This was not an easy process for me because I still very much love and respect Rush for all that he has done in forwarding the cause of Freedom however, I am now very certain that I am to the Right of him. More than anything I believe that it comes down to a generational situation. My first President in living memory was Ronald Reagan and as far as I am concerned I have been forced to lower my expectation of liberty with each and every administration ever since. I can no longer stand by and accept the 'lesser of two evils'. As far as I am concerned we need to return to Liberty and there is only one candidate who is able to articulate that message and stand by his actual voting record which reflects it.
When I first heard about Ron Paul, back in the election of 2008, I was warned by many of my friends that he was a danger to the United States and an enemy to Israel. As a Jewish person, Israel is important to me not just because I have family there but also because I need to know that there is a place other than the United States where I don't have to worry about being rounded up for believing in G-d. I therefore continued to ignore Ron Paul and his fellow "paultards", I then held my nose and voted for Senator John McLame.
The 2008 Election had been an entirely confusing time for me because I had so much trouble distinguishing any differences between John McLame & Barack Obama, beyond the obvious physical traits. It seemed to me that both parties were conspiring against us and just taking turns at running this Country into the ground. Listening to Rush Limbaugh during the Obama administration was refreshing because it was nice to see him question the Republican Establishment in the same way that I was.
It gave me pleasure to hear Rush take the RINOs (Republican In Name Only) to Task. I especially appreciated his articulation of the betrayal that we all felt when the "Tea Party" infused Republicans voted to raise the Debt Ceiling. He used words liked "duped" and Kabuki theater to describe the actions of these RINOs.
While Listening to Rush at every spare chance I had, I would also be running my Capitalism page on facebook (facebook.com/Capitalists). After reading 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand, I felt inspired and wanted to spread the very same Free-Market values that she and Rush espoused. We grew very quickly and before long I found myself devoting hours and hours to posting and research on human action. And then a friend guided me to the Austrian School of Economics which provided me with the method to beauty of a Free Economy and Society.
I became inspired by reading and listening to Ludwig von Mises, Robert Lefevre, Murray Rothbard etc... It was through these folks that I found all the connections between my faith and my obsession with Liberty. When my Capitalism page was shut down by Facebook, It was the liberty minded folks who came to my rescue and they not only saved our page but swelled our numbers ever higher. They embraced me like I was family and I feeling is mutual for everyone I meet. The Liberty perspective is ALL about Positivity and I don't want to know anyone who would find fault with that.
Now that I was exposed to the nature of Man versus the Government, I was finally able to understand the true nature of the Right-Left Paradigm. That was when I first realized that I might be to the Right of Rush Limbaugh. My suspicions were then confirmed when I watched him join the Republican Chorus to denounce Ron Paul and his supporters. While Rush Limbaugh does endorse Ron Paul's economic policy, he is completely dismissive of Paul's Foreign Policy to the point of rejecting all of the reform that Paul stands for.
I happen to support Ron Paul not just because of his stellar economic policy, but also because I believe that ALL Foreign Aid is just as poisonous as welfare, I am sick of paying for undeclared wars ( I don't feel any safer with the 'War on Terror') and just like Benjamin Netanyahu, I believe that Israel is an independent & Sovereign Nation capable of self-defense against those who wish it harm. While I appreciate Rush's Zeal for Protecting Israel, I believe that it is those very same protections that is causing more harm than good. As an Austrian Economist I know that all Protection while well intentioned leads to sustained damage in the end. Right or wrong, I believe that these points that I am making are worthy of debate rather than being pushed aside through fear mongering. I am obsessed with the fall of Rome and I became a student of history so that we could actually learn from the mistakes of the past instead of repeating them.
Unfortunately, I am afraid that the lines have been drawn and History will be the ultimate judge of what is Right and what is LEFT. In the meantime I will continue my fight for the Right with an open mind and my Pandora Playlist...
Well done. I'm a convert to Judaism (orthodox) and I have the same feelings about this.
ReplyDeleteI love Rush, but my love of personal liberty causes me to take stances that he wouldn't be able to accept.
R' Meir Kahane, (hy"d), rebuked his fellow Jews for assuming that Israel needs US foreign aide, instead, he insisted that Israel would NOT realize its potential and sovereignty until it was standing on its own two legs (bs"d).
Ron Paul was one of the very few congressman that did NOT condemn Israel's 1981 attack on Iraq. Why? Because he feels he has no business meddling with another country's defensive affairs.
Michael, you're absolutely right; foreign aide is yet another socialist program. It's the government redistributing wealth, which is sick and evil because traditionally, American freedom lovers have held that one of the very few legitimate purposes of a government is to protect the property of its citizens from force and fraud. Foreign aide is where the government steals (forcefully) from its own citizens to give to some other people. My wish is that no country, including Israel, would ever get even a dime of US taxpayer money. Of course, I hope Israel will enjoy the PRIVATE & VOLUNTARY financial support from American Jews and other people of good will, but it should not be forced upon anyone.
Further, I was in the Marines. We learned that the purpose of the Marine Corps (and the rest of the armed forces is, frankly, to kill the enemy and break their stuff. That's what we should be doing -- no more and no less. This nation-building and global police-forcing is a scandal. It has to stop!
Tonight is the Minnesota caucus. I can't wait to support the one man running who is a man of honor, principles, and liberty.
Best wishes on your new blog. If you're ever in Minneapolis, stop by Bais Yisroel and ask for Israel Walega.
PS -- We have a local talk radio guy here in town who is just great:
http://www.jasonlewisshow.com/
He's a strongly libertarian kind of republican and a big RP supporter. You'd probably love to listen to his podcasts.
First of all I would like to say that for your first blog it was a wonderful and well articulated piece. I am a member of your Capitalism page on Facebook and look forward to all the good research and banter that goes on there. I consider myself an Objectivist and follower of Ayn Rand and as we may not agree on everything (mostly probably faith issue's) we do have a lot in common. Way back in 1991 my 10th grade history teacher told me that because of things I talked about in class that I made Ronald Reagan seem liberal and he introduced me to "Anthem" by Ayn Rand I have too felt that the establishment GOP is no different than the left they say they oppose. The line between left and right should not be so muddled the contrast is and should be (left tyranny ---- right anarchy) I'd like to be just left of anarchy and as far away from tyranny as possible.
ReplyDeleteI can't count the number of links of yours I've shared on FB. You've been a great source of info and your links create debate on my page -which i love. I look forward to your blog - Iaia
ReplyDeleteI could have written this! LONG time Rush listener here and I agree with you entirely. I frankly find it very exciting that while many of my fellow Republicans look at me like "the red-headed stepchild" since backing Ron Paul, I see it as a decision that has NEVER been easier given the fact that we have ZERO candidates that are even conservative, except Dr. Paul, in the GOP race as it stands today! It is exciting because I see MANY, with the same background as you and I, making that 'realization' (it is the 'NECONS' that transformed into the same big-gov't nanny-state collectivists as the left). What we have in our parties today is two sides of the very same coin, differing only to in slight, frankly inconsequential, degrees. Thanks for your blog, look forward to reading more!
ReplyDeleteSelah brother. So I too have journeyed from voting for Reagan to this point; using a vote like it is a war against the other side. Conservatism has failed to produce liberty and like Democracy, is a cloak over true liberty.
ReplyDeleteGood Post, though I would take issue with the right left thing. As a descriptor or measurement, I think the right/left thing doesn't really work. In that vain, you could actually be either to the left or right of Limbaugh. A more accurate description could be found here http://www.nolanchart.com/survey.php
ReplyDeleteIf I had to make a guess, based on your FB post, you square on the right side of the libertarian quadrant.
Thanks,
Cord