'Fair' Tax, Just War, Houston Astros and more...#AskRonPaul!
Ron Paul returns to the hot seat in another Liberty Report where our viewers get to ask the questions... Which questions did we pick? How did Ron answer? Any surprises? Tune in!
Ron Paul returns to the hot seat in another Liberty Report where our viewers get to ask the questions... Which questions did we pick? How did Ron answer? Any surprises? Tune in!
Ron Paul returns to the hot seat in another Liberty Report where our viewers get to ask the questions... Which questions did we pick? How did Ron answer? Any surprises? Tune in!
With me today is Daniel McAdams, our co-host, Daniel.
Good to see you.
Good morning, Dr. Paul.
How are you?
I'm doing well.
Today is a serious day because I understand that you have received some questions to be asked to me by you.
And the big question is, will I have some really interesting answers?
Yeah, they're not even by me, they're by your fans.
But no, it's Ask Ron Paul again.
We like to do these every few weeks because it's enjoyable.
This time we got a really great group of questions.
I had probably 20, but we would have gone all day.
But we're going to cut right to the chase.
Let's hit the first question for Ask Ron Paul.
What would be the most logical way to progress from our current income tax model to the fair tax model?
Well, the easiest way is to repeal the 16th Amendment.
Get rid of this whole concept, this whole philosophy of an income tax.
There is no such thing as a fair tax when it comes to income tax.
It's one of the most vicious because it is based on the assumption that the government owns all our income and that we can keep a certain amount under certain conditions that the government dictates.
So they have the deductions and all this.
It invites a monster.
The accountants love it and the special interests like it and all.
But no, income tax is never fair.
Almost all taxes are unfair because they're so unnecessary and they're designed by people who promote big government.
And the Constitution should be obeyed.
If we did that, then we wouldn't have an income tax.
They've talked about this a long time.
The founders said no income tax.
Lincoln said have one during the Civil War.
Then we got rid of it.
And then when they came up with it in 1913, they said, oh, this is just a little one, just a little bit of income tax, and it just would put it on the rich, you know, and take care of it.
So it's the deception that goes on.
But basically, this is a reflection on why the income tax is such a menace.
It's because government is so big.
All that the income tax does, it enhances the ability of big government people to raise taxes and finance their system.
And just look back, you know, from 1913 on, government has grown exponentially, along with the other tax called the inflation tax in the Federal Reserve was designed at that same time.
So the progressive era of the teens and 1913 in particular ushered in an age which has not been very good for the American people, not very good for liberty.
Yeah.
Well, we have a two-part question for number two, and it's because they're related.
So we'll roll one and read it, and then we'll roll the second one and get your insights.
Just War and Libertarian Perspective00:03:49
These are both on war.
First question, is there ever a valid reason to go to war or use military action from the libertarian perspective?
Explain the reasons.
And then the second part, which is related to it, the second question is, is there such thing as a just war?
For example, should the U.S. have intervened during the genocide in Rwanda?
Some tough questions.
Yeah, on a just war and whether libertarians should justify war.
You know, if you're a pacifist, but you also want to be a libertarian, I don't think you'd get kicked out.
You know, pacifism is a lot better form of foreign policy than the neocons foreign policy, perpetual war for perpetual peace.
So that would be okay.
I don't think the Libertarian Party, I don't take the position that there is not a war that You shouldn't enter into, but it has to be defensive.
I cannot see, you know, and I look at it first in a personal sense.
If somebody invades my house, I'm a non-gun person in many ways.
I don't like guns and killing and this sort of thing and despise all this war.
But I would be capable of defending myself and my family if somebody marched into my house and threatened our lives.
Yes, and that would be a retaliation in a way that would be my little war.
But a country, I think, has a right to do this.
But what countries ought to do is wise up and avoid the confrontation.
Now, is there a just war when there's such atrocities going in in the various countries?
And this is a little tougher because there's a lot of sympathy.
But the libertarian principle is still very firm.
You know, if you have cousins living in country A and they're under siege and you support their position, there should never be a government prohibition against you sending money or sending a weapon or going over there and fighting.
But governments don't have a right, no matter how justified it seems, that you endorse one faction or another, that you have the authority to draft young people or use young people or draft our money, inflate the currency to go over there to perpetuate justice.
So I don't think it's morally correct to do it, but practically it's not good either.
It never works.
And in a practical sense, the moral injustice of communism, think of the millions, hundreds of millions of people died, you know, in China and Russia and under fascism in Germany.
Yes, it was horrible.
But we didn't invade Russia.
They became our allies, you know, in fighting.
So I don't, this, when people are starving, you say, well, at least send them food.
But what happens, we've seen this happen, and we've watched it while up in Washington, is that this foreign aid and assistance to one faction becomes a war weapon because the strongest person gets the food and they get the weapons, even if you send it to help somebody.
This is sort of the justification of some of the recent wars, like in Libya, you know, and Iraq and Syria.
We've got to get rid of Assad because he's killing his own people.
He's gassing his own people.
And it invites lies.
So the principle has to be that you don't have the right to do that, interfere if they're not attacking you or threatening you in any way.
And we would have been a lot less war, and a lot less people died over the last, especially the last 25 or 30 years, because so many people have died, not only our soldiers, but so many of the people who became victims of our policy.
Yeah.
People Should Play More Baseball00:06:09
Well, moving on to number three, and this is about libertarianism and libertarian ideas.
We have the third question coming up.
It's out there somewhere.
Here we are.
How do we get ideas like yours and Rand's, such as end the Fed, audit the IRS, to really become mainstream talking points?
Good question.
Well, I find it as a good question because this boils down to the issue that I'm always talking about people's attitudes have to change before Washington changes.
When I was in Washington, even though I was in politics, the politics I wasn't very happy messing with that because that's just a power struggle.
And, you know, how do you get the best position on, and how do you become a chairman and the political things that go on.
So I would say that if you're in politics or supporting somebody, support somebody who believes in this and the people will hear about it.
So I was shocked during the presidential campaigns that I thought I was talking to this many people, just a few.
But when I went out to the campuses, even liberal campuses, there was a large segment of young people then that was very much aware of the Federal Reserve and the whole idea of sound money.
So I was very impressed.
But we did a lot of work in Congress trying to make it a point.
But we also had our organization called Campaign for Liberty.
That was their big issue.
Audit the Fed audit the Fed.
So they were grassroots working on changing people's minds, putting pressure on the congressman.
And that's why several times that even since I left, they've had votes in the House, and the votes are won.
It wasn't, when I was there and we won it, it wasn't because, oh, Ron, I know you're on the right track and this is what we really want.
It wasn't that.
They were getting a lot of messages from home.
So if you want these things to go mainstream, you have to have a philosophic base for it.
And that has been building the libertarians idea and the Austrian School of Economics and Lou Rockwell with the Mises Institute.
This has changed the minds.
And so I was so pleasantly surprised that the first time I heard the chanting in the Fed in the Fed was on a liberal college campus.
And so they were influenced by ideas.
So they're out there.
So when you want to have a better presence in Washington, you have to change people's minds to influence people.
But there's a lot of different ways.
People will do it, talk show hosts and people who write letters, investment counselors.
And a lot of people know and understand the whole issue.
But everybody has to be involved.
And it's amazing to me.
I mean, people I know that have unique ways of presenting this.
And to me, the best thing to do is argue it on a moral basis.
It's just totally dishonest to counterfeit money and create an economic system like we have now that benefits the rich and damages the poor and destroys the middle class.
Exactly.
Well, we often try to end on a slightly lighter note.
So we do have another one question this time that's a slightly lighter note.
The final question of the day.
I was wondering if you were still a Houston Astros fan.
Pretty good team this past season.
There's even a picture, I think, if you want to scroll up.
Who's that?
Yeah, I don't know who that is, that Astro shirt.
Somebody told me that's the ugliest uniform ever.
They didn't tell me I was the ugliest baseball player ever.
And some people have been misled, and I want to correct the record.
I never played for the Astros.
But I did play a little bit of baseball.
I was a frustrated baseball player.
I never had a team as a kid where we had uniforms, a real team.
We did a lot of baseball, but it was real sandlock baseball.
And we didn't have a high school team.
And I did well in track, so track conflicted.
So in college, I did track rather than baseball.
But I loved baseball.
So when I got to Congress and heard there was a baseball team, I thought, oh, I'll try this out, you know, and do it.
And I had a lot of fun.
One thing that I thought was neat about it was that Republicans and Democrats, the people you played with, became pretty close friends.
You know, we always remained friendly.
Even now, if I would bump into a Democrat that we played baseball, we wouldn't remember any differences on issues.
But we would remember that we played baseball together, which I really liked.
And I thought, well, you know what?
And when I was giving my last speech on the House floor when I was leaving in 1984, I said, you know, one thing I suggest you do is play more baseball.
Baseball is good.
More baseball, less of this legislating.
All you're doing is harming the people passing this legislation.
People should play more baseball.
And in a way, you know, playing ping pong with the Chinese didn't hurt us.
And the one, you know, a lot of times if you're in a debate or having a question and you regret, I should have said this, I should have said, I've had that come up a couple times, you know, in the campaign.
But the one question, if I had a chance to answer again, I don't think I've ever told anybody these deep feelings I have.
But it came up when somebody said, all right, you're the president, and they come and they say, Castro's on the phone.
What are you going to say to him?
I said, I'm going to ask him why he called.
Everybody laughed.
They thought it was funny.
But I should have said, I challenge you to a baseball game, and you and I will be the pitchers or the hitters or something.
You and America, United States, and Castro.
The big problem with that is the Cubans probably good.
So baseball was a lot of fun.
And I think the politicians ought to play more of baseball and less of this fighting over things that they shouldn't even be talking about, you know, and how to take away our freedoms and destroy the money and start a war.
Well, once again, you fielded all the questions, and I think we had a fun time doing it.
And I want to thank the audience for tuning in today to the Liberty Report.