We are in agreement that the “corporations are running the government,” as they say (including the HMOs and pharmaceutical companies). But I don’t think weakening the federal government is the answer.

Look I support Ron Paul on the basic platforms he is running on. I would certainly vote for him before any of the “top tier” candidates from either party.

He denounces global American hegemony and understands the crippling interest created by borrowing our own currency from a private bank.

That’s good enough for me.

My point was that no one is going to agree with everything that comes out of a politician’s mouth. (And probably shouldn’t) But at least with Dr. Paul you know where he stands.

And he obviously scares the crap out of big media and the central bankers.
Which is also good enough for me.

Ron Paul is against Roe v. Wade, but he thinks that abortion should be handled at the state level. We’re never all going to agree on abortion; it doesn’t make sense to divide ourselves over it by dealing with it at the federal level. I personally wish the issue could somehow vanish from the political landscape so that the two big parties would have one less tool to use to pit the people against each other.

The health care industry is becoming so awful that doctors are leaving it. Some of them are starting to accept cash only even if it means they make less money. Why is this happening? It’s because of government interference in their practices, both directly and through the heavily regulated insurance companies. We need more competition and more freedom in health care if we want to make it better. The same way we can’t beat doctors with clubs to make them give us cheaper services, we can’t make health care cheaper with more government. If we get universal health care, it’s going to be paid with via inflation. Guess who’s hurt by inflation the most? That’s right, the poor. The only viable solution is for health care to be allowed to actually pursue greater efficiency on its own by letting it be a true, free market. On the other hand, Paul doesn’t want to instantly cut off people who are already dependent on the government. He wants a transition where people who are dependent can stay on, but young people (like me!) who don’t want to be forced into paying for all these crazy government programs, can say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”

The biggest problem with the corporations is that they’re controlling the government. They can handle the regulations, but by building the regulations up, they can make incredibly difficult to new competition to arise to dethrone them. Now I’m not someone who thinks that corporations are run by angels, nor do I believe that they are even mostly good, but 99.9% of the time the last place I would turn for help with this problem is the government, because I know that in the end the problems I have likely won’t be solved; I’ll have to pay for non-solutions; I’ll probably get screwed over even more in the long run; and because of the regulations that will be put in place, I’ll have less freedom for myself. If I want to protect myself from corporations, my best and most realistic bet is to keep myself informed and do what I can to inform others. And, of course, it goes without saying that NO corporation (or anyone else!) should have any favors from the government.