Ron Paul as an Anti-communist Cold Warrior
(The New American) -- by Christian Gomez --
Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul is most distinguishable, on the debate stage alongside fellow GOP contenders, for his opposition to the U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya. The Texas Congressman advocates the withdraw of U.S. troops from not only Afghanistan and Iraq, but also elsewhere in the world, such as Germany, Japan, and South Korea.
Rep. Paul has also distinguished himself from other candidates in his consistent statements and beliefs. Unlike most other candidates, he has not flip-flopped — saying now what he has been saying for decades.
Once considered as one of 12 potential leaders of the conservative movement after the age of Reagan, according to the March 1983 issue of Conservative Digest magazine, Ron Paul is now regarded as the Godfather of the Tea Party movement. Still, despite his popularity on the right, and among libertarians, independents, as well as disenfranchised Democrats, Paul is attacked by many due to his foreign policy stance.
The attacks come not from the Left, but rather from fellow Republicans. The insinuation is that he is weak on defense because he supposedly supports Iran’s quest to build a nuclear weapon. Congressman Alan West (R-Fla.) recently came out against Paul, saying:
Let me be very honest. When I was listening to the debate Thursday night and a certain candidate for president stood there and said he didn’t see any problem with Iran getting a nuclear device because everybody else has one — I have to tell you, that’s not the kind of guy you need to be sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Websites from RedState.com to TrevorLoudon.com create an image that Paul is “Al Qaeda’s Favorite Member of Congress” or that he is the pro-Russia/Communist candidate. When he is not being ignored by the media his detractors take potshots at him, attempting to create a distorted image of Paul as a supporter of totalitarianism and Communism.
More recently a small series of articles have been posted online insinuating that Ron Paul is being backed by Russia and that his election is what Russia and the communists want. Those reading such articles might well come to the same conclusions if they have not dug deeper into Paul's record.
First elected to Congress in 1976, serving a partial term until 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, Ron Paul represented the then-22nd Congressional District of Texas. At the time, the United States was faced by the Cold War threat of Communism and the Soviet Union — a totalitarian state that represented the complete opposite of Paul's libertarian beliefs. Paul was no friend of communism or the USSR — and his record during his tenure in office at the time vindicates his credentials as an anti-communist.
Before Ron Paul’s days as a Cold Warrior are examined, it is first necessary to define and distinguish the ideology of communism versus the ideology of liberty, as advocated by Paul.
What is Communism?
Communism is an inherently collectivist ideology which centers on the breakdown of capitalism and the breakup of society into two main collective classes of people — described as the working class and the capitalist class (i.e. the proletariat and bourgeoisie).
Ignoring human nature’s desire to better oneself and aspire for a better standard and wage of living, communism calls for the creation of a “classless” or “equal” society by which the natural human condition is suppressed by the state as it controls the total means of production (i.e. farms and factories). The state ownership of the means of production is also commonly referred to as socialism.
Although some communists claim their aim is the eventual "withering away of the state," as Karl Marx wrote in his Communist Manifesto (1848), its application first requires that the state be used as the primary tool to control all aspects of human interaction (i.e., life and economics) in order to remove any remnants of “social injustice” or inequality — essentially eradicating those things that distinguish individuals from one another and make people unique. This is to be done by force, resulting in a compulsory state of apparent equality.
Once total or absolute equality, or “social justice,” is achieved, the state can then begin to deconstruct itself and cease to be, theoretically leaving behind a society of equal people living In a “people’s paradise” or “utopia.”
The major fallacy of this belief is that it relies on the state changing human nature, which in reality and in historical application can only be attempted by coercion, repression, and tyranny.
Tyrants, once in absolute power, never cede away their power (this too is human nature). In communism’s state of “transition” from capitalism to anarchy, when the state accumulates total power, there still exist two classes — the masses and the ruling elites (i.e. the ruling Communist Party Politburo). No mechanism exists to check or coerce the equality of this new ruling oligarchy. This is why, no matter how well intentioned the agitators of communist revolution maybe (and in most cases, the "well-intentioned" communists are in the lower ranks, dominated by an elite clique of malintentioned conspirators), their system of government has always led to, continues to lead to, and will always lead to total tyranny by the state – i.e. statism. Hence, actually communism is statism – the total control by the state.
Ron Paul’s Ideology
Communism is the antithesis of individual liberty, the latter of which Ron Paul has championed his entire career in public office. In his book The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008), he elaborates his belief on personal freedom:
Freedom means not only that our economic activity ought to be free and voluntary, but that government should stay out of personal affairs as well. In fact, freedom means that we understand liberty as an indivisible whole. Economic freedom and personal liberty are not divisible.Whereas modern "liberals" advocate government intervention in the market, modern "conservatives" advocate government intervention in social matters, and communists advocate government intervention in or control of both. Ron Paul, on the other hand, advocates that there be no government intervention in either the economy or personal affairs.
Paul is by no means an anarchist; he is rather a constitutionalist — believing in the basic rule of law where government exists primarily to protect one’s rights, which are inherent and derived from our Creator. He believes that we are entitled only to that which we are born with — our life, liberty, and the pursuit to happiness...
Ron Paul on Communism
In regard to communism, Ron Paul stated the following in his book Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom (2011):
Communism was based on the belief that only the party established the truth, and it was not rigid; it changed according to political priorities. Without a belief that truth exists apart from what government says it is, peace, prosperity, and progress are impossible.
Considering these anti-collectivist/ anti-communist tendencies and considering also that Ron Paul served in Congress from 1976-77 and 1979 to 1985, it is worth exploring how he handled the menace of the Soviet Union and international communism during the Cold War. We can begin by examining Paul’s position on foreign aid to the Soviet Union...MORE...LINK
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Related:
Of common pedigree, the many noxious parallels between Communism and Zionism
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