The Spirit of the Ron Paul Revolution
FUNDAMENTAL DISCUSSION: The Spirit of the Ron Paul Revolution
This is a rather important topic that needs to be addressed throughout this next year. While everyone is primarily focused on the issues they agree with we also need to consider how this will manifest in believers. These forums are having some struggles with different personalities, and that is to be expected. This is America and there is every kind of people in America. There is every kind of attitude also. People will agree with Ron Paul on issues for different reasons. They will support him differently. We live in a day where the whole education system has taught people to be selfish and intellectually prejudiced. Thus we will see the fruit of this manifesting in any revolution. We will see fanaticism as well as commonsense and prudence. We will see many people wanting to push the revolution to a point that looks like violence. We already see people are desperate to try anything to get people's attention to Ron Paul and his positions, etc.
I expect that all types of Americans will continue to get behind Ron Paul. This will be very exciting to watch. It will also be ugly to see in some respects as we see the face of America, and where some relatively few evils can spoil the mood and name of a revolution. We have to learn to live with that and expect it. Ron Paul is about allowing freedom of expression. Thus you will see everyone wanting to express themselves as they think best. Many are anxious and will offend many with their imprudence. This will turn people off even though it draws attention to RP. Soon everyone will know of Ron Paul, having had good or bad introductions to him through people who support him. Hopefully the relatively few evils will not cause too much of a problem. The videos have been the best thing for the cause.
But here I want to recommend a solution for discussion. While this RP Revolution is not necessarily about Ron Paul the person, but about getting back to a just dealing with the Constitution and righteously upholding the rule of law in our day, etc., it is very important for us to look at the example of HOW Ron Paul has promoted this classic American philosophy over the last 30 years.
Please discuss this out in your own way as it is vital for America to express itself. It is vital that we understand Ron Paul's spirit and character. It is not merely the positions Ron Paul has taken over the years that have given him success, but the manner he has presented them. His tone or mood is critical. His attitudes are very worthy of our focus if we want to keep this cause sound and successful. If we just focus on the issues, irrespective of how they are promoted or received, then we will have a very ugly situation. And indeed, there are many people who would want to direct this revolution in the way of fanaticism and violence. We must guard against that with wisdom and virtue. So please discuss Ron Paul's character over the last thirty years in office. This will also help people to learn about who Ron Paul really is while also instructing the irrational on how to be civil and truly effective in promoting these causes. This will cure a lot of the evils going on.
I will start with a brief personal statement example, but want to allow you people to do some positive work here. I have watched Ron Paul for over five years in congress and on radio shows. He is always kind to those he disagrees with. He is patient with gathering facts and does not run off with the evidence that does NOT amount to proof as most people do today. He is a man of principle. Just look at the recent interview in the Situation Room where they brought up all the times he was the only person in congress to vote against something. Just look at his priceless response that shows him to be a simple man of principle. He was not willing to go with the flow even for a good cause as that would open the door to encouraging abuse of law. He is a man of priority and focuses on the most important issues. He is a man of wisdom in putting his energies where they will effectively accomplish a reasonable goal. He is responsible in that he really takes the time to read the bills he votes on, unlike most of the rest on the hill who are prejudiced. He is a man for the people because he is one of the people. Look at what he has proposed for the Congress in respect to their salaries and benefits. More importantly, look how he has lived in these last 10 terms. He returns money given him, etc.! He is a man that really listens to everyone and has no showiness about him. No fake PR moments like most of the rest. A down-to-earth guy, a real family man. Now look at his dealing with Bernanke the other day. There was our example of not only the words to say, all carefully stated and backed with strong arguments, but in meekness. He does not overstate his positions, but humbly gives us the facts as they are. No drawing attention to himself. No attempt to control others in desperation. No fallacies. No bad attitudes.
Do watch these videos people, and learn of Ron Paul's spirit and character. This is the single most important thing for this Revolution. This is a very important cure for those who are fanatical and imprudent and hasty and obnoxious. We need to push the videos over and over as Ron Paul is the best example we have today. Don't just stress watching them for the truth content, but also for the virtue content. Did you get the difference? Learn of Ron Paul's spirit. This must be the Spirit of this Revolution or it will come to nothing good. While we don't want to make Ron Paul the only answer for America, the best solution I have right now is to recommend people to focus in on Ron Paul's spirit in this way. I see this as the best solution for encouraging everyone on in this cause and to best ensure that the Ron Paul Revolution doesn't become taken over with bad attitudes, methods, and agendas. This will be the biggest concern over the next year. Please discuss this. I'm putting up a web page for people to read this. Please post your comments below and give testimony about how you recommend Ron Paul's spirit to the people in this Revolution and to your neighbors.
Rick Friedrich
http://rpmgt.org/RonPaulR...
The owner of dailypaul.com recommends remaining positive
Here is the same thing I am recommending above:
http://dailypaul.com/node...
So everyone, please add your positive testimony. Let's build a mass of testimony about Ron Paul's example and how it inspires us.
A force more powerful: Truth and nonviolence
When used properly any injustice can be effectively combated with non-violence. This has been demonstrated on many occasions including numerous examples within our own country.
This video documents several examples in modern time: http://www.thepeacecompan...
Mike
Ron Paul is my HERO!!!
The final olive branch
This is how I view the spirit of the Ron Paul revolution. That is because we are in revolution with or without Ron Paul. Furthermore we are in revolution with or without this olive branch of peace. Some of us, perhaps a shrinking minority relative to the growing body of popular support recognize the path this country must take without Ron Paul and this opportunity we have to achieve what must be achieved is BY FAR best achieved peacefully.
Ron Paul represents to me the last effort to accomplish education and restoration with civility. Ron Paul is civility combined with integrity in a public official. We are not blessed with many in this time of incredible corruption. Much study is due the causes of his political survivability in such a system. Much credit is due his Texan constituents who for reasons which can only be guessed supported him above others who undoubtedly did not have such rare intentions.
This shrinking group relatively speaking who know that this is the final olive branch sometimes are by our sense of desperation viewed as radical or prone to violent ideas or speech. Many RP supporters simply do not share the view that this is our final chance to restore our constitution by peaceful means. That is why they do not understand our underlying angst. They think we are something to disown and condemn but they do not yet realize what the outcome of a failed bid for the White House really means and therefore they can afford to be the exemplars of civility.
They who begrudge us are in fact no more civil than we. The growing majority of supporters are simply in their ignorance immune to the fear which haunts those who are willing to see the nearing nightmare in all its grotesque significance. This is the crux of the distinction between those who are civil first and constitutionalists second and those who are constitutionalists first and foremost.
Ron Paul both sees and is a constitutionalist. He has been adopted by both old and new recruits as our political leader. Sometimes his civility is difficult to emulate as we have in our private discussions not been accountable to public scrutiny as he has been for most of his adult life. He has had decades to practice what is politically prudent and also it apparently is unusually conducive to his nature. That is, to be civil in response to all manner of verbal treatment.
So try to understand our limited patience with those who would compromise the appalling facts of our current state of the Union in an effort to render our constitutional message more palatable to what are too often depicted as the "mainstream" as though they are somehow less able to care or understand. We know there can be no compromise with truth and sometimes react less than peacefully seeing as we do our very life so nearly threatened.
It is a matter of life and death.
well said
I'm with you
Financial disclosure form proves that he's authentic
Ron Paul's candidate disclosure form came out a few days ago and we studied it closely.
http://www.opensecrets.or...
Obviously he has had a decent income from being a medical doctor etc., and that is to be expected.
The investments into which he has put his money totally speak to him being a man of principle and good character. He puts his money where his mouth is. His investments are predominantly large and mid-cap precious metal mining stocks.
We were surprised, but very delighted, to see a portfolio that is very similar to what we (longtime precious metal stock investors) would expect of a fellow believer in a system of honest money founded upon the Constitution. We went down the list of companies and knew quite a bit about most of them, as we have owned some of the same ones. It was also clear from his list of mining companies that he either reads quite a bit and knows the difference between unhedged (the good companies) and hedged ones (the latter being companies who hypocritically seek to profit from the FALL in the price of their product), or else that he has a really good advisor who has studied the matter in as much detail as we do. Made us want to high-five and say "Brother!!"
The present monetary system of the United States is not in accordance with the following clauses of the Constitution:
Dr. Paul put his money where his mouth is. And from the stock portfolio it is apparent that he did it a long time ago. His position on this issue never wavered. This is a clear and shining example that unequivocally illustrates his character.
This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he believes in what he advocates. It proves that, unlike many other candidates who seize the "issue of the day" because some poll tells them it might be popular with a segment of the electorate (resulting in flip-flops on issues, a clear indication of lack of principle), Ron Paul is a man of principle.
A principled person is one whose behavior arises from a set of firmly-held foundational beliefs; therefore, their behavior tends to be very consistent over a very long period of time. This is so very important for a candidate. When you vote for a person, you would like some assurance that once in office, they will behave exactly the same way they did prior to being elected. By contrast, if the candidate is an "issue of the day" person who panders to every poll by getting a new makeover, then who knows what they will do in office? But if the person is a man of principle like Ron Paul, you can feel quite confident that he actually believes in what he espouses, because he has demonstrated a lifelong belief in it, and will continue to do so when in office.
There is nothing like putting your own money on the line to demonstrate what you really believe in.
To me, Ron Paul's investment portfolio is the most powerful statement of all that he is a true believer in a free and fair system, founded on the U.S. Constitution, that enables individual liberty for all, by limiting the powers of government and providing an honest system of weights and measures, and an honest monetary system. Such a system protects individuals from money confiscation by a untrustworthy government officials and a rapacious Fed. The Fed's mandate is, fundamentally, to confiscate the fruits of everyone's labors and deprive the economy of capital that enables growth, by penalizing hardworking thrifty savers and by continuously debasing the value of their savings. This present system also rewards those who do not save and those who demand handouts from government and their fellow hardworking citizens. (Compare this with Nancy Pelosi's speech a few days ago where she proposed heavily taxing retirement benefits and profits on investments, and giving the money to illegal aliens who "want to live like Americans"; that's flat-out communism in my book -- put your hand in my pocket, steal my money that I worked my whole life to save so I could retire with financial security, and give it away to people who broke our laws in an effort to buy their votes -- utterly despicable and reprehensible!!)
This is definitely a litmus-paper issue with these two voters!
Sincerely
Mountain Maiden
P.S. To see Ron Paul making these points when Ben Bernanke testified before Congress last week, see this video clip on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/wa...
Dr. Paul ends by stating forcefully (and accurately) that the Fed's policy of increasing the money supply is exactly the same as stealing money from every person who saves. True! Bernanke's stammering response was weak and could have been rebutted in one sentence but I guess they ran out of time on that video. Bernanke said, I paraphrase, "A loss in the value of the dollar does not affect Americans as long as they live and shop inside the country." A bald-faced lie!!! Every product that Americans consume includes cost components that come from outside the country. For example motor fuels and transportation costs affect the cost of virtually every product we consume, even locally-produced food. Plastics are made from petrochemicals. The majority of commodities and raw materials come from outside the country, and their prices are rising to exactly the same extent that the US dollar is falling. A Fed chair who denies that $100 per barrel crude oil (because of the decreasing value of the U.S. dollar) will affect Americans who only shop domestically is either incompetent, or a liar. I suspect Bernanke is both. He certainly knew he was lying when he made the assertion. You could tell by the look on his face. What about automobiles? Few are produced in the country anymore, GM and Ford are dying, but those few domestically produced vehicles still have many foreign-sourced ingredients such as steel, plastic, energy, etc. We don't even have a manufacturing industry in this country anymore, due to the Fed's longstanding policies which caused most heavy industry jobs to move overseas where artifical currency levels set by governments deliberately promoted growth in foreign manufacturing while destroying our local U.S. industrial base. So in this way Bernanke's statement was also ludicrous, because there is no way that domestic products sourced entirely from domestic U.S. components are even available to Americans.
Excellent points showing RP's true character over time
This not only shows that RP knows what he is talking about from experience but that you can trust him to lead the country in the same way as he has lived.
I have added these comments by permission to my webpage on this subject:
http://rpmgt.org/RonPaulR...
Keep up this work people. How has RP revealed his character to you? What can you learn about his spirit also?
Good Shepards!
Very good article, and I agree that we are struggling with different personalities within the revolution, but we have to be careful that the bad apples don't out weigh the good. We are going to have and we want many sheep amoungst us, those who don't really know all the details, but will vote because we are able to lead them, there will also be many goats, by these people I mean those who are smart and have a great deal of knowledge, but continuously fight and kick even between themselves, but what we have to watch out for are the wolves, those who will pretend to follow the movement, stir up chaos, but are really only out for self glorification and to feed off of the sheep and goats. There may even be a few wolves who are out to destroy the movement all together, these we have to watch out for and be ready to fight them off if they start to attack. So as good shepards it is our duty chase off the wolves, keep the goats calm and protect the sheep. Hope I don't offend anyone with my words or spelling.
grant
Daily Yahoo Alerts of RP getting longer and more positive
For the last week I have been getting Ron Paul Yahoo Alerts sent by email daily. The amount of news articles are growing by the day. They are also getting more positive. The first one appearing today has this fitting quote as posted from the Philly Inquirer: Ron Paul Easy Money:
http://www.philly.com/inq...
Here is one quote that fits this idea of demonstrating good character we all need to exemplify. Turn that negative anger energy into positive wise energy:
"My supporters would like me to get more upset, but I'm purposely trying not to," Paul said yesterday. "You don't gain much by being angry. I see this more as an intellectual, philosophical fight than a political, personality fight."
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My wake up call
I think that when history is written Dr. Paul will be remembered as a educator . I had no idea that the Fed. was a private business. There have been countless subjects that Dr. Paul has discussed that I am so grateful that he
is able to explain so people become aware they have been taken advantaged of. His decisions are based on the Constitution not just what polls tell him or even his own feelings. That is amazing to me and has become a wonderful role model.
The Spirit of the Revolution article
You made some very excellent points. It is not just the message, but the sincerity and integrity of the speaker that makes all the difference. Thank you!
This is not a "Ron Paul" movement.
Sometimes we loose track of what is going on here. This is not a Ron Paul movement, it's a revolution. Ron Paul is a good and principled man. His words and ideas resonate with many thinking individuals. But Ron Paul is only human as are his staff and all those associated with him. They are all subject to the failings and frailties of any human. They will not live up to everyone's personal expectations all the time. It is impossible.
What is important and paramount is the "freedom movement". Ron Paul is the revolutions messenger of the moment. Ron Paul is like our mailman delivering this message on behalf of the thousands and hopefully millions of Americans that believe in the ideals of the founders, limited government, sound monetary policy, and personal freedoms.
So don't sweat the small stuff. Don't get upset about this thing or that thing. Don't loose faith if you hear some bad news or negative report in the media. Keep pushing forward. Keep getting the word out. Keep funding the campaign. Stay focused and keep the revolution going because for now this is the best way to let "the man" know that there is whole lot of us that can see through what is being done to this country.
Whether or not Dr. Paul is elected, the revolution must continue and must remain unified. More leaders in the mold of Dr. Paul must come forward to take up the torch for change in this country. Sooner or latter the corrupt spoilers and thieves that have sold out our country and our constitution will have to deal with us.
unreasonableman
Ron Paul's authenticity is a magnet
Thank you for your exhortation. I have seen both secular and spiritual movements reduced to facts and truths and doctrines while loosing the spirit and power of what ignited them in the first place. I do not believe this will happen here, but it is worthwhile to be attentive.
When I saw Ron Paul in the debate where he and Rudy mixed it up over the reason for 9/11, I was impressed that someone had the courage to speak the truth. I thought, who is this man? I went and read his congressional website and was very impressed by the fact that he offered to pay for medals and honors from his own pocket rather than spending tax payer money. I read comments on blogs from supporters and I was very impressed with their heartfelt admiration for this man and for their knowledge of many varied topics. I did more research and then listed to the values voter debate. This totally clinched it for me. It is his character and virture that towers above the truth he speaks and covers it and protects it with the revolution "love"!
I thank God every day for Ron Paul and ask Him to keep Ron and his loved ones safe and healthy.
If I could summarize what your comments say to me, is that any system, administered without love, is empty and one is no better than the rest. Ron Paul injects his personhood totally into this campagin and that is what is "catching on".
Thanks be to God!
Well Said
Well it was a little long, but what you said was dead on.
We can't afford to come off as zealots and moonbats, and there are a few among us who come off that way. I know that there are a lot of things happening today that can make you angry. Sometimes justifiably so.
But we can't approach the media and the public in that way. We need to channel our outrage into productive energy, and try to spread the word in a modest and reasoned tone.
Not everyone will agree with you. Some people will want socialist programs, a continuation of the war, or even support waterboarding. Getting into a shouting match with these people will only galvinize them in their beliefs. Disagree politely and plant a seed of ideas with them. Mention the coming dollar crisis, an expansion of the war into Iran, etc. When these things happen they will start to realize that maybe those Paulites were right.
Anyone have a positive testimony about RP's example?
Maybe I wrote too many words above. Let me ask again simply:
Does anyone have a positive testimony about RP's example? Can we collect the positive testimonies here like the section on the slims?
Rick
Explaining Ron Paul
Having spent hundreds of hours between door to door campaigning and simply talking to people I meet about the Paul campaign, I find that by sharing a Ron Paul DVD or sitting down with people and showing them the Daily Ron Paul website works like magic. Many individuals on this website have correctly identified the fact that Ron Paul makes a great impression when he has time to talk for more than 60 seconds. I have had most people say only great things about Ron Paul when we next see each other, most even saying they plan on voting for him.
Another website I think is excellent is Ron Paul For President 2008.
Well good luck and hopefully Ron Paul will be our next president.
What would Ron Paul do?
I know that personally I am occasionally given over to emotions and over-reaction to Ron Paul critics. After seeing and listening to dozens, maybe by now hundreds of hours of the man Ron Paul speaking, I catch myself saying "what would Ron Paul do?". It may seem corny, but I think it is a valid question to ask ourselves before engaging others.
Mike
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