Another Home Run from the Von Mises Institute

Here is yet another great weekend read from the Von Mises Institute.

This article, titled "Liberation by Internet" is an excellent look at how Internet has changed our lives politically and economically. It is the type of analysis and insight you wil not find from the empty suits and skirts in the LSM.

The political liberation brought about by the Internet is not limited to countries suffering under Communism and other forms of authoritarianism. In the United States, the Internet's burgeoning political clout was manifested in Texas Representative Ron Paul's run for the presidency. Ron Paul — an opponent of the income tax, the Federal Reserve, undeclared wars, lavish welfare programs, economic protectionism, gun control, the War on Drugs, and government surveillance of the general population — is perhaps the strictest constitutionalist on the American political stage since the time of Grover Cleveland.[41] In the 2008 Republican primaries, Paul won from 3% to 25% of the votes — with second-place finishes in the Nevada, Montana, and North Dakota primaries as well as in the Louisiana caucuses.[42]

While Ron Paul is unlikely to win the Republican presidential nomination, he would not even have been politically visible without the Internet. Paul's prominence was the result of an immense grassroots network of libertarian and constitutionalist political activists, young people, and online businessmen who generated more Internet exposure for Paul than existed for any other candidate.

Without any central direction from Paul's campaign, Ron Paul broke fundraising records in the "money bombs" of November 5 and December 16, 2007, raising $4.3 million and $6.0 million respectively in 24-hour intervals — fed entirely by online grassroots donations.[43] Although heavily marginalized as a "long-shot candidate" and shut out of debates by the FOX News Network, Ron Paul generated a tremendous outpouring of support on YouTube — where new videos of and about Rep. Paul were posted almost every minute. Paul's number of YouTube subscriptions outnumbered those of any other candidate; his name remains a top search term on the blog network Technorati; it was also a top Google search term for months.[44]

Full Article