Do Most Americans Understand What Ron Paul Means When He Talks About Liberty And Freedom?
Submitted by cactus1010 on Fri, 11/04/2011 - 20:11Most Americans, especially the older generation already think they are free. They have no idea the freedoms they've lost.
As for Liberty, I don't believe they even know what it means.
So much of what Ron Paul talks about goes right over the head of the average voter. This is why they gravitate toward someone with a simple message such as 999.
We all know it's a gimmick, but that's what most voters fall for...the gimmicks. And of course, the lies.
Now I don't think Dr Paul should resort to gimmicks. But I do think he needs to pretend he's talking to children and bring the language to their level. Explain what he means by liberty, freedom, fractional banking, etc. in terms they would understand. Either that or hand out pamphlets defining these words and show how it effects them personally.
Simply saying that the printing of money devalues the dollar means nothing to the average Joe. But telling them that the price they pay for milk, bread, meat, gas, etc. will be increased is something every American can relate to.
Dr. Paul should give examples of what he's talking about in simple language and not just assume people know what he means, because most Americans don't.
And when a person doesn't understand...they tune out to everything else that's being said.
jmho
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I agree and have said it
I agree and have said it before here. When he uses his buzzwords and terms like "malinvestment," "sound money," "blowback," "we paid for the guns and butter...," "entitlements," and mentions this or that Amendment, he may as well be speaking Greek. When he says he's fighting for sound money, people have no idea what the hell that means. At best they might intuit that it means something like a strong dollar. He needs to qualify these statements and terms and educate people, not speak over their heads. If he mentions the 1st Amendment he needs to throw in that it relates to freedom of speech. Sure his supporters might know these terms and use these terms around him, but the wider public and dumbed down masses do not know or understand them. I beg of him to get a speaking coach or at least imagine he is explaining his points to a child when he is interviewed or debating.
I never let my schooling interfere with my education - Mark Twain
Exactly correct. His
Exactly correct.
His followers and supporters already understand what he's saying, it's rest of the country that doesn't. And that's where he should focus.
Americans who understand what
Americans who understand what Ron Paul means when he speaks of freedom are the Americans who see the Patriot Act, secret tribunals, the use of torture, the TSA and Department of Homeland Terrorism as the primary threats to that freedom.
Freedom is a pretty simple concept. It is defined in our Constitution by limitations on government. When politicians usurp powers not authorized in the Constitution, and when they violate the Rights defined in the Bill of Rights, the result is tyranny.
None are more hopelessly enslaved...
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"The real division is not between conservatives and revolutionaries, but between authoritarians and libertarians."
-- George Orwell
"I wish men to be free, as much from mobs as kings,--from you as me."
Lord Byron, 1788-1824
"The dearest ambition of a slave is not liberty, but to have a slave of his own."
Sir Richard Burton
According to some recent surveys conducted here at dailypaul, some 70% of us here are NTs rationals in personality, which means, to me, that we can think abstractly, while 90% or more of the general population can only think concretely. The idea that water can ever find it own level is something of a news flash to such folks. Therefore, the idea that prices must come about by free-market processes, and not by government edict, seems merely arbitrary and contrived to most of the public. I remember reading sociology texts and noting that while they offered many theories about the various causes of poverty, they never expressed even the mildest interest in what caused prosperity. Our species is more than a 100,000 years old. Our moral and economic impulses come from a time when we all lived a nomadic existence, where wealth was what we found only. The fact that wealth is open summed, and can be created, is demonstrated all around us,... and yet can not be seen. The thought that the poor need liberty, more than paternalism, is wholely unimagined by the world's modern elites.
When I first heard of libertarianism, I dismissed it as quackery. I was no slave, I said. Then I was intrigued enough to read a book or two. Now I've read several hundred books on liberty and freedom, and, as a result, I appear as an alien to my peers and associates. I see with eyes they have never had. I feel with a heart that embraces the overdog as well as the underdog,... and therefore I appear heartless.
For more on my opinion on this subject, see "I Trust You" (http://www.lpmich.org/ourwords/hunt1.php)
For more information please read "Healing Our World, The Other Piece of the Puzzle" by Dr. Mary J. Ruwart (http://www.ruwart.com/Healing/rutoc.html)
"The dearest ambition of a slave is not liberty, but to have a slave of his own."
Sir Richard Burton
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
glad you mentioned this
Because I have been thinking something along these lines. However, I kind of like how Ron doesn't speak down to us or dumb things down. He forces us to take the bits and pieces he has laid out and either put it together or learn the stuff ourselves. BUT, we had to take the steps to learn or read about the "bits and pieces" laid out for us. The challenge with his approach is we are running out of time and spreading the message is more like getting grass to grow than throwing 9-9-9 around. I am not saying it is boring or slow...well slow in regard to how cain has jumped I guess....but rather the work it takes to share the various elements on monetary policy, foreign policy, his understanding and commitment to the constitution as well as his integrity. That is the tough part. It's like building a building from nothing.
I have tried to condense my talking points and focus on things people can agree with or are easy to understand and then move on from there. I just love this guy. He is at this point in my life a real life hero to me. For his integrity, diligence, and genius in seeing the forest for the trees. I hope we can rally enough support for this to happen.
Most people I know are
Most people I know are serious conservatives and they actually think freedom means us being in Iraq and Afghanistan, although there's no connection at all, so no, I doubt most people in America ever really think about what freedom means; to them it's propaganda word and it can only really be applied to this country. All other countries aspire to be free like we are and as far as other countries have frredom it's only in so far as they are like us. The countries the most like us are the most free. This view, while patently and infuriatingly stupid is held by otherwise intelligent and educated people, in fact probably the majority of Americans. We desperately need to destroy this ridiculous false belief in American freedom and defining what freedom is, is half the battle.
few know the essence ...
liberty ..freedom ..the majority of americans believe that they are free.. many individuals do not ponder their lack of freedom ..they are satisfied..its not defined its arcane to many....they do not feel they live in a land of repression..many are quite resolved that their existence is quite satisfying..there is regret but ..there is also resignation ..what is freedom is ...you ask yourself ...does freedom mean no incme tax..no drivers license ..no town ordinances ..man kind will not prosper in the absence of the hassles...he cant handle unbridled living..when ron clarifies this profound notion then it may be delivered such that the framework of property rights and a monetary system and judiciary and a military will be understood..the constitution has not been read by so many..1 in 1,000 way to many..that is rons big challenge ..which to date is left as the proverbial ..dangling participle..hanging and an obstacle to resolution.so there is ron's great challenge ..thus far he assumes way to much .....
Sadly most Americans I talk
Sadly most Americans I talk to seem to be scared to death of freedom, liberty, and individual responsibility. They just can't comprehend a world where the Gov't isn't their nanny from cradle to grave.
I agree. People who don't
I agree. People who don't understand that when the government assigns you a number at birth, keeps track of you your whole life and forces you into a government madated retirement plan is socialism are gong to have a hard time grasping the very concept of freedom. People who think that its perfectly normal to purchase government permission (in the form of permits for example) before yo ucan exercise a constitutional right are going to have trouble understanding what freedom is.