President Ron Paul in 2012

For far too long, the United States military has been acting as the world’s policeman. Many people unfortunately believed history began immediately after September 11^th but the United States government has been intervening in middle eastern affairs for nearly sixty years. As a result, there have thousands of our troops have ended up not coming home. Hundreds of thousands have returned home with scars of war. The wars were said to be waged in order to keep us safe but the threats themselves turned out to be lies. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Sadaam Hussein was not colluding with those responsible for September 11^th. This brings us to Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan is now America’s longest surpassing the Vietnam Conflict. The use of force in Afghanistan was necessary for capturing and killing Osama Bin Laden and his cohorts. In fact, George W. Bush had his chance to kill the master mind of September 11^th, in 2002, but for whatever reason he declined. Osama Bin Laden is now dead and there are very little members of Al Qaeda left in Afghanistan. Today, the troops in Afghanistan are primarily fighting the Taliban; a group of people who had nothing to do with the events of September 11^th. The troops are being used to mold Afghanistan into a puppet of the United States government. I hope we don’t soon forget what happened in Libya and Egypt which were governments being financed (in the name of stability in the Middle East) by the American people via foreign aid. What is the point of this madness? The troops should be defending this nation not any other which includes Germany, Japan, South Korea, and every other country across the globe. What about the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed and the millions displaced from their homes as a result of these wars? This is only creating more animosity towards the United States. Just stop and think for a second. Put yourself in their shoes for a moment. What if your home was destroyed by a drone aircraft? What if your children or parents were killed by troops during a night raid? The victims of aggression overseas then associate anyone wearing a U.S. uniform as the ones responsible for ruining their livelihoods which also creates a breeding ground for people wanting to come over here and kill civilians. These are the consequences of war. Of course, as proclaimed by two time Medal of Honor winner Marine General Smedley Butler, “War is a Racket” where the many suffer and a few profit. This leads me into the next reason on why I am voting for Ron Paul.

Contrary to popular academic belief, war is not good for the economy. It is only good for a select few; government and military contractors. Capital resources get bought up and sent overseas by the government. The prices of these resources are driven upwards because they are now less available for the general public. This equals less investment in the domestic market which means fewer jobs for the rest of the public who is not off fighting in the wars. These businesses and jobs that could have been created would have gone to make our lives better in the United States. Instead, these capital resources are being used to blow up bridges overseas and then rebuild them! Ron Paul understands all of this. In fact, he was the one who got me interested in the Austrian School of Economics. By the way, these were the only economists, including Ron Paul, who saw the 2008 (and continuing) economic calamity coming. Ron Paul has been screaming for the past 30 years that the Federal Reserve is at the heart of all of the economic depressions America has suffered since its creation in 1913. The dollar has lost 98% of its value since the creation of the Federal Reserve System. This is why we have to work twice as hard today (compared to 40 years ago) to maintain a high standard of living. Keep in mind; most households forty years ago were single income households where there was only one person needed to go to work to feed the family. Furthermore, inflation created by the Federal Reserve transfers wealth from the poor to the rich. In a nutshell this happens because “the Fed” prints money, gives it to the banks and corporations first, and then they spend the money and by the time it circulates into the economy the mass of the public has lost purchasing power through the inflation. A President Paul would achieve a full audit of the Federal Reserve and eventually phase out this institution by allowing Americans to use gold and silver as competing currencies against the now worthless dollar. Of course, Ron Paul also understands that if we do not keep the powers of government limited then the powers of government will limit us.

The Patriot Act allows the government to wiretap your phones and go through all over your e-mails which essentially eviscerates the 4^th amendment. The National Defense Authorization Act (2011) allows American citizens to be detained by the military without a trial which eviscerates the 5^th Amendment. I know many Americans still think, “Well I have nothing to hide so I have nothing to worry about. “I am not a terrorist so I have nothing to hide”. Keep in mind the government has no strict definition of a terrorist. Which means a terrorist could be anyone who has dissenting opinion. In other words, what happens if the next president says, “Anti-war protestors are now terrorists” or “People who own guns are now terrorists”. What would you do then? This is all avoidable if we elect Ron Paul who has stood against all of these acts of aggression by the government against the people. Now we come to piece of legislation that could affect each and every Web site. The Stop Online Piracy Act allows the government to shut down any Web site that uploads any videos that simply “engages in, enables in, or facilitates” copyright infringement. That means every YouTube channel or Facebook page,( or Hub page) that posts a video of something that was originally on television or from another popular Web site may be shut down for copyright infringement. Once again, Ron Paul has stood up against SOPA and will stand up against any more legislation that inhibits our natural rights.

You cannot have peace or prosperity without liberty. Granting government the power to wage wars unconditionally, to violate your privacy, to regulate what we put in our bodies, and to steal from you to fund all of their activities via taxation or inflation; will lead to a tyrannical state stomping on your freedom.

Ron Paul has never voted for an unbalanced, or to raise the budget. He has never voted to raise taxes. He has never voted for the destruction of our civil and economic liberties. He is the champion of peace and liberty. If you want perpetual war, a police state, and the enslavement of your children to debt I would vote for any one of the other candidates.

Signed,

Andrew Mason (USMC 05-09, Iraq [Pointless] War Veteran)