Love Letter to the 2012 Ron Paul Campaign

*Written in late 2011.

By CRAIG EDWARD KELSO

The next President of the United States will be Barack Obama, a second term for the Empty Suit in Chief.

I have nothing against Obama, … nothing more than I do any other politician. He seems like a nice enough guy, and his family sure is lovely. In fact, I think it’s neat to have an African-American family in the White House – though that’s a shallow, vacant form of praise. His various policies are merely a continuation of the Bush, Jr. years, and little more (as Bush, Jr. continued Clinton’s two terms).

Milquetoast. Boring. Typical.

Obama’s your run of the mill economic interventionist (can you guess the politician who has taken, far and away, the MOST money from Wall Street? Your buddy, President Bam), foreign policy adventurist (he moves troops around the global map at will, spoiling for a new fight on a damn-near monthly basis), and shows only joyous enthusiasm at beefing up domestic police power (the list gets longer every legislative period). Again, Obama is Bush, Jr. with a better oratorical style.

Feh! 

Proving we live in amazingly exciting times, however, is not the fact the American President has innate rhythm and cool, but, rather, that there IS finally someone to vote FOR, and it ain’t Obama.

Before I give you the money shot, allow me to reiterate: DON’T VOTE. Voting is stupid, and the American political system is a ridiculous waste of time. Republican democracy is one of the greatest scams in our civic religion. The political class is elected by a percentage of the population fewer and fewer as the years tumble along. Voting gives the public sector legitimacy, and really history, in my opinion, is the struggle between the individual and the state – it is a decidedly inverse relationship, more political power and committees mean less personal freedom and individualism. Voting is amoral. Voting is wrong. Starve the government by refusing to give it your time or interest. Wither the state!

Okay, so now on to completely contradicting myself. 

Politicians are busybodies. They want to involve themselves in every aspect of your life. Whether it’s how much money you make, the hours you work, the food you eat, the car you drive, the house you live in, your online doings, who you’re going to bang or are banging, weapons you might want to collect, what is in or about to be in your womb, and so on, politicians claim dominion in one way or another. They claim the ultimate right to regulate YOU.

For the vast, vast majority of people the above statements are cause for little concern. In fact, the vast, vast majority of people ENCOURAGE government involvement, and wish for more and more.

Why?

Nothing sexy about the dude, as he even wears orthopedic shoes.

I have many theories (stop rolling your eyes), but the one I am most confident in relaying is derived from my personal experience as an educator. For years I worked in compulsory education, public education. Corrupt at its core (it doesn’t even really pretend to be more than an employment program for adults), and rich beyond compare, the public education system in the United States is designed to make state adherents. That’s its goal. If a kiddo dared to not to attend, a fucking POLICE officer would be sent to the student’s home. Parents sent to court. Fines. Jail time. No shit. This, they call education. Sounds much more like prison to me, but, then again, that’s probably just more of my crazy talk. 

And when I taught courses designed to bring about good citizenry, a culture of lawfulness, the dominant theory of state power came from Thomas Hobbes. Hobbesian social theory permeates all of the public school social sciences, and it follows the student into the university and beyond. It goes something like this: without a super power, an ultimate power, a leviathan, to control humans we’d live in a constant state of war, of “continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of [humans would be] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Hobbes was writing during the English Civil War, and his words were more than compelling to those who might eventually be put in charge of directing leviathan. Today’s United States lives in the Hobbesian worldview.

We MUST have government redistribute incomes from producers, … because without Leviathan all the poor would starve and die! We MUST have government run education, … because without Leviathan no one would know how to read! We MUST have government regulation of food, … because without Leviathan all the food would be contaminated! We MUST have government outlaw hallucinogenic drugs, … because without Leviathan everyone would be on crack! We MUST have government militaries jogging around the world, … because without Leviathan terrorists would kill us!

It should be NO SURPRISE such reasoning in favor of the total state comes from Leviathan’s children, the public school educated.

Hysteria replaced reason.

Coercion replaced voluntary association.

Guns replaced trade.

Collectivism replaced individualism.

Hardly anyone can imagine what it would be like to be FREE. Freedom. Complete. Undisturbed.

One man CAN, and his name is Ron Paul. Formerly a congressperson from Texas (he retired this year), he has been the lone voice of reason in Washington. He’s such a maverick that he’s known as Doctor No for his principled stands in opposing everything from modest increases in taxes to American foreign wars. He is for a MASSIVE rollback in every conceivable national program, from eliminating whole departments to gutting military spending.

He will not win (reread the first sentence of the post).

I doubt he’ll even earn the Republican nomination.

So why bother with him at all?

The more he speaks, the more Americans engage in real debate. He is the only candidate in the last quarter of a century to give an honest evaluation of American foreign policy: he blames the rise in terrorism ON the United States’ meddling in other countries. He is the only candidate who understands economics: he comes from an Austro-libertarian perspective, understanding voluntary, peaceful association and cooperation is what brings about wealth and real prosperity. He is the only candidate who dares advocate for a complete END to the insane War on Drugs.

He is accomplished (in his former life, he was a physician – not a fucking lawyer or military dick) and educated. He is a family man (his son, Rand, is currently a United States Senator). He’s sober. He’s reasoned. He’s moral. He’s not a crazy drugged out socialist, looking to bring back the failed 1960s. He’s not a goose-stepping conservative who wants to kill every Muslim the world-over.

He doesn’t want to control you.

If you must vote, and if you must get involved in some way civically, Ron Paul is the only choice.

By helping his campaign, reposting his videos, liking him on your Facebook, attending a rally he speaks at, and by voting for him, you’re bringing reasoned discussion to the ridiculous American political circus.

After he loses, and after the mainstream media is done attacking him, the average person attracted to Ron Paul might just pick up a book by Mises, Rothbard, or whomever. S/he might even venture over to antiwar.com

Who knows!

You’ve just read the very last time I advocate for a politician. I am going to shower TWICE, right now, just to get the slime off me. 

And I mean it.

*

CRAIG EDWARD KELSO is a felon, father, husband, controversialist. He lives in Southern California with his adorable family.