Mammon Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 What do you guys think of the majority of Paul's supporters? I've noticed how most of them seem to support Paul because they think it's going to start some kind of revolution and the Big Evil Powers-Complexs will suddenly go away or something. It's hard to gauge their attitudes because they seem to be very vague and I can't get them to say exactly what it is about Paul they like without the talk of revolution, love, the war, the war, the war, UFOs, and fighting the powers.... I think Paul is weak, but his crowd seem to be hurting him even more and no they are hurting the pro-capitalist view in the sense that it's becoming associated with people like this. How do you guys weigh in? [i made a seperate thread because I don't want to get into a million more debates about Paul himself, this is about his super-vocal-fan-base] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-RAD79 Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 He tries to mix objectivism with religion. Which in itself doesn't make to much sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strangelove Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 The guy is truly a Paleo-Conservative. Not a Libertarian, and certainly not an Objectivist. Hence, his followers are also nuts: http://wonkette.com/348081/internal-paulta...aut-endorsement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEgoist Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 Yes, besides his drug policy ( Which isn't all too liberating either ), I haven't noticed any difference between him and Paleo-Conservatives. I don't know if its an insult to Libertarians or to Paul to label him as a Libertarian, but it isn't true in any case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWaters Posted January 24, 2008 Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 He tries to mix objectivism with religion. Which in itself doesn't make to much sense. I do not think it is fair to even say that Ron Paul is trying to mix Objectivism with anything. He is too much of a Rationalist to really have anything beyond a few select "second-hand" ideas of Ayn Rand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mammon Posted January 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2008 The guy is truly a Paleo-Conservative. Not a Libertarian, and certainly not an Objectivist. Hence, his followers are also nuts: http://wonkette.com/348081/internal-paulta...aut-endorsement I love the link, perfect example of the mindset of these people. Also, with what DarkWaters said, I doubt Paul even recognizes Objectivism. Rand is just another Libertarian to these people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidV Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 Ron Paul is a prime example of the failure of the libertarian political movement. He is arguably its greatest success, yet his campaign as such will achieve nothing, he ran on a mainstream ticket, and his views represent both a compromise of libertarian ideals and the embodiment of some of its worst aspects. Nevertheless, however problematic Ron Paul's views might be, he's raised more money than any other Republican candidate and beat Giuliani in every primary so far. It is undeniable that the success of his campaign has been a surprise to just about everyone, and tapped into some hidden potential that few suspected of existing. While there is no chance that a real pro-liberty candidate could win the election, I hope that when his campaign is a distant memory, some of the intellectual momentum behind it can be leveraged by an authentic movement for individual rights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softwareNerd Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 ...I hope that when his campaign is a distant memory, some of the intellectual momentum behind it can be leveraged by an authentic movement for individual rights.I would wish so too, but I think that goes to the question with which Mammon started this thread: who are Paul's grass-roots supporters? Who are these people who have been organizing meet-ups and donating on the internet. Are they mostly free-trader type libertarians? Or, is there a significant proportion of "sock it to the man", "Jewish corporations want to take over the world", "the North American super-highway is an attempt to take over the U.S.", types who are anti-establishment on principle? I know there is at least one person here who attended Ron Paul meet-ups. I wonder what types of people attended (in terms of political opinion). It really would be interesting to see good, broad, data-based survey, showing the types of people who have been supporting Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWaters Posted January 25, 2008 Report Share Posted January 25, 2008 [Ron Paul has] raised more money than any other Republican candidate No way this is true. According to OpenSecrets.org, Ron Paul is fifth overall in total funds raised (I think as of 9/20/2007). While there is no chance that a real pro-liberty candidate could win the election, I hope that when his campaign is a distant memory, some of the intellectual momentum behind it can be leveraged by an authentic movement for individual rights. Let's hope so. At present I fear that the long-term effect of the Ron Paul campaign will be the (wrong) idea that terrorist attacks can all largely be explained by previous misdeeds in foreign policy and not by nihilistic ideologies. This view of Ron Paul in particular receives a lot of attention from the media. Often times, more than his laissez-faire economics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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