ad for him.
Also see: The Globe's Invisible Ink: Ron Paul in New Hampshire
I guess they didn't like the recipes.
Dante Scala, associate professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire, said family helps Paul’s image. “Often you think of Paul as this kind of John the Baptist figure, a lone figure out in the wilderness,’’ Scala said. “This helps him trying to reach mainstream voters, to show he’s a family man, he’s a doctor.’’
And he's the only one with the prescriptions that can help heal this country.
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"Different flavors of the GOP; Candidates showing distinct styles as they head into primary season" December 31, 2011|By Michael Levenson and Matt Viser, Globe Staff
“Freedom of speech,’’ he said. “Ain’t it wonderful?’’
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Globe always leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.
