Operation Live Free or Die - Tea Party Vids

Hello everyone,

I'm a RP supporter from Belgium. Two months ago we made a little video to show our support, and a few days back we got an email from someone in Palo Alto, California, who said he donated the maximum amount to the campaign after having seen this video! After thanking him for this, he shared his doubts about the future and why he thought politics was not the way to achieve the freedom we desire. I thought I'd share my response:

Hi John,

I agree with you that politics is not the way to achieve peace and prosperity. It is a system that is morally indefendable and inherently corrupt. And I think the Ron Paul movement is in its essence not about politics - it's about standing strong for what you believe in, about creativity and persistance, about belief in people as individuals.

You say that things can move either way, into a free market civilization of great and wondrous adventure or into a cold place where there is hardly any future at all. I say we are heading to the great place, and I'll explain you why.

You say the masses are ignoramuses. This is because we were taught to be this way - our system of state schooling is very lengthy and very thorough - few who went through it remember what it is to make own choices, few retain their inborn confidence in personal strength - and many in effect loose confidence in their own ratio and that of their fellowmen. The masses are born free but molded into sheep who believe they can never be. However, and this is my sincerest belief, man can never be completely de-humanised. There is a core, a very strong core, that is present in every human being. It is the core of reason, of self reliance, of inner strength and judgement. This core can be awakened, very simply, by the confrontation with truth. And it is the truth that is setting us free.

Today, a huge responsibility rests on our shoulders: technological inventions massively catalyse the social and political dynamics more than ever has been the case throughout history. More than ever, the state has the power to look inside our homes, minds and pockets . More than ever, the state has the possibility to grow into a truly monstrous organisation, straining and disciplining us with its many tentacles. But also, and likewise, we - as an alliance of reasonable individuals all over the world - have the tools at hand to show each other the perverse mechanisms of mob rule, the impossibility of bureaucratic management, to reveal to our fellow men the lies as they are being produced.

When you say that percentage-wise our numbers are small, and will always remain so, I say you are wrong. We, the people, the market, are growing smarter every day. As we are able to access and share more and more information, we start questioning the status quo, and begin to regain faith in ourselves as judgement-makers. This is a slow process, and we will have many setbacks on our way, but there are two strategical advantages that are fundamentally ours:

The first is that we have the truth on our side. The truth, that we can be free and responsible, that we can organise ourselves the way we see fit without constantly being supervised, intimidated and robbed.

The second strategical advantage is that we, wherever we may live, are united in our fight for freedom and justice - whereas they, the rulers and their friends, are divided in their fight over the loot.

I agree with you that change will not come from the halls of parliament, but from the voluntary cooperation between individuals. The fight we fight is not one of guns and bombs, it is an inner struggle. We cannot achieve freedom by demolishing parliaments and city halls, we have to build freedom by restoring faith in ourselves as rational human beings, and by pursuing the truth in our everyday lives.

As Lew Rockwell wrote in yesterday's article 'Working for the Future of Liberty':
"If the population is passive and misinformed by contrary voices, the State can succeed. If cultural convictions are intolerant of power, and embrace the inviolable rights to person and property, liberty can prevail. That's why the most important work for liberty involves ideas."

To accellerate the coming of liberty, it is vital that we rise our heads high and speak out for what we believe in. We must not fear or despair, for those are the nails with which we allow ourselves to be hammered into obedience. It is up to us to question all claims over our personal sovereignty, and stand together in our quest for truth, justice and freedom.

What Ron Paul has ignited is not about politics or presidents, it is about all of us - and our future as free individuals. As an inhabitant of the old continent, I feel privileged to take part in it.

Tuur