sailingaway
04-24-2013, 08:49 PM
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19th Century French taxpayer advocate Frédéric Bastiat seems to have foretold Ron Paul’s struggles in his 1846 public letter “To the Electors of the district of Saint-Sever” (trans. by Diana Dupuy)
Between those men who fight over ministerial portfolios, however bitter the struggle, there is always a tacit agreement, under which the vast edifice of government must be left intact. “Overthrow me if you can,” says the minister, “I will overthrow you in your turn; only, let us take care that the stake remains on the table, in the shape of a budget of fifteen hundred million francs”. But if one day a member of parliament, speaking in the name of taxpayers and as a taxpayer himself, rises from his seat in the House to say to present or prospective ministers: “Gentlemen, fight among yourselves over power, all I seek to do is restrain it; wrangle over how to manipulate the budget, all I wish to do is reduce it”; Ah! be sure that those raging fighters, apparently so bitterly opposed, will very soon pull together to stifle the voice of that faithful representative. They will call him a utopian, a theoretician, a dangerous reformer, a man with a fixed idea, of no practical value; they will heap scorn upon him; they will turn the venal press against him. But if taxpayers let him down, sooner or later they will find out that they have let themselves down.
Both Democrats and Republicans work within a paradigm of big government, and it is for this reason that the establishment of both parties have demonstrated a strong aversion to Ron Paul. In his 2011 book, Liberty Defined, Dr. Paul highlights the tacit exchange agreement in Washington of welfare for warfare, as Republicans get more warfare in exchange for agreeing to the Democtrats’ demands for more welfare.
more: http://www.wbindependentgazette.com/2013/04/bastiat-foretold-of-ron-pauls-struggle/
19th Century French taxpayer advocate Frédéric Bastiat seems to have foretold Ron Paul’s struggles in his 1846 public letter “To the Electors of the district of Saint-Sever” (trans. by Diana Dupuy)
Between those men who fight over ministerial portfolios, however bitter the struggle, there is always a tacit agreement, under which the vast edifice of government must be left intact. “Overthrow me if you can,” says the minister, “I will overthrow you in your turn; only, let us take care that the stake remains on the table, in the shape of a budget of fifteen hundred million francs”. But if one day a member of parliament, speaking in the name of taxpayers and as a taxpayer himself, rises from his seat in the House to say to present or prospective ministers: “Gentlemen, fight among yourselves over power, all I seek to do is restrain it; wrangle over how to manipulate the budget, all I wish to do is reduce it”; Ah! be sure that those raging fighters, apparently so bitterly opposed, will very soon pull together to stifle the voice of that faithful representative. They will call him a utopian, a theoretician, a dangerous reformer, a man with a fixed idea, of no practical value; they will heap scorn upon him; they will turn the venal press against him. But if taxpayers let him down, sooner or later they will find out that they have let themselves down.
Both Democrats and Republicans work within a paradigm of big government, and it is for this reason that the establishment of both parties have demonstrated a strong aversion to Ron Paul. In his 2011 book, Liberty Defined, Dr. Paul highlights the tacit exchange agreement in Washington of welfare for warfare, as Republicans get more warfare in exchange for agreeing to the Democtrats’ demands for more welfare.
more: http://www.wbindependentgazette.com/2013/04/bastiat-foretold-of-ron-pauls-struggle/