You Wouldn't Go Next Door To Rob Your Neighbor, So Why Get Government To Do It For You?

By Ron Paul

Every election, we're told that "this is the most important election in history". Surely we were told so when Barack Obama was elected. It was so important because we were supposedly choosing between a continuation of George W. Bush's policies of continuous war and Barack Obama's who was going to turn the page and put an end to the nonsense.

Well, we now know for sure that it was a false choice all along. President Obama is coming to the end of his term by not only expanding Bush's wars, but starting some of his own as well. Yet another instance of "the most important election" being nothing of the sort.

It should not come as a surprise to you that I've always downplayed the importance of elections. I've been on the receiving end of distorted results and other electoral chicanery. Americans obsess way too much on elections and whether or not a Republican or Democrat wins. Nothing ever (especially with the most critical issues) really changes.

I always approached voting and the elections as a way to help change people's minds. Never did I entertain the thoughts that my election was somehow going to "change the world" as we so often see advertised today. I merely took elections as a vehicle to get information out.

What I really want to focus on today what elections have turned into. You know H.L. Mencken once said that: "Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods." What's disappointing is how evidently true that statement has become. We see it with the current crop of candidates. Promises of more stuff, to be paid for with other people's money, are so numerous that it's hard to keep track of them all.

America's Founders abhorred democracy, and modern-day America is a great example as to why. Americans have conceded philosophically that the government can steal money. It must never be forgotten that government inherently has nothing and produces nothing. The only thing that they can do is steal from somebody. So in the current system, all you have to do is have the majority vote. Once you get that, other people's property are now up for grabs!

I'm going to assume that most, if not all, people who are reading this would not willingly walk next door to their neighbor's house, smash down the door, and steal their money. So why is it OK for a politician to do it for you? Where did he get his license to steal? And how can a free society ever exist when some group of people have a license to steal?

Always remember, the people in Congress are not thinkers. They're very largely reactors. Our job is to continue to change minds in this country to embrace the ideas of very little government. Government should be there to protect our ability to freely choose, and to protect our lives, liberty and property. Whenever it goes beyond that, and we can all see it with our very own eyes today, society gets turned into a big thieving circus.

---