Well, I personally think that a statement against imperialism and the Drug War is so important that I'm still considering voting for RP in my state's open primary. I've seen plenty of videos of Paul, and I believe I know who he is and understand the "right-wing populism phenomenon.
whether you do or not, kudos, you've got gutz!
That said, though, I lost you guys a bit on the Federal Reserve....Elihu, I'm curious what your vision of societal transformation is.
one word six syllables: de-cen-tral-i-za-tion. the irredeemability (this means issuance subject to the will of a particular group of men/women) in the closed loop drives the growth of entities to stupendous size. hence the size of government, the size of corporations, the size of universities, the size of armies, the size of agricultural production, etc. their growth is simultaneous and synergystic. the result on society is an elimination of alternatives. the only work is that provided by a big corporation, the only food is that grown and distributed long distances by the combine, the only medicine is that provided by the combine, the only candidates are those provided by the combine, the only news and information is that provided by the combine. the only education is that provided by the combine. and it's coercive. it says: this is not only the best of all possible worlds, it's the only possible world. to think otherwise is looney. look at all the good we do and protection we provide!
damon vrabel did a great series in renaissance 101 where he likened it to a pyramid or a hurricane: a broad, broad base, sucking in energy from the outer bands and funneling it toward the center and upward. the great rich men are not rich because they created that much value. they're rich because they serve in the narrow professions toward the point of the pyramind (or eye of the hurricane). they're collecting rent from millions and millions of people. politicians, lawyers, bankers, ceo's, entertainers, etc.
the currency (mammon) is the lifeblood of the beast. although fiat has built an awesome world of buildings, rocket ships, computers, pageants, violence and propaganda, what's it all been for? it has been lucidly pointed out that this growth has not been organic. it is wasteful and violent in the extreme.
Paul's vision of the world certainly still includes transnational corporations running the show and no democratic powers ("regulations") holding them in check.
i think this is fundamentally mis-understood. he's not talking about taming the beast, he's talking about ending it. in my idea of a transformed society economic activity would be tethered to a more earth-centric reality. since fresh food tends to rot most of it would be consumed fairly quickly and within a small radius of it's point of origin. people would not drive 50 miles one way to do a job that could be done next door (bye global warming). governments would not undertake anything they could not convince the people to actually pay for vs forcing them to pay for it (bye bye imperial war on the other side of planet). where little if anything is illegal the unsustainable profits of prohibition disappear and destructive behavior becomes self-limiting (this includes racism).
i could go on but i'll spare you. maynard keynes the high priest himself put it best when he said "it engages all the hidden forces of economics on the side of destruction, and in a way hard to diagnose". why not extend property law protection to money itself? after all, it is the ultimate property.
.. only the Dennis Kucinich's and Cynthia McKinney's address these things. The Federal Reserve is one part of a massive global scam known as capitalism. Michael Moore speaks about it approximately 100 times more accurately than Ron Paul. Yet I believe Ron Paul to be sincere, humanistic in his intention, and not consciously racist himself, though he sure draws that crowd....
i cannot understand why dennis or ralph or cynthia are not even doing a token nomination fight. the publicity itself would be worth it. yes ron does apparently draw that crowd. in the end freedom is freedom to good as well as evil. unlike ad i do not believe it is possible or could end in anything other than a big brother state to try and screen them out or track them down. everyone's actions will speak for themselves and since they get no government protection for it and they're paying for it out of their own pocket, well all i can say is good luck with that....