Sunday, July 03, 2011

Review: Liberty Defined

 Ron Paul is officially the most thoughtful and articulate member of this cavalcade of presidential contenders. I can say that with an absolute certainty, a certainty born of hours of delightful research. Starting in 2008 with Revolution: A Manifesto, continuing in 2010 with End the Fed, and marching triumphantly into 2011 with Liberty Defined, Ron Paul has set himself apart from this contemporary batch of misanthropic animals of the political machine. In 2008, I was set against Ron Paul in the GOP primary for various reasons, mostly involving foreign policy. I was present at the 2008 farewell to the Texas Republican convention, and wrote the following while sitting less then 50 feet from the man.
"He’s done now… this is the strangest thing. He essentially just left his constituents without guidance, which I guess is how this entire campaign has been run. I don’t know what lasting developments will come from this, but it was an interesting experience."


My primary criticism of Paul in 2008 has come full circle. The loudest praise I can proclaim for Ron Paul is this: The man thinks, he leads, and the lives what he writes. This is not a failed candidate who passed into the sunset following a lost campaign, he is a man who has become the shining beacon of a growing movement, that transcends a mere political race. 

Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues that Affect Our Freedom is really a collection of essays with a single objective: Defining an issue, showing the effects of the status quo, and offering a solution that is worthy of pursuit. Rather then playing games with politics and pandering to any group, Paul begins by assailing a sacred cow of the right and the left, Abortion. His solution is unlikely to make partisans on either side content, but it the man is a doctor who has delivered over 2000 children, and is far and away more experienced in his speaking then most of the current scene. Driving straight through Assassination, Inflation, Lobbying and Zionism, Paul never skirts away from a single issue. Clearly there will be room for disagreement. Just as clear is that there is much room for learning and thinking and considering every issue in a new light. The writing is simple and concise, wasting no time with bombastic extrapolation. 

I read this as an audiobook. The narration does a good job conveying the thought and gravity of the script, better then Paul himself would have done. I don't know what the deal is with publishers and books about liberty needing music by that nefarious instrument that plagues right wing kitsch dealers, the fife. 

Ron Paul collated gunpowder of ideas for fuel ideological fireworks of freedom. Those looking for what may be the last great prophet of liberty in this trouble nation should enjoy this while it lasts. 

Audible (Get it for Free!)

Amazon Hardcover
-The Revolution (Changed my thoughts on US Narcotic policy)
-End the Fed (Radically shifted my perception of monetary policy)

2 comments:

Gino said...

i will buy.

RobertDWood said...

I hope you read it too ;)