Thought and Freedom

There are a lot of false rumors about Ron Paul. Rumors that can be debunked, and have been debunked, by Ron Paul’s own words and actions. Yet, those who cannot imagine a Republican party without establishment elites in control, continue to propagate these lies. Here are the real facts about Ron Paul:

Thank you to The Libertarian Viewpoint for linking to this video!

Today, I have the special opportunity to introduce, guest blogger, Dwight Johnson. He is a fascinatingly brilliant blogger and author. He recently wrote a book entitled “If Not Democracy” (Kindle Edition found here for $2.99
) that I would highly recommend you check out on Amazon.

Let me start by thanking Terry for this opportunity to guest post on his fantastic site.

Terry asked me to do a guest post after he found himself at my website, GovernmentByContract.com.

I have been a libertarian for many years, and have been working to develop a means to bring real freedom to our world. The specific means I have developed is thru the creation of ideologically-based voluntary organizations I call “cantons”. The inspiration for the name comes from the cantons of Switzerland, but unlike those cantons, the cantons I speak about are non-territorial. In this way they are more like political parties.

The difference between political parties and cantons is that the purpose of political parties is to get people of a certain ideological stripe elected to office. The purpose of cantons, on the other hand, is to decentralize the power of government. It does this by a contract between the canton and its members. That contract, good for one year, gives the canton the right to take possession of the taxes taken by a particular governing body. Here, for example, is what my contract with a federal level paleo-libertarian canton might say: “I, Dwight Johnson, authorize the Paleo-libertarian Canton of America to receive from the Internal Revenue Service all the taxes paid to that agency by me during the tax year of 2011″.

Now, if my canton goes to the IRS with just this one contract, not much will happen. (Do I have a gift for understatement?) But what would happen if some large proportion of the 90 million taxpayers in America signed such a contract with some number of cantons? If we believe the words of the Declaration of Independence about “governments … deriving there just powers from the consent of the governed”, we certainly could take control of our taxes.

What happens then? The canton then spends those taxes according to the principles and values of its members. There would be numerous cantons, each reflecting the myriad of principles and values that so clearly exist in the population. Each canton, receiving the taxes of its members, would spend those taxes accordingly on the services provided by the various departments of government. By this means we would be able to right-size government at every level, by making sure that the people who pay the taxes determine what the taxes pay for. Any canton that fails to act according to the principles and values of its members will find its members fleeing to other cantons. With such an incentive, I expect cantons to be fairly responsive to their members.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) people. It was in thinking about their causes that I was able to better understand the role of cantons. I agree with OWS in this: it is clear that there has been a concentration of wealth in the hands of the few. The wealthy are growing more wealthy in a disproportionate way, the middle class is disappearing, and the poor grow daily in number and desperation. This concentration of wealth coincides with a parallel concentration in power that has also been steadily growing thru the years. Cantons are a way to redistribute power back to the people. It is my firm belief that the redistribution of power will bring with it a redistribution of wealth. Where now the wealthy few, such as the bankers and many global businesses, use their armies of lobbyists to create regulations and laws that work to their advantage (this is called “crony capitalism”), when power is redistributed to the people thru cantons, the lobbyists will lose much of their power, and along with them the bankers and others who have been successful at redirecting the taxes we pay into their own pockets.

There is a lot of talk of big government versus small government, but who is to say what size government is the right size? If those who pay taxes can determine what the taxes pay for thru cantons, only those services that governments propose to supply will find funding if the service is considered necessary by enough cantons. Everything else will be starved to death by a lack of interest and funding. This is what I call “right-sizing” government.

I am a great fan of Ron Paul. I was very excited when he entered the presidential race back in 2007, and have contributed to his campaigns ever since. But we cannot depend on one man, however great, to ensure our freedom. Even if we have the great joy of witnessing the inauguration of President Ron Paul, we still need to find a way to redistribute power in government at every level: federal, state, county, and municipal. If anyone has a better way of doing it other than thru cantons, let me know.

For anyone living in South Jersey, join my meetup group, South Jersey Canton Formation Group, at meetup.com.

If you want to find out more about cantons, please come visit my blog, GovernmentByContract.com. You can also find my book on Amazon, called “If Not Democracy”.

Despite the increasingly blatant and ridiculous attempts of the Big Media to airbrush out Ron Paul, he is the one who is actually leading in the runups to the Republican primaries. In the most recent poll by Bloomberg News (November 10-12), Paul and Cain are in a statistical tie for first place overall among Iowa Republican voters.  Paul was the clear leader among Iowa caucus-goers who have already made up their minds about who to vote for.  Paul came in first place with 32%, followed by Romney with 25% and Gingrich with 17%.  The also rans — Perry, Bachmann, Santorum, Huntsman — were far behind.

The most recent poll conducted by CNN/TIME/ORC continued to show Paul among the top three contenders in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

It has been growing clearer for some time that the race is likely to come down to Paul and Romney, a clear choice between continuing the disastrous march toward an unwelcome socialist doomsday, or changing course with a competent leader who can cut the Gordian Knot of obfuscating bureaucracy and get America back to its dynamic roots.  As others drop by the wayside, Paul’s momentum grows.  It’s cause for hope and rejoicing.

By: Henry Braddock

 Loading ...

In case you missed the CNBC debate, here were some of the highlights from Ron Paul. The only candidate that has the intellectual authority and will to give these kinds of answers is Dr. Paul. This video shows, in large part, exactly why I will be supporting him for president this time around.

Nothing says endorsement like a good youtube video.  And this is an extremely well produced one at that. Molotov Mitchel lays it on the line as to why Republicans should have no problem endorsing Dr Ron Paul for president in 2012.

Thanks to Brad Brandon for the find on this video.

The website, Run Ron Paul, has a wonderful documentary on how the Ron Paul movement has watered the withered tree of liberty. If you, like me, are concerned with the lack of understanding of freedom in our nation, this video will give you encouragement…

Here is my brief analysis and commentary on the current state of the Republican nomination process.

Current trends show Herman Cain polling in first among GOP presidential nomination contenders. Before him, it was Rick Perry. Before that, it was Michelle Bachmann. On the other hand, Romney has always been one of the favorites among Republican elite.

My prediction is that Herman Cain will soon fall out of favor and will be replaced by Newt Gingrich. Then, just before caucuses, Gingrich will also fall out of favor, paving the way for a Romney victory at caucuses. This game has always been about Romney. Notice that no one in the mainstream GOP attacks him (even thought there is a lot to attack).

My suggestion to those who oppose Romney in the GOP: Quit listening to those running the matrix. They’ve led you on a Christmas light tour from one candidate to another in hopes that you eventually end the day on Romney. Don’t give in to their sentiments. Read a book by Ron Paul, see if you like what you find.

Don’t just settle for the Republican annointed choice of the day.  If you do, Romney will be what’s left at the table when the dust settles.

Today, we have a guest post from a man by the name of Henry Braddock. Henry has served in advancing libertarian political causes in the southwest Twin Cities area for a long time. He is an outspoken Ron Paul supporter, and a very intelligent individual whom I have great respect for.

—

Ron Paul’s plan to rein in the out-of-control federal spending and curb the debt crisis [Attention Other Candidates:  THERE IS A DEBT CRISIS!} calls for the abolition of five of the 15 federal departments (Commerce, Education, Energy, Interior, Housing & Urban Development).  There are over 800 federal agencies not including 70 independent agencies, 68 special commissions, hundreds of committees, boards, and “quasi-official” agencies, besides the government corporations. Paul’s plan doesn’t eliminate any of these.