a great comment from Germany

[beermotor]

Hi from Hamburg, Germanny!Thx to George (and the people in charge at ABC) for showing the interview with Ron Paul on ABC. I can tell you from German history: revolutions start very slowly and quietly, but then, wow, it can get really massive. Remember the fall of the wall 1989?! At the beginning in 1988 there were just 50 people gathering in Leipzig for demos. One year later, there were 70,000, and then 2 months later 500,000. 1 month later, the wall fell!So, keep on believing in the impossible. Sometimes dreams do come true - you just have to work hard for it - and the time must be right. Here in Germany we certainly believe, the time is right for a real change of politics in the USA. I really think, that the time is right for a man like Ron Paul. Go Ron Paul!Auf wiedersehen. Und Dankeschön George!Hartwig Benzler (Hamburg)




This was on the ABC comments page for This Week... I think this is really great, and puts our LIBERTY MOVEMENT in perspective!

[torchbearer]

Here! Here!

[GeorgThomas]

Hartwig's comment is fair enough. But let me make one correction (typically Chörman, vott?) and one addition. Correction: Virtually no one in Germany hopes even remotely for political change of the Ron Paul type in America or anywhere else, for that matter. That is actually, why we Ron Paul supporters in Germany are so excited about your movement - only if American politics changes in a fundamental way, is there a chance that similar changes will come about in Germany. Addition: To compare the German "revolution" (toppling the Wall and leading to unification) with the Ron Paul revolution (politically, which Hartwig does not) would be preposterous. The ABC of freedom is neither taught nor known in Germany. The lack of understanding of the basic concepts of freedom is phenomenal in Germany, East and West. The German "revolutionaries" marched away from socialism to demand a better socialism and/or hoping for a windfall from their richer brethren. They would have been horrified by Ron Paul's messages, which are abhorred equally in East and West Germany, being considered anarchistic and anti-social. German's cannot get enough government (this has not changed since the birth of the nation in 1870) and, for that reason, endorse the undemocratic European superstate enthusiastically, expecting to be looked after by the state even more efficiently. Germans do not care about politics as long as they have a comforting sense of being looked after by a powerful ruler. If you think this an exaggeration, consider: Germans do not care for freedom, not even for democracy (which is a means to support freedom rather than an end in itself, as most people seem to think) - fighting a jihad in Afghanistan to forcefully introduce democracy there, while the former head of state of Germany, Bundespräsident Roman Herzog, is reminding us that there is no democracy in Germany because 80% of all legal rulings binding to Germans derive from an undemocratic bureaucracy in Brussels. This is not treated as a scandal in Germany, as the erroneous expectation is that a hyperstate is better than a mere state. Hauptsache, wir werden regiert. Main, thing, we are being governed.

So, the Ron Paul movement is hugely important for us Germans, because it creates an opportunity to learn about the meaning of freedom (which to the average German is a frightening lack of state control).

[DjLoTi]

I have friends in Germany and I just got back from Germany, people I can call right now .

[DjLoTi]

So, the Ron Paul movement is hugely important for us Germans, because it creates an opportunity to learn about the meaning of freedom (which to the average German is a frightening lack of state control).

That is a major statment. I hope Ron Paul wins for you, and the rest of the world.

[rockfree33]

It would be a victory for the world if Ron Paul wins.

[Man from La Mancha]

Wow. I'm an US American and didn't know that about Germans. My only concept was if it wasn't for Luther amd the German people breaking the Vatican's Old World Order grip over the world. That I might not be enjoying the freedoms I have. The Renaissance then started bringing many freedoms to Europe, I just assumed that the freedom concepts that developed in the US had parallels in Europe. I have much more to learn.

.

[DjLoTi]

If you go to Europe, your whole concept of the world will change.

[Man from La Mancha]

I very much want to visit Europe.

[DjLoTi]

I'll be talking about and am going to Europe and I'll be broadcasting it all live, online ...

[damijin]

Inspirational. To say the least.

This is bigger than America, this message is something that can reach the shores of every country around the world and it will happen through the internet. Have you ever heard of a 'fringe' candidate with international support this early in the race?

Freedom is popular... now that's the biggest understatement Ron Paul has ever made.

[GeorgThomas]

Dear friends,

Here is a post from a blog (which I keep as a diary hoping to nurture it to be big and substantial enough one day for wide dissemination):

[12] News from Absurdistan - The German Revolution of 1989

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=59007#post59007

In a recent post to the Ron Paul Forums (see above for the link or click on the post's headline), reference is made to the German Revolution, suggesting that a small movement can take on tremendous momentum to bring about a sea change all of a sudden. Fair enough.

However, the Ron Paul movement is a completely different animal compared to the German Revolution of 1989 which toppled the wall that severed East and West Germany.

The Ron Paul movement is a force seeking and understanding freedom in the libertarian sense of the word. It is grounded in the traditions of a country that was founded to ensure that its citizens would live in freedom. These traditions are deep-seated in the American mind, and the decline of an utterly corrupt political system in the entire West and, of course, in the USA, gives impetus to hidden legacies - of freedom, in the USA, of super-statism in Europe.

My entire blog is about the unhappy fact that freedom is not even remotely understood in Germany.

The German Revolution of 1989 was an uprise, whereby people marched away from one kind of socialism hoping to arrive at another form of socialism, supposedly of a better sort (notice the strong support for Communist politicians in East Germany; as pointed out previously, Germans always hope for a better socialism).

One would be amiss to discount the courage of hundreds of thousands of Germans taking to the streets all over the GDR in 1989. But it would be equally ill-advised to mystify the events.

The tough resistance work had been done in other countries of the Warsaw Pact (notably in Poland and Afghanistan).

Approximately a year before the Mauer ("The Wall") actually fell, I made a winning bet to that effect. Why had I been so "daring"? Why did I seem to know? Well, as will transpire in a moment, I was not the only one at the time who began to sense that the GDR regime was finished.

Consider two rooms separated by a door guarded by a vicious Schäferhund. People in room A want to cross into room B, but the Schäferhund discourages them to even try. Get rid of the Schäferhund. What do you think will happen?

It may have taken a lot of courage for a lot of Germans to take to the streets in 1989, but 40 years of subservience and compliance with the regime do not exactly suggest that they would have done this if they had not reckoned, as I had, that the seminal job had been done by some one else and that risk had declined to a tractable level. After all, the Schäferhund had been removed.

When Gorbachev, on a visit to East Germany, stated unequivocally that his tanks would no longer protect the Communist regime in Berlin, the "Revolution" had become a foregone conclusion - roughly a year before Communism collapsed in Germany. It was just a matter of time that people would dare a passage through the open door.

[beermotor]

Wow. I'm an US American and didn't know that about Germans. My only concept was if it wasn't for Luther amd the German people breaking the Vatican's Old World Order grip over the world. That I might not be enjoying the freedoms I have. The Renaissance then started bringing many freedoms to Europe, I just assumed that the freedom concepts that developed in the US had parallels in Europe. I have much more to learn.

.


I think it can be safely stated that Asians have similar addictions to government. We yanks have always been an independent lot. But I agree - we should definitely start our Renaissance. It will definitely be a beacon for the rest of the world.

We don't NEED one world government, one world culture, one idea of humanity - we NEED a world with thousands of different cultures, thousands of local choices, thousands of ideas, only that multiculturalism will ensure survival of the species.

[pazzo83]

I think it can be safely stated that Asians have similar addictions to government. We yanks have always been an independent lot. But I agree - we should definitely start our Renaissance. It will definitely be a beacon for the rest of the world.

We don't NEED one world government, one world culture, one idea of humanity - we NEED a world with thousands of different cultures, thousands of local choices, thousands of ideas, only that multiculturalism will ensure survival of the species.

That is so true...

[qednick]

Hartwig's comment is fair enough. But let me make one correction (typically Chörman, vott?) and one addition. Correction: Virtually no one in Germany hopes even remotely for political change of the Ron Paul type in America or anywhere else, for that matter. That is actually, why we Ron Paul supporters in Germany are so excited about your movement - only if American politics changes in a fundamental way, is there a chance that similar changes will come about in Germany. Addition: To compare the German "revolution" (toppling the Wall and leading to unification) with the Ron Paul revolution (politically, which Hartwig does not) would be preposterous. The ABC of freedom is neither taught nor known in Germany. The lack of understanding of the basic concepts of freedom is phenomenal in Germany, East and West. The German "revolutionaries" marched away from socialism to demand a better socialism and/or hoping for a windfall from their richer brethren. They would have been horrified by Ron Paul's messages, which are abhorred equally in East and West Germany, being considered anarchistic and anti-social. German's cannot get enough government (this has not changed since the birth of the nation in 1870) and, for that reason, endorse the undemocratic European superstate enthusiastically, expecting to be looked after by the state even more efficiently. Germans do not care about politics as long as they have a comforting sense of being looked after by a powerful ruler. If you think this an exaggeration, consider: Germans do not care for freedom, not even for democracy (which is a means to support freedom rather than an end in itself, as most people seem to think) - fighting a jihad in Afghanistan to forcefully introduce democracy there, while the former head of state of Germany, Bundespräsident Roman Herzog, is reminding us that there is no democracy in Germany because 80% of all legal rulings binding to Germans derive from an undemocratic bureaucracy in Brussels. This is not treated as a scandal in Germany, as the erroneous expectation is that a hyperstate is better than a mere state. Hauptsache, wir werden regiert. Main, thing, we are being governed.

So, the Ron Paul movement is hugely important for us Germans, because it creates an opportunity to learn about the meaning of freedom (which to the average German is a frightening lack of state control).

All of Europe is heading that way (total socialism) including my native Great Britain - which is very sad indeed.

Switzerland IMO is the last bastion of small government and personal freedoms. It's unfortunate that the Swiss have recently just joined the UN and are reconsidering joining the European Union. It will be a very very sad day indeed if the Swiss join the EU. I hope the Swiss have more sense - but no doubt Rupert Murdoch probably owns their TV stations and newspapers too.

[GeorgThomas]

Bravo, Beermotor, for writing:

We don't NEED one world government, one world culture, one idea of humanity - we NEED a world with thousands of different cultures, thousands of local choices, thousands of ideas...

I love the Ron Paul crowd...they understand that under the rule of law, i.e. a regime of freedom, having different values, goals, qualities - in a word: being different, is not divisive but hugely productive and enriching for all. You guys understand the essence of tolerance!

[angrydragon]

What do the Ron Paul supporters have today that supporters of the fall of the Berlin Wall 1989 didn't have?

The internet...the message is spreading faster.

[GeorgThomas]

Dear qdnick,

You are spot on, sadly. But then again, Ron Paul and his supporters are teaching us the all-important message, which can help save Europe, too. Freedom is first and foremost an educational issue. We are not being told about it, not in England and not in Germany (I studied in England and heard zilch of the liberty message). But the moment people get a whiff of it, they quickly catch fire. Let us go on doing what the Ron Paul crowd is doing, just tell people of freedom. By the way, England, though in a way, it would seem, even more stereotypical German than Germany at the present time - with this plague of prohibitions and surveillance going on, and at least half a century of heavy duty socialism, still yours is the fatherland of freedom, while Germany never ever had the experience of and the intellectual commitment to liberty. And be this at it may, the liberty message is contagious all over the world.

[GeorgThomas]

Dear angrydragon,

You are right...and may I add...: "a completely different message". For had the East Germans had the same message, they would not have been looking forward to joining a country, where a system is worshipped that is supposed to alleviate "pure capitalism", while producing with great efficiency the evils that according to still popular propaganda lies from the 19th century capitalism is guilty of: mass unemployment, poverty, dependence, the loss of trust in oneself, derelict "families", mutual distrust, corruption, dishonesty. No one in Germany, East or West, understands that if you want the rule of law to prevail you will get capitalism, and if you want to interfere with capitalism (the commerce of free human beings) you cannot have the rule of law, which, of course, does not exist in our country, no matter how fervent the lip service being paid to it. People are completely confused in Germany even about the things they think they believe in. And in all that helter skelter, they have but one hope: let's have a strong government to sort out the confusion for us.

[Gee]

I love the Ron Paul crowd...they understand that under the rule of law, i.e. a regime of freedom, having different values, goals, qualities - in a word: being different, is not divisive but hugely productive and enriching for all. You guys understand the essence of tolerance!
That is the libertarian message in general. While some people paint it as being extremely individualistic and anti-socialist, the truth is that socialist societies can exist under a libertarian federal government. Liberty is all about living how you want to live, after all.

Libertarians trying to exist under socialist governments get grabbed by men with guns and thrown into barred cells :(

[DeadheadForPaul]

The Ron Paul revolution is a worldwide phenomenom and will hopefully restore our good standing with Europe and the rest of the world.

My German ancestors came to the New World in the early 1700's because they saw the promise and opportunity of starting on a new continent where the people could build a government that truly protected their rights. Nearly 70 years later, every member of my family fought for the revolutionary cause in the Carolinas. Ron Paul will restore the Republic for which our forefathers died defending. He will put the Republic back into REPUBLICan

Lighting the fires of liberty in America will be huge and those fires will spread across the Western world if we allow Dr. Paul to take the reigns and return freedom to the people. I think the socialist loss in the French election proves that people want to move away from big government and we need to start that revolution

[RPeurope]

What EU is trying to do is to introduce this false sense of European nationalism, united Europe. But what really is united in Brussels is the political elite and special interest lobbyists.

[austin356]

What EU is trying to do is to introduce this false sense of European nationalism, united Europe. But what really is united in Brussels is the political elite and special interest lobbyists.



Brussels 2027 = Washington 2007


UGH!!!!!!!! Disintegrate the Union while it is still possible!

[Retrolives]

I can tell ya there's plenty of support for Ron Paul here in the Republic of Ireland too. We rejected the EU constitution but its still being forced through anyway. Next year once I finish University I'm going to spend my entire summer in the States campaigning for Ron Paul in any way I can.

Live free or die! :)