Why are Republicans afraid of Ron Paul?

[IndependntLogic]

Being a libertarian doesn't equate to being a pacifist. I think you would find the opposite to be true in most cases. Libertarians are fiercely protective of our rights. If you consider that we have the right to defense of self and property then you can take the next logical step and assume that a libertarian could justify war for defense. It's wars of aggression without sufficient cause that we have a problem with. For example, you would be hard pressed to find a libertarian that would disagree with going to war with Japan but you would be equally hard pressed to find one in favor of the war in Iraq.

In this regard and Ron Paul's position on handing taxpayer money to the corrupt politicians of foreign countries, I am in complete agreement.

As far as government subsidizing businesses, this sounds like corporatism to me but specific details would be nice so that I can research it myself.

Three things you might find of interest (you strike me as one who enoys such intellectual pursuits): Big Oil subsidies (I'm guessing you already know this one) and then off-shoring through techniques such as the "Double Irish" and "Dutch Sandwich". In the former case, products that are made in the USA and sold ONLY to Americans, avoid payment of all taxes domestically. This is a special tax break that was designed back in the day, to allow companies to move from e.g. California to Nevada without getting soaked. It has since been used to bilk the USA out of hundreds of billions of dollars every year, through orr-shoring breaks that citizens don't enjoy.

I am not in favor of the government interfering in the free market. Subsidizing businesses is manipulating supply and demand. It is picking favorites because those being subsidized can lower their prices and undercut other businesses. This will gain them a larger than normal market share. This can create monopolies. So I would say this is a divergence from the libertarian ideal.

That is my understanding, as well.

I can't think of a single country at the moment that is even close to a libertarian form of government in the world today. I think I know where you are going with this though so I will say this. Even if our government wasn't a libertarian government in its purist form, it was still way more into the libertarian spectrum than our current government. That isn't to say I would like to see a return to the days when women didn't vote or when blacks were slaves either. A true libertarian believes everyone is equal regardless of sex ,color,religion or whatever else.

I've lived all over so there are a couple I think might be close - except they have social programs you guys find appalling. Switzerland and The Ukraine come to mind. Both have strong centralized governments that do as little as possible to interfere with business or individual liberties. However, like virtually every industrialized nation in the world, both have public health care as an option (they also offer the choice of private insurance for the wealthy).
Most of the countries that have virtually no centralized regulation of businesses, are horrible places to live e.g. Ghana. I don't think they would be examples of Libertarian or anyone else's ideals.
The Libertarian ideal that everyone is equal is marvelous in theory but unfortunately, without regulation, rarely occurs in reality and "the market" virtually never corrects the problem without government interference.

Being a libertarian doesn't equate to being a pacifist. I think you would find the opposite to be true in most cases. Libertarians are fiercely protective of our rights. If you consider that we have the right to defense of self and property then you can take the next logical step and assume that a libertarian could justify war for defense. It's wars of aggression without sufficient cause that we have a problem with. For example, you would be hard pressed to find a libertarian that would disagree with going to war with Japan but you would be equally hard pressed to find one in favor of the war in Iraq.

As far as government subsidizing businesses, this sounds like corporatism to me but specific details would be nice so that I can research it myself. I am not in favor of the government interfering in the free market. Subsidizing businesses is manipulating supply and demand. It is picking favorites because those being subsidized can lower their prices and undercut other businesses. This will gain them a larger than normal market share. This can create monopolies. So I would say this is a divergence from the libertarian ideal.

I can't think of a single country at the moment that is even close to a libertarian form of government in the world today. I think I know where you are going with this though so I will say this. Even if our government wasn't a libertarian government in its purist form, it was still way more into the libertarian spectrum than our current government. That isn't to say I would like to see a return to the days when women didn't vote or when blacks were slaves either. A true libertarian believes everyone is equal regardless of sex ,color,religion or whatever else.

People like us fought what should have been an impossible war against the British to establish libertarian principles of freedom. When everyone else cried about the tyranny, we picked up guns and fought the greatest army on earth and defeated them.

Yeah, we're pacifists

Paulie you have the greatest avatar on planet Earth.

 

[Desperado]

Ron Paul is the only candidate that offers real change.
Everyone else is simply more of the same. Remember Democrats and Republicans are just the flip side of the same coin.