RPgrassrootsactivist
09-09-2010, 10:50 PM
As of right now, a poll at http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=259520 with 51 votes cast shows an interesting result: when comparing congressional races to state legislative races (though the poll itself broke all of the choices down by chamber), 24 voters (47.06%) believe that congressional races are more important, while 27 voters (52.94%) believe that state legislative races are more important.
While this poll is not a scientific analysis of what the entire Ron Paul movement believes, and the vote is very close, these results do raise a significant question: why do we spend most of our time and efforts on federal races?
I am often disappointed to see so many people in the Ron Paul movement make federal candidates and federal legislation their top priority. As those who profess to believe in decentralization, why do we keep pursuing the failed path of working to change the federal government from the inside? There is almost no realistic chance of taking over the federal government with Ron Paul Republicans.
Even if Dr. Paul becomes president, the amount of actual reform he would be able to implement would be extremely limited. He could bring the troops home and end the wars...these wars. He could pardon federal prisoners...these prisoners. He could repeal executive orders...these executive orders. But what happens when a tyrannical president comes to power again in the future? And do you really think that Congress is going to shut down DHS, or Energy, or Agriculture, or Education, or HHS, or HUD, or Labor, or Transportation? Do you think they're going to abolish the EPA, FCC or the Fed? Do you think they're going to roll back the police state?
It's probably not going to happen. Audit the Fed can't even get passed! In order to bring about the kind of long-term federal reform that is actually necessary, we would probably need a significant majority of Americans to become serious, dedicated adherents to a Ron Paul-type philosophy; this is extremely unlikely.
I don't trust Glenn Beck, anyway, but apparently he proposed some kind of 100 year plan; that's absolutely ridiculous. We don't have 100 years. We may not even have 5 years before the dollar completely collapses and the globalists try to force us into a unified currency and global government. Gerald Celente, who is often correct in his predictions, has been saying that something big is coming within the next few years. It's not about some vague conspiracy; the evidence is all around us. Even Paul Craig Roberts has been insinuating that unless major changes are made, the United States may collapse in the very near future.
To put it simply, if we keep making federal candidates and federal legislation our primary focus, the practical/policy aspect of our movement is very likely to ultimately fail. The only real solution left is to focus on the states.
Winning a supermajority with Ron Paul Republicans in both chambers of a state legislature will allow for major pieces of nullification legislation to be passed, far more bold and sweeping than the mostly-minor forms of nullification we've seen recently. Once this starts happening, it will become major news and the ideas will begin to spread to other states. Remember the phrase that "All politics is local." If we truly focus locally, it will spread.
To digress for a moment, I ultimately believe that secession is necessary. I used to be a big fan of the Constitution, but I've come to realize that Lysander Spooner (though I may disagree with him on a number of other issues) was right when he said that the Constitution is unfit to exist; clearly it has failed to keep government limited. We would have been much better off had we stayed under the Articles of Confederation. Even if there is some widespread political awakening throughout the country and the original intent of the Constitution is restored (which is extremely unlikely), due to serious weaknesses in the document there's nothing substantive to stop this kind of tyranny from coming back again in the future. People must be made aware of the right of secession not only as a constitutional principle, but more importantly, as a natural law principle.
But even if you don't want to see secession take place, I certainly hope that everyone who is serious about the Ron Paul movement is also serious about state sovereignty and political decentralization, and we aren't going to win that fight in Washington D.C. If we're going to win, it will be in the state capitols.
The point is this: we need to make state legislatures our top priority. This means that instead of spending so much time and energy lobbying our corrupt Congress to vote for liberty, which they rarely do (e.g., even with well over 90% public opposition, they still passed TARP), we need to largely ignore what's going on in Washington D.C. and instead spend our time and energy on lobbying the state legislatures, where the members are often far more accountable and responsive to the people.
Instead of donating millions of dollars (collectively) to federal races in 2012, people in the Ron Paul movement should be donating millions of dollars to state legislative candidates across the country who believe in state sovereignty and nullification. Millions of dollars to federal races may get a few more 'no' votes in Congress, but what does this accomplish? A few more votes in Congress won't change much, if anything. But that same few million dollars could make a huge impact in taking over state legislative chambers and changing the course of American history.
I sincerely hope that the major grassroots leaders in the Ron Paul movement realize this in the very near future. If we don't put our decentralization principles into practice and make state legislatures our top priority, we're likely going to fail to actually enact the types of decentralization many (or most) of us profess to desire.
CLARIFICATION: I want to emphasize that I am supportive of a Ron Paul 2012 presidential run, which may be the only federal race worthwhile in 2012. However, if we look at electing Ron as our #1 goal or the answer to all of our political problems, we're probably going to be disappointed in the end. Our top priority should be to be promote decentralization and state sovereignty, and revitalize those things in the public consciousness; that is what will be the greatest weapon against federal tyranny.
While this poll is not a scientific analysis of what the entire Ron Paul movement believes, and the vote is very close, these results do raise a significant question: why do we spend most of our time and efforts on federal races?
I am often disappointed to see so many people in the Ron Paul movement make federal candidates and federal legislation their top priority. As those who profess to believe in decentralization, why do we keep pursuing the failed path of working to change the federal government from the inside? There is almost no realistic chance of taking over the federal government with Ron Paul Republicans.
Even if Dr. Paul becomes president, the amount of actual reform he would be able to implement would be extremely limited. He could bring the troops home and end the wars...these wars. He could pardon federal prisoners...these prisoners. He could repeal executive orders...these executive orders. But what happens when a tyrannical president comes to power again in the future? And do you really think that Congress is going to shut down DHS, or Energy, or Agriculture, or Education, or HHS, or HUD, or Labor, or Transportation? Do you think they're going to abolish the EPA, FCC or the Fed? Do you think they're going to roll back the police state?
It's probably not going to happen. Audit the Fed can't even get passed! In order to bring about the kind of long-term federal reform that is actually necessary, we would probably need a significant majority of Americans to become serious, dedicated adherents to a Ron Paul-type philosophy; this is extremely unlikely.
I don't trust Glenn Beck, anyway, but apparently he proposed some kind of 100 year plan; that's absolutely ridiculous. We don't have 100 years. We may not even have 5 years before the dollar completely collapses and the globalists try to force us into a unified currency and global government. Gerald Celente, who is often correct in his predictions, has been saying that something big is coming within the next few years. It's not about some vague conspiracy; the evidence is all around us. Even Paul Craig Roberts has been insinuating that unless major changes are made, the United States may collapse in the very near future.
To put it simply, if we keep making federal candidates and federal legislation our primary focus, the practical/policy aspect of our movement is very likely to ultimately fail. The only real solution left is to focus on the states.
Winning a supermajority with Ron Paul Republicans in both chambers of a state legislature will allow for major pieces of nullification legislation to be passed, far more bold and sweeping than the mostly-minor forms of nullification we've seen recently. Once this starts happening, it will become major news and the ideas will begin to spread to other states. Remember the phrase that "All politics is local." If we truly focus locally, it will spread.
To digress for a moment, I ultimately believe that secession is necessary. I used to be a big fan of the Constitution, but I've come to realize that Lysander Spooner (though I may disagree with him on a number of other issues) was right when he said that the Constitution is unfit to exist; clearly it has failed to keep government limited. We would have been much better off had we stayed under the Articles of Confederation. Even if there is some widespread political awakening throughout the country and the original intent of the Constitution is restored (which is extremely unlikely), due to serious weaknesses in the document there's nothing substantive to stop this kind of tyranny from coming back again in the future. People must be made aware of the right of secession not only as a constitutional principle, but more importantly, as a natural law principle.
But even if you don't want to see secession take place, I certainly hope that everyone who is serious about the Ron Paul movement is also serious about state sovereignty and political decentralization, and we aren't going to win that fight in Washington D.C. If we're going to win, it will be in the state capitols.
The point is this: we need to make state legislatures our top priority. This means that instead of spending so much time and energy lobbying our corrupt Congress to vote for liberty, which they rarely do (e.g., even with well over 90% public opposition, they still passed TARP), we need to largely ignore what's going on in Washington D.C. and instead spend our time and energy on lobbying the state legislatures, where the members are often far more accountable and responsive to the people.
Instead of donating millions of dollars (collectively) to federal races in 2012, people in the Ron Paul movement should be donating millions of dollars to state legislative candidates across the country who believe in state sovereignty and nullification. Millions of dollars to federal races may get a few more 'no' votes in Congress, but what does this accomplish? A few more votes in Congress won't change much, if anything. But that same few million dollars could make a huge impact in taking over state legislative chambers and changing the course of American history.
I sincerely hope that the major grassroots leaders in the Ron Paul movement realize this in the very near future. If we don't put our decentralization principles into practice and make state legislatures our top priority, we're likely going to fail to actually enact the types of decentralization many (or most) of us profess to desire.
CLARIFICATION: I want to emphasize that I am supportive of a Ron Paul 2012 presidential run, which may be the only federal race worthwhile in 2012. However, if we look at electing Ron as our #1 goal or the answer to all of our political problems, we're probably going to be disappointed in the end. Our top priority should be to be promote decentralization and state sovereignty, and revitalize those things in the public consciousness; that is what will be the greatest weapon against federal tyranny.