Ron Paul's Farewell Speech Lays Bare His Hatred for "Pure Democracy," and Love of Oligarchy

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/ron-pauls-farewell-speech-congress-lays-bare-his-hatred-pure-democracy-and-love



Rep. Ron Paul, an icon to the libertarian Right and to some on the anti-war Left, gave a farewell address to Congress that expressed his neo-Confederate interpretation of the Constitution and his anti-historical view of the supposedly good old days of laissez-faire capitalism.

In a near-hour-long rambling speech on Nov. 14, Paul also revealed himself to be an opponent of “pure democracy” because government by the people and for the people tends to infringe on the “liberty” of businessmen who, in Paul’s ideal world, should be allowed to do pretty much whatever they want to the less privileged.

In Paul’s version of history, the United States lost its way at the advent of the Progressive Era about a century ago. “The majority of Americans and many government officials agreed that sacrificing some liberty was necessary to carry out what some claimed to be ‘progressive’ ideas,” said the 77-year-old Texas Republican. “Pure democracy became acceptable.”

Before then, everything was working just fine, in Paul’s view. But the reality was anything but wonderful for the vast majority of Americans. A century ago, women were denied the vote by law and many non-white males were denied the vote in practice. Uppity blacks were frequently lynched.

[Selatius]

1. Capitalism has, at best, only warily tolerated democracy. At worst, it simply murdered it in its bed

The idea of democracy was never compatible with the idea of capitalism, simply because it always represented a potential threat to the power of capitalists. There was always some attempt to neuter the power of government or co-opt it outright to prevent people from exercising power to curtail capitalist power.

The United States is a great example of achieving a form of government that easily allows corporate power to swing the direction of government towards money. After all, when you have a privately funded election system, rich people tend to have a "slight" advantage.

A capitalist enterprise is run as a dictatorship. Most businesses are run as dictatorships; this isn't news. It's just that nobody would label the chairman of the board or the board of directors or even the CEO who does the behest of the chairman as dictators or oligarchs. It's just not done here.

That's one thing about the American experience that I find odd in comparison to the political evolution of people in other countries. Whenever socialism was brought forth and placed on the table for discussion, the talk eventually moved toward the idea of collectively-owned enterprises or labor co-ops, businesses operated and owned by the workers themselves.

That discussion never occurred inside the United States. It was never allowed. It's probably why the United States boasts some of the lowest rates of employee-owned enterprises among industrialized nations.

[xchrom]

3. Indeed. Workers leave things like their freedom

Of speech at the door of the workplace & pick them back up - supposedly - on the way home.

[Selatius]

4. Yeah, my own personal experience is that, yeah, no, that doesn't happen.

Recently, my company forced everyone to sign a memorandum of understanding that what people post on Facebook can and sometimes does lead to repercussions in the workplace. Now, a person can be fired or written up for lewd or rude remarks that can be tied back to the company and could be seen as negatively representing the character of the employer.

So ... I simply deleted all mention of my employer from my profile. Personally, I never posted anything about what goes on in my workplace anyway, but in a philosophical sense, it seems my box for personal breathing space has gotten smaller.

[Skidmore]

2. That nasty jerk is not going away.

He's going to be back as a presidential candidate in 4 years. Paul is doing a Romney and changing careers to be a full time candidate to the extreme right. He is a loathsome walking, talking anachronism. Alternet's Robert Parry calls him a "neo-Confederate."

[Berlum]

5. "You won't have me to kick around anymore." - Ronny Pauly (Eeeeleetist)

[GeorgeGist]

6. Good.

Riddance. Rubbish.