Hi everybody, it's Stefan Molyneux from Freedomain Radio. So it is January 3, 2012 and tonight is in some ways the make or break for Ron Paul in Iowa. Now, I've made my position on political action clear, but of course no one can predict the future, and what I think is absolutely necessary for the rescuing of liberty from the jaws of tyranny is commitment - is commitment! So, I'm going to hand you a little gem of a speech which I think is necessary for Ron Paul to win.
If you believe that Ron Paul is going to secure liberty, that Ron Paul is the best hope for the freedom of the Union, then you need to be committed - and being committed is not about personal commitment; being committed is about social commitment. I’ve run successful companies, I’ve started the largest philosophy show in the world - I know little bit about success, and I know little bit about commitments.
I hope you will take this advice, because if you believe that this is how it's going to work, then you need to give it 250% if it's going to work. I don't want you to look back upon regret if Ron Paul does not succeed in the way you want him to, and kick yourself for not doing more.
So: here's the more that you can do.
You need to get people out to vote for Ron Paul - and that is a matter of personal commitment to the virtues that you believe Ron Paul is going to achieve.
I will give you three examples.
Number One: War
Ron Paul as the future commander-in-chief can, it is argued, bring home all the troops and end imperialism and foreign wars. This is going to save the lives literally of hundreds of thousands of people - and thousands of Americans. Life and death - this is the import, this is the depth, this is the power of what is at stake.
Life and death.
The life and death of hundreds of thousands of people. You have to be pretty stone hearted to put political ideology above the lives of hundreds of thousands of people - and so you can say to people:
Ron Paul has committed to ending foreign wars. Ron Paul knows what it is like to be ideologically pure; he knows what it is like to do that which is unpopular for the sake of that which is true and that which is good - and so we have every reason to believe that he will follow through on that commitment - which will save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. I am committed to saving those lives, I am committed to getting him elected. Now you need to cough up 20 bucks - and if you don't have 20 bucks, I will beg borrow or steal it for you - and you need to come down to the convention, and you need to cast your vote for Ron Paul tonight, because hundreds of thousands of people's lives literally hang in the balance.
Now if you say ‘yes’ to me - if you trust me (I have studied the stuff for many years I am in depth, I am knowledgeable about these things) - if you trust me then I will thank you. I think the future will thank you, I think you will look back and look at it as a turning point in a change in your life, in a way of doing things that is even better than what you've done before.
If you do this, I will thank you, because it will show me that you care about me, that you care about my opinions, that you respect where I'm coming from, that you trust me - that you love me - and I will thank you for it.
It’s a favor, it's an hour or two, it’s 20 bucks - which even I will cover if you can't - but I will view it, even if you don't agree with me fully, even if you don't agree with me partially, I will ask you to trust me. I will ask you to give up an hour or two in our whole lives for the sake of something that is incredibly important to me, that I deeply care about, and that I consider essential to the way that we live - and to the future freedoms that we also value.
Will you do this favor for me, even if you don't agree with me? Will you trust me? Will you spend an hour or two doing something that you may not find that interesting for the sake of our friendship? if you're a stamp collector, I will spend an hour or two looking at your stamps; if you’re a birdwatcher, I will come out with you and sit in a hutch and watch the birds; if you’re a train spotter, I will come out and note down the numbers of trains for an hour or two - because I care about what's of interest and important to you!
I am asking, I am begging, I am pleading for you to have an interest in that which is important to me, to spend an hour or two for the sake of our relationship, for the sake of our friendship, to come down with me and do this thing that is so important for me. Tust do it for me - even if you don't believe in anything that I believe in - just do it for me, just trust me, just show that you will do something that is mildly inconvenient for you, for the sake of something which is incredibly important to me.
So please, come.
Now, if you don't - if you don't want to come with me - then I know that you don't respect what it is that I believe. I also know that we are on opposite sides of this issue - and since this issue involves the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, this is going to be a serious blow to our relationship. This is not a threat, it is just a recognition of reality: that if you are for the continuance of foreign wars, then you are for the murder of millions - of hundreds of thousands - of people. That is a serious blow to our relationship, because that tells me where you're coming from morally. It also tells me that you don't trust me, it also tells me that you don't respect me - it also tells me that you're not willing to put out a little bit of inconvenience for the sake of something that is incredibly important to me - and I also believe incredibly important to you. But you need to come down with me. I will thank you, I will buy you dinner, I will do whatever it takes to make that as enjoyable as possible- but you need to come down with me and do this.
If you do it, I will thank you, we will be closer, we can talk about it – fantastic! If you won't do it – well, I know where you stand and I know where our relationship is - and that will be very sorrowful for me, that would be very sad for me, to know that I'm not trusted, to know that I'm not respected, to know that a minor inconvenience to you is more important than that which is deeply held and a passionate conviction for me.
The Federal Reserve
Yes I know - I bring up the Federal Reserve, everyone rolls their eyes - but surely you've noticed that everything's getting more expensive. Surely you've noticed that there are no jobs around – surely you’ve noticed that the national debt is getting bigger and bigger - surely these are not facts that are subjective or crazy on my part to bring forward.
The Federal Reserve is going to destroy the currency, because there's no way to pay off the national debt; they can’t repudiate it, they can’t tax their way out of it, they can't print their way out of it - it is simply too big.
Ron Paul's commitment to end the Federal Reserve is the only chance we have for any kind of stable currency. If you think that's important, it is. I If you think is not important, you just have remember what happened in Germany when hyperinflation hit, or what happened in Argentina or other places when hyperinflation hit.
It is a road to tyranny.
Because people panic when their bank accounts evaporate. The poor can’t eat - food is too expensive, gas is too expensive, the economy grinds to a halt.
Money is the lifeblood of the economy – if you corrupt the money, you corrupt the economy. If you destroy the money, you destroy the people, because everything that we do - the cities that we have - everything is reliant upon sound currency! All the economic transactions that bring food into cities, that bring gasoline from overseas, that pay people, that is money in the bank, that is life savings - that is people’s blood sweat equity from their entire lives - is at risk of evaporation if the Federal Reserve continues to create the kind of money - the massive amounts of monopoly money that it has over the past few years.
This is important - just because you can't see it yet doesn't mean it's not happen. A smoker smokes for a long time – decades possibly - before he gets sick, if he’s going to get sick. That doesn't mean it's not dangerous, that doesn't mean it's not bad - and this is even more certain than lung cancer! This is math - and I care about the stability of the economy. I care about people having jobs. I care about people's life savings not getting wiped out - at two levels: one, because I don't want people's life savings to get wiped out – and neither should you - and second, because when people's life savings do get wiped out – and when they can't buy food - they turn to extreme political measures – always. And that is very dangerous for us. It is very dangerous for me in particular, having been out there as an advocate for freedom publicly for many years. You are putting me at risk if you support a continuance of the existing policies of the government - there is indefinite detention at the will of the government. It is dangerous for me – come and help me gain some protection from someone who's going to repeal this stuff that is putting me in danger, because I've been out there for so many years as a freedom advocate.
Help me - give me some security, give me some safety, give me some protection - and give yourself some protection from the extreme reactions of people who are gonna panic when they can't buy food and their savings are gone!
So - let's prevent this; let’s get someone into power who is going to deal with this, who is going to keep us safe from the dangers - the inevitable road to tyranny - that results from hyperinflation and debasement of the currency
The Drug War
Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens are locked in abusive, destructive, repulsive degrading cages for the innocent act of carrying and smoking pieces of vegetation that some people don't like.
I myself, I don’t use drugs - but what does that have to do with anything? There are hundreds of thousands of people who are caged - in cages - their lives destroyed, having to check off criminal records for the rest of their lives - their lives smashed into atoms by the callous brutality of a prohibition against that which people disapprove of - in the same way that temperance unions disapproved of alcohol and foisted Prohibition upon the nation – we all know how that went! That was a massive invitation for organized crime to come in and take control of society. There was almost no organized crime before Prohibition - Prohibition created the incentive for organized crime - it has drawn thousands and thousands of young people into a life of crime, because we have on the one hand very little job opportunities for them, because of the death of manufacturing - and on the other hand, we have the incredible short-term incentive gains of the drug war.
It has caused the corruption of the police force, it has added to the national debt, it is causing an increasing militarization of the police force in America, it has created huge problems internationally, as America bombs fields in Colombia and Mexico, and supplies arms to people out there - both the government and the criminals - it has caused a massive degradation, it has added to the national debt - it is catastrophic, and anyone that you know could be picked up by this craziness - you don't think that cops ever plant drugs on anyone they don't like? I am at risk for this kind of treatment, for this kind of behavior.
This has to end - we have to set these people free. This is a way to deal with the budget issues, this is a way to deal with civil liberties issues - and if you are not going to support Ron Paul with me today, if you are going to avoid that hour or two of inconvenience that I'm asking you - I'm begging you, I'm pleading with you - to provide to me, to provide to the country, to provide to the future, to lay the foundation for the security and freedom of tomorrow - then I know that you are for innocent, peaceful people being locked in abusive, degrading, destructive, inhumane cages - and that is a serious blow to our friendship, because I don't think that I can actually respect someone who is for the murder of hundreds of thousands overseas - who is for the kidnapping and imprisonment and locking in cages of peaceful people - and who is for inflation, which robs from the poor - for the coming instability of a currency crash which is been predicted – hey, don't listen to me, there are thousands of experts out there a saying exactly what I'm saying! I'm not making this up, this is a fact, it has happened before in history, it will happen again in history - but I damn well do not want it to happen here, because this is the Shining City on the Hill, this is the bastion of freedom, this is the last and best hope of mankind – here!
Because if tyranny happens here, the lights go out across the world.
The lights go out across the world.
Because this was the noblest and freest experiment in history.
This was the city on a hill, built on the foundation of principle - of property rights, of nonaggression - of the peaceful and voluntary interaction, trade and resolution of conflicts between citizens.
Of a tiny government, of a minimal government, of a miniscule government - which has grown and swollen like a cancer, until it is going to overwhelm and slaughter the body politic.
If we cannot be free, none can be free - and you need to come down with me tonight, and you need to put that checkbox in - that is all I am asking, and you can mock me and berate me until the end of time, but I'm just asking for an hour or two.
I've made my case - I hope that you will accept my case. If you do not accept my case, don't do it because you believe it's right - just do it for me, just do it for me.
Sometimes your doctor will tell you to do stuff that seems counterintuitive, that is painful - go to rehab if you break your leg, it's really painful and it's hard but you do it because you trust the doctor.
I have studied this for many years. I am passionately out there in public, trying to forward the ideals of liberty - just do it for me, do it for our friendship, do it for the credit that I have built up as a friend of yours for many years – please, please, please come down with me, mark that checkbox - set us free!