Good article about Ron Paul
This article really makes a case against Ron Paul as a nominee and president. Excerpt:
Many Americans believed in isolationism during the 1920s and '30s, seeing it as a remedy for America's ills and entanglements abroad and as an antidote to U.S. involvement in WWI. Paul is a throwback to those times. Opposing global entanglements and what he sees as an American Empire, Paul offers a foreign policy which amounts to complete retreat from America's moral responsibilities to the world. He is non-interventionist to the nth degree. When asked by reporter Jeffrey Scott Shapiro about America's entrance into WWII and the need to save Jews from the Holocaust, Paul said:
No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't risk American lives to do that. If someone wants to do that on their own because they want to do that, well, that's fine, but I wouldn't do that.
Think about that statement for a moment, for the implication is that America has absolutely no ethical responsibility for any people anywhere at any time -- except its own citizens. Self-interest, even if six million were to perish, is to reign supreme.
I really wish the Ron Paul candidacy didn't represent such horrible ideas and associations. I want to like him because he has a few good ideas. But alas, we live in reality and not the world of wishes.
Does America have a moral responsibility to the world, however? We've helped some people, but not others. There's tribal slaughter going on in Africa; we weren't able to stop the absolute horror in North Korea; Cubans are suffering, etc. I'm not an isolationist, nor a fan of Ron Paul, mind you. Do we try to help everybody, or just act in our self-interest?
ReplyDeleteI think helping our allies is in our self-interest, Barb. To me the naivete is believing that if we leave people alone they'll leave us alone.
ReplyDeletePaul supporters will believe the worst about the US in all cases and the best about other countries like Iran. I get emails just about everyday from a nearly psychotic Ron Paul supporter, a real tin-foil hat type. If you were a man from Mars and all you read were his emails, the conclusion you would draw is that the US is horrible and the cause of every possible problem in the world, along with the UK. And, of course, Israel.
I'm with this guy:
ReplyDelete"Because we believe in human dignity, peaceful nations must stand for the advance of democracy."
That's one of my favorite political speeches.
But what that means, unfortunately due to the bad guys, is that peaceful nations must sometimes take action to protect the weak, where such action would be effective. World peace depends on good nations being strong.
The proper question, IMO, is discerning when such action would be effective, rather than whether any such action ought ever be taken. So sorry, Barb, but the "we can't help everybody so we shouldn't help anybody" would lead to a horrible world in which our human dignity would degrade along with that of the many victims.
I think I'm having a hard time getting across what I'm meaning. Yes, Pauli, helping our allies is definitely in our self-interest. And punishing our enemies militarily if necessary, also in our self-interest. I don't believe that we'll be left alone if we leave others alone.
ReplyDeleteShould helping others be the main reason we take military action? Or should it be, we're helping out X ally or stabilizing X region, and if we also help some people at the same time, great.
Ron Paul (R.Pluto) is the isolationist to end all isoltionists. What worked to a limited extent in the 19th century, courtesy of broad oceans and the Royal Navy, is the sheerest folly now. His candidacy appeals to, beyond the usual libertarian cranks and conspiracy nuts who have backed him in the past, people who believe that we can safely retreat to Fortress America and live in peace and prosperity while the rest of the world goes to hell. Unrealistic is too kind a term to apply to Ron Paul's foreign policy; frankly delusional is a better fit.
ReplyDeletehttp://the-american-catholic.com/2011/12/29/yep-ron-paul-r-pluto-is-pretty-much-of-a-wackdoodle-isolationist/
Donald, I've read your stuff and enjoyed it for a long time. So don't go and ruin everything now by smearing Pluto by association.
ReplyDelete