Ron Paul

Today’s a stormy day… which might make the rest of the week rather interesting for me.

But, last Wednesday was the Republican Youtube Debate. It was interesting. Leaning to the more liberal side, this was the first exposure I had to this election’s republican candidates and their values. However, it was a good debate. Romney presented himself as the prototypical politician (as in what the public perceives politicians to be). Fred Thompson took an interesting, somewhat counterbalancing stance to the other candidates. Huckabee looked like the best popular candidate. Ron Paul revealed he was a standard libertarian. But, one question asked stood out in the debate.

Please read on….

Warning: I feel you should understand my political standpoint before reacting to this post. I know I can’t trust everyone to have some semblance of rationality when I’m analyzing their favorite candidate. But, I’ll ask you anyways to be respectful in your public reactions.

My views are best described as liberal. I do not want to label myself a Democrat, nor the name of any political party. I enjoy the freedom that comes with being able to stand outside of the party system and the narrow mindsets it can invite in order to ask and answer the essential question in an election: “WHO IS THE BEST PERSON TO LEAD OUR COUNTRY FOR THE NEXT 8 YEARS?” This is why I try to be centrist, try to critically analyze all the candidates. However, what I consider good qualities would be qualities that tend towards the liberal end of the spectrum. What do I think makes a good candidate:

• Fiscal Responsibility – A sound, well managed, logical budget that doesn’t necessarily imply limited government. A good fiscal budget is a mostly utilitarian budget.
• Social Freedom – It is of my personal belief that every person should be free before the law and the law should endeavor to ensure the freedom of everyone
• Social Welfare – Ensuring the potential for every citizen to achieve happiness is a good goal for government. The best way to achieve this is to give everyone the tools they need to achieve happiness – good health, good education, good income, good quality of life in general. Social Welfare is the counterpart to the next one, except it deals with life today.
• Commitment to Tomorrow – I feel the future is disregarded today. But, our actions today affect the state of tomorrow. It affects the world our children, their children, and so grow up in. Why not make its grass as green as possible, even greener than ours?
• Rational Security – Protecting the people and the state within the limits of reason, law, to minimize breaches on freedom, and maximize security of the people. The people and the government need to work together to establish a balance between privacy/freedom and security.
• Optimistic Realistic International Diplomacy- We live in a world where a country will fail if it is isolationist. We must engage heartily in the international community. However, war cannot solve problems unless an outside force initiates war or the other party demonstrates themselves as militarily hostile (then defense and intervention is necessary). In engaging with another nation or political, realistic diplomacy with hope for an ideal outcome should be our focus.

Now you understand where I stand better, the question:

“What 3 government departments would you cut?”
The republican candidates’ responses:

I like Fred Thompson’s response in this. To paraphrase, ‘We must reform the government to be more fiscally responsible and to eliminate corruption. We must ask experts what specificpieces are unnecessary, what pieces should be reformed, and what pieces are good.’ This is a wonderful response, in my humble opinion. My only criticism is, “Would he follow through with this in a manner that is rational and not serving his political ideology solely?”

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Ron Paul’s response. I hear he is a very popular republican candidate. After hearing his response to this question, I loathe him. He would cut the Department of Education, Energy, and Homeland Security. Cutting the last department would be a popular idea. Its the first two cuts that make me…. not like him.

As you know, I am writing a 4000 word paper on education. As I researched and wrote this paper, I realized that education is the most important thing a state can provide for. Why is education important? I wish to continue what I discussed earlier.

Education benefits society and, through society, governments in addition to strengthening economies. These influences have been discussed as far back as Ancient Greece. The philosopher Plato discussed the function of education in the State in his work The Republic. Paul Monroe, in A Text-Book in the History of Education, discusses Plato ideas on education:

“To education is thus consciously ascribed a much broader function than ever before for it now is to provide for the fullest development of personality in the individual and for the maintenance of a perfect form of society.”

Educate, in Plato’s ideal State in his Republic, creates a virtuous, perfect society by guiding the development of individuals. Good government thus arises from this perfect society. Plato’s philosophies have influenced the discussions about life, the universe, and everything for much of recorded history since he lived. The echoes of Plato’s thoughts on education prevail in modern times. Horace Mann, often considered the father of the American Education System, said “Education is our only political safety.” Mann reasoned along similar lines as Plato. Education maintains the construction of the American State by maintaining its key feature: checks and balances. An educated populace can check the authoritarianism of government. Likewise, and educated government can check the chaotic mob. This does not lead to the ideal perfect stability Plato envisioned. It rather creates a more pragmatic metastable system. Thus education is key to the function of good government.

It is in the self-interest of governments and businesses to provide for the education of their constituents. As previously outlined, they reap the rewards they sow by providing this crucial service. This service has never been more crucial than now as humanity journey’s into the 21st century and in country that claims the hegemonic title of Sole Superpower. Thomas L. Friedman argues in his book The World Is Flat, that as the world moves into and through the 21st century it is becoming increasingly flatter. Globalization, advancing technology, and the removal of trade barriers allow business to be conducted on a global scale. The pool of potential employees that employers hire from has grown to cover most of the globe. This makes the world subjectively smaller and ‘flatter’. This new world is challenging America’s “hegemony” on the global chessboard. If the United States desires to keep a claim to being a superpower, it must prepare a workforce to meet the demands of the third millennium.

This is the rest of the introduction to my extended essay on education. I quote it here to demonstrate the importance of education. It is the department that manages so important a function that Ron Paul wishes to eliminate in the interests of “fiscal responsibility.” He has locked himself into the libertarian idea that good government is solely a government that operates least. A good government is one that serves the interests (not necessarily desires) of the people and helps the society it is the steward of to prosper. Government involvement is thus necessary at times and in issues, such as issues concerning the social welfare of its people.

Eliminating a Department of Education would not benefit the social welfare OR the government. Hence, Ron Paul should not gain the republican candidacy.