Congressman Ron Paul's Farewell Speech to Congress

I Thank You mr. Speaker I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks without objection so ordered mr. speaker this may be the last time I speak on the House floor at the end of the year I'll leave Congress after 23 years in office over a 36 year period my goals in 1976 were the same as they are today promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty it was my opinion that the course of the u.s. embarked on in the latter part of the 20th century would bring us a major financial crisis and engulfed us in a foreign policy that would overextend us and undermine our national security to achieve these goals I saw it the government would have had to shrink in size and scope reduce spending change the monetary system and reject the unsustainable cost of policing the world and expanding the American Empire the problems seemed to be overwhelming and impossible to solve yet from my viewpoint just following the constraints placed on the federal government by the Constitution would have been a good place to start just how much did I accomplish in many ways according to conventional wisdom my off-and-on career in Congress from 1976 to 2012 accomplished very little no name regulation legislation no name federal buildings or highways thank goodness in spite of my efforts the government has grown exponentially taxes remain excessive and the prolific increase of incomprehensible regulations continues wars are constants and pursued without congressional declaration deficits rise to the sky poverty is rampant and dependency on the federal government is now worse than any time in our history all this with minimal concerns for the deficits and unfunded liabilities that common sense tells us cannot go on much longer a grand but never mentioned bipartisan agreement allows for the well-kept secret that keeps the spending going one side doesn't give up one penny on military spending the other side doesn't give up one penny on welfare spending while both sides support the bailouts and the subsidies for the banking the corporate elite and the spending continues as the economy weakens and the downward spiral continues as the government continues fiddling around our liberties and our wealth burn in the flames of a foreign policy that makes makes us less safe the major stumbling block to real change in Washington is the total resistance to admitting that the country is broke this has made compromising just to agree to increase spending inevitable since neither side has any intention on cutting spending the country in the Congress will remain divisive since there's no loot left to divvy up without this recognition the spenders in Washington will continue to march toward a fiscal cliff much bigger than the one anticipated this coming January I've thought a lot about why those of us who believe in Liberty as a solution have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits if Liberty is what we claim it is the principle that protects all personal social and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and the best chance for peace it should be an easy sell yet history has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are are rarely if ever fulfilled should we have authoritarianism or Liberty if authoritarianism leads to poverty and war and less freedom for all individuals and is controlled by rich special interests the people should be begging for liberty there certainly was a strong enough sentiment for more freedom at the time of our founding that motivated those who were willing to fight in the revolution against the powerful British government during my time in Congress the appetite for Liberty has been quite weak the understanding of his significance negligible yet the good news is that compared to 90 seventy-six when I first came to Congress the desire for more freedom and less government in 2012 is much greater and growing especially in grassroots America tens of thousands of teenagers and college age students are with great enthusiasm welcoming the message of Liberty I have a few thoughts as to why the people of a country like ours once the freest and most prosperous allowed the conditions to deteriorate to the degree that they have freedom private property and enforceable voluntary contracts generate wealth in our early history we were very much aware of this but the or in the early part of the 20th century our politicians promoted the notion that the tax and monetary system had to change if we were to involve ourselves in excessive domestic and military spending that is why Congress gave us the federal reserve and the income tax the majority of Americans and many government officials agreed that sacrificing some Liberty was necessary to carry out what some claim to be progressive ideas pure democracy became acceptable they failed to recognize that what they were doing was exactly opposite of what the colonists were seeking when they broke away from the British some complain that my arguments make no sense since great wealth and the standard of living improve for many Americans over the last hundred years even with these new policies but the damage to the market economy and the currency has been sidious and steady it took a long time to consume our wealth destroy the currency and undermine productivity and get our financial obligations to a point of no return confidence sometimes lasts longer than deserved most of our wealth today depends on debt the wealth that we enjoyed and seemed to be endless allowed concern for the principle of a free society to be neglected as long as most people the material abundance would last forever worrying about protecting a competitive productive economy and individual liberty seemed unnecessary the age of redistribution this neglect assured in an age of redistribution of wealth by government counting to any and all special interests except for those who just wanted to be left alone that is why today money and politics far surpasses money currently going into research and development and productive intrapreneurial efforts the material benefits became more important than the understanding and promoting the principles of Liberty and a free market it is good that material balance is a result of Liberty but materialism is all that we care if but if materialism is all that we care about problems are guaranteed the crisis arrived because the illusion that wealth and prosperity would last forever has ended since it was based on debt and a pretense that debt can be papered over by an out-of-control Fiat monetary system it was doomed to fail we have ended up with a system that doesn't produce enough even to finance the debt and no fundamental understanding of why a free society is crucial to reversing these trends if this is not recognized the recovery will linger for a long time bigger government more spending more debt more poverty for the middle class and a more intense scramble by the elite special interests will continue we need in intellectual awakening without an intellectual awakening the turning point will be driven by economic law a dollar crisis will bring the current out-of-control system to its knees if it's not accepted that big government fiat money ignoring liberty central economic planning welfarism and warfare ISM caused our crisis we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties spirity for a large middle class though will become an abstract dream this continuous move is no different than what we have seen in how our financial crisis of 2008 was handled Congress first directed with bipartisan support bailouts for the wealthy then it was the Federal Reserve with his endless quantitative easing if at first it doesn't succeed try again qe1 qe2 qe3 and with no results we tried QE indefinitely that is until it too fails there is a cost to all of this and let me assure you delaying the payment is no longer an option the rules of the market will extract the power its pound of flesh and it won't be pretty the current crisis elicits a lot of pessimism and the pessimism adds to less confidence in the future the to feed on themselves making our situation worse if the underlying cause of the crisis is not understood we cannot solve our problems the issue of warfare and welfare deficits inflation ISM and corporatism bailouts and authoritarianism cannot be ignored by only expanding these policies we cannot expect good results everyone claims support for freedom but too often it's for one's own freedoms and not for others too many believe that there must be limits on freedom they argue that freedom must be directed and managed to achieve fairness and equality thus making acceptable to curtail through force certain liberties some decide what and whose freedoms to be a limited to be limited these are the politicians whose goal in life is power their success depends on gaining support from special interests we don't need more isms the great news is the answer is not to be found in more isms the answers are to be found in more Liberty which costs so much less under these circumstances spending goes down wealth production goes up and the quality of life improves just this recognition especially if we move in this direction increases optimism which in itself is beneficial the follow-through with sound policies are required which must be understood and supported by the people but there is good evidence that the generation coming-of-age at the present time is supportive of moving in the direction of more liberty and self-reliance the more this change in direction and the solutions become known the quicker will be our return to optimism our job for those of us who believe that a different system than the one that we have had had for the last hundred years has driven us to this unsustainable crisis crisis is to be more convincing that there is a wonderful uncomplicated and moral system that provides the answers we had a taste of it in our early history we need not give up on the notion of advancing this cause it worked but we allowed our leaders to concentrate on the material abundance that freedom generates while ignoring freedom itself now we have neither but the door is open out of necessity for an answer the answer available is based on the Constitution individual liberty in prohibiting the use of government force to provide privileges and benefits to all special interests after over 100 years we face a society quite different from the one that was intended by the founders in many ways their efforts to protect future generations with the constitution from this danger has failed skeptics at the time of the Constitution was written in Knight H 1787 warned us of today's possible outcome the insidious nature of the erosion of our liberties and the reassurance our great abundance gave us allowed the process to evolve into a dangerous period in which we now live dependency on government largesse today we face a dependency government largess for almost every need our liberties are restricted and government operates outside the rule of law protecting and rewarding those who buy or coerce government into satisfying their demands here are a few examples undeclared wars are commonplace welfare for the rich and poor is considered an entitlement the economy is over-regulated overtaxed and grossly distorted by a deeply flawed monetary system debt is growing exponentially the Patriot Act and FISA legislation passed without much debate and resulted in a steady erosion of our Fourth Amendment rights tragically our government engages in pre-emptive war otherwise known as aggression with no complaints from the American people the drone warfare we are pursuing worldwide is destined to end badly for us as the hatred builds for innocents lives lost in the international laws flaunted once we are financially weakened and militarily challenged there will be a lot of resentment thrown our way it's now the law of the land that the military can arrest American citizens hold them indefinitely without charges or trial rampant hostility toward free trade is supported by a large number in Washington supporters of sanctions currency manipulation and WTO trade retaliation call the true free traders isolationists sanctions are used to punish countries that don't follow our orders bailouts and guarantees of all kind of misbehavior are routine central economic planning through monetary policy regulations and legislative mandates has been acceptable policy have a few questions excessive government has created such a mess it prompts many questions why are sick people who are who used medical marijuana put in prison why does the federal government restrict the drinking of raw milk why can't American manufacturers rope and other products from him why are Americans not allowed to use gold and silver as legal tender as mandated by the Constitution why is Germany concerned enough to consider repatriating their gold held by the Fed for her in New York is it that the trust in the US and dollar supremacy beginning to wane why do our political leaders believe it's necessary to thoroughly audit why do our political leaders believe it's unnecessary to thoroughly audit our own gold why can't Americans decide which type of light bulbs they can buy why is it the TSA permitted to abuse the rights of any American traveling by air Why should there be mandatory sentences even up to life for crimes without victims as our drug laws require why have we allowed the federal government to regulate commodes in our homes why is it political suicide for anyone to criticize AIPAC why haven't we given up on the drug war since it's an obvious failure and violates the people's rights has nobody noticed that the authorities can't even keep drugs out of the prisons how can making our entire society a prison solve the problem why do we sacrifice so much getting this Sun getting necessarily involved in border disputes and civil strife around the world and ignore the root cause of the most dangerous deadly border in the world the one between Mexico and United States why does Congress willingly give up its prerogatives to the executive branch why does changing the party and power never change policy could it be that the views of both parties are essentially the same why did the big banks the large corporations and foreign banks and foreign central banks get bailed out in 2008 and the middle class lost their jobs and their homes why do so many in the government and the federal officials believe that creating money out of thin air creates wealth why do so many accept the deeply flawed principle government bureaucrats and politicians can protect us from ourselves without totally destroying the principle of Liberty why can't people understand that war always destroys wealth and liberty why is there no so little concern for the executive order that gives the president authority to establish a kill list including American citizens of those targeted for assassination why is patriotism thought to be blind loyalty to the government and the politicians who run it rather than loyalty to the principles of Liberty and support for the people real patriotism is a willingness to challenge the government when it's wrong why is it claim that if people won't or can't take care of their own needs that people in government are able to do it for them why did we ever give the government a safe haven for initiating violence a geek against the people why do so many members defend free markets but not civil liberties why do so many members defend civil liberties but not free markets aren't they the same why don't more defend both economic Liberty and personal liberty why are there not more individuals who seek to intellectually influence others to bring about positive changes those who seek power changes than those who seek power to force others to obey their commands why does the use of religion to support a social gospel and pre-emptive Wars both of which require authoritarians to use violence or the threat of violence go unchallenged aggression and forced redistribution of wealth has nothing to do with the teachings of the world's great religions why do we allow the government and the Federal Reserve to disseminate false information dealing with both economic and foreign policy why is democracy held in such high esteem when it's the enemy when it's the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority why should anyone be surprised that Congress had no credibility since there's such a disconnect between what politicians say and what they do is there any explanation for all the deception the unhappiness the fear of the future the loss of confidence in our leaders the distrust and the anger and frustration yes there is and there's a way to reverse these attitudes the negative perceptions are logical and a consequence of bad policies bringing about our problems identification of the problems and recognizing the cause allow the proper changes to come easily we should have more trust in ourselves less than the government too many people have fard for too far too long place too much confidence and trust in government and don't enough in themselves fortunately many are now becoming aware of the seriousness of the gross mistakes of the past several decades the blame is shared by both political parties many Americans now are demanding to hear the plain truth of thing things and want the demagoguing to stop without this first step solutions are impossible seeking the truth and finding the answers in liberty and self-reliance promotes the optimism necessary for restoring prosperity the task is not that difficult if politics doesn't get in the way we have allowed ourselves to get into such a mess for various reasons politicians deceive themselves as to how wealth is produced excessive confidence is placed in the judgment of politicians and bureaucrats this replaces the confidence in a free society too many in high places of authority became convinced that only they armed with arbitrary government power can bring about fairness while facilitating wealth production this always proves to be a utopian dream and destroys wealth and Liberty it impoverishes the people it rewards the special interests who end up controlling both parties it's no surprise that much of what goes on in Washington is driven by aggressive partisanship and power seeking with philosophic differences being minor economic ignorance is commonplace Keynesianism continues to thrive although today it is facing healthy enthusiastic rebuttals believers in military Keynesianism and domestic Keynesianism continue to desperately promote their failed policy as the economy languishes in a deep slumber supporters of all government edicts use humanitarian arguments to justify them humanitarian arguments are always used to justify government mandates related to the economy monetary policy foreign policy and personal liberty this is on purpose to make it more difficult to challenge but initiating violence for humanitarian reason reasons is still violence good intentions are no excuse and are just as harmful as when the people use with and force with bad intentions the results are always negative the m immoral use of force is the source of man's political problems sadly many religious groups secular organizations and psychopathic authoritarians endorse government initiated force to change the world even when the desired goals are well-intentioned or especially when where they're well-intentioned the results are dismal the good results never materialized the new problems created require even more government force as a solution the net result is institutionalizing government initiated violence and morally justifying it on humanitarian grounds this is the same fundamental reason our government uses force for invading other countries at will central economic planning at home and the regulation of personal liberty and habits of our citizens it is rather strange unless one has a criminal mind and no respect for other people and their property no one claims it's permissible to go into one's neighbor's house and tell them how to behave what they can eat smoke and drink or how to spend their money yet rarely is it asked why it is why is it morally acceptable than a stranger with a badge and gun can do the same thing in the name of law and order any resistance is met with brute force fines taxes arrest and even imprisonment this is done more frequently every day without a search warrant no government monopoly over initiating violence is what we need restraining aggressive behavior is one thing but legalizing a government monopoly for initiating aggression can only lead to exhausting Liberty associated with chaos anger and a breakdown of civil society preventing such Authority and expecting a saintly behavior from the bureaucrats and the politician politicians is a pipe dream we now have a standing army of armed bureaucrats and the TSA CIA FBI Fish and Wildlife FEMA RS Corps of Engineers etc numbing over a hundred thousand citizens are guilty until proven innocent in the unconstitutional administrative courts government in a free society should have no authority to meddle in the social activities or the economic transactions of individuals nor should government meddle in the affairs of other nations all things people peaceful even when controversial should be permitted we must reject the notion of prior restraint in economic activity just as we do in the area free speech and religious liberty but even in these areas government is starting to use a backdoor approach of political correctness to regulate speech a very dangerous trend since 9/11 monitoring speech on the Internet is now a problem since warrants are no longer required the proliferation of federal crimes the Constitution established for federal crimes today the experts can't even agree on how many federal crimes are now on the books they number into the thousands no one person can comprehend the enormity of the legal system especially the tax code due to the advised drug wars and the endless federal expansion of the Criminal Code we have over six million people under correctional suspension or then the soviets ever had in more than any other nation today including China I don't understand the complacency of the Congress and their willingness to continue their obsession with passing more federal laws mandatory sentencing laws associated with drug laws have compounded our prison problems the Federal Register is now seventy five thousand pages long and a tax code seventy two thousand pages and expands every year when when will the people start shouting enough is enough and demand Congress to cease and desist what we should be doing is cheap achieving Liberty Liberty can only be achieved when government is denied the aggressive use of force if one seeks Liberty a precise type of government is needed to achieve it more than lip service is required there are two choices available one a government designed to protect Liberty is a natural right as its sole objective the people are expected to care for themselves and reject the use of any force for interfering with another person's Liberty government is given a strictly limited authority to enforce contracts property owner ships settles disputes and defend against foreign aggression number two a government that pretends to protect Liberty but is granted power to arbitrarily use force over the people and foreign nations though the grant of power many times is meant to be small and limited it inevitably metastasizes into an omnipotent political cancer this is the problem for which the world has suffered throughout the ages though meant to be limited it never lasts is a 100 percent sacrifice of the principle that would be tyrants find irresistible it is used vigorously though incrementally and insidiously granting power to government officials always proves the average the adage that power power corrupts once government once government gets a limited concession for the use of force to mold people's habits and plan the economy it causes a steady erosion and a steady move toward tyrannical government only a revolutionary spirit can reverse the process and deny the government this arbitrary use of aggression there is no in-between sacrificing a little little bit a little Liberty for Imaginary safety always ends badly today's mess is a result of Americans accepting option number 2 even though the founders attempted to give us option number 1 the results are not good as our liberties have been in roted our wealth has been consumed the wealth we see today is based on debt and a foolish willingness on the part of foreigners to take our dollars for goods and services then they loan them back to us to perpetuate our debt system it's amazing that it has worked for this long but the impasse in Washington in solving our problems indicate that many are starting to understand the seriousness of this worldwide debt crisis and the dangers we face the longer this process continues the harsher the outcome will be the financial crisis is actually a moral crisis many argue knowledge saying that a financial crisis looms but few understand it's in reality a moral crisis it's the moral crisis that has allowed our liberties to be undermined and permits the exponential growth of illegal government power without a clear understanding of the nature of the crisis it will be difficult to prevent a steady march toward tyranny and the poverty that will accompany that ultimately the people have to decide which form of government they want option number one or option number two there is no other choice claiming there is a choice of a little tyranny is like describing pregnancy as a touch of pregnancy it is a myth to believe that a mixture of free markets and government central economic planning is a worthy compromise what we see today as a result of that type of thinking and the results speak for themselves a culture of violence Americans now suffer from a culture of violence it is easy to reject the initiation of violence against one's neighbor but it's ironic that the people arbitrarily and freely anoint government officials with monopoly power to initiate violence against the American people practically at will because it's the government that initiates force most people accept it as being legitimate those who exert the force have no sense of guilt it is believed by many by too many the government's are morally justified in initiating violence supposedly to do good they incorrectly believe that this authority has come from the consent of the people the minority were victims of government violence never consented to suffer the abuse of government mandates even when dictated by the majority victims of TSA excesses never consented to this abuse this attitude has given us a policy of initiating war to do good as well it has claimed that war to prevent war for noble purposes is justified this is similar to what we were once told that quote destroying of his village to save a village close quote was justified it was said by a US Secretary of State that the loss of 500,000 Iraqis mostly children in the 1990s as a result of American bonds and sanctions was worth it to achieve the good we brought to the people of Iraq and look at the mess that Iraq is in today government used a force to mold social and economic behavior at home and abroad has justified individuals using force on their own terms the fact that violence by government is seen as morally justified is the reason why violence will increase when the big financial crisis hits and becomes a political crisis as well first we recognize that individuals should initiate violence then we give the authority to the government eventually the immoral use of government violence when things go badly will be used to justify an individual's right to do the same thing neither the government nor individuals have the moral right to initiate violence against another yet we are moving toward the day when both will claim this Authority if this cycle is not reversed society will break down when deeds are pressing and conditions deteriorate and rights become relative to the demands and the whims of the majority it's then that not as its then not a great leap for individuals to take it upon themselves to use violence to get what they claim is theirs as the economy deteriorates and the wealth of discrepancy increase as they already are occurring violence increases as those in need take it in their own hands to get what they believe is theirs they will not wait for a government rescue program when government officials wield power over others to bail out the special interests even with disastrous results to the average citizens they feel no guilt for the harm they do those who take us into undeclared wars with many casualties resolving never lose sleep over the deaths and the destruction their bad decisions cause they are convinced that what they do is morally justified in the fact that many suffered just can't be helped when the street criminals do the same thing they do have no remorse believing that they are only taking what is rightfully theirs all moral standards become relative whether it's bailouts privileges government subsidies or benefits for some from inflating a currency it's all part of a process justified by a philosophy of forced redistribution of wealth violence or a threat of such is the instrument required and unfortunately is a little concern of most members of Congress some argue it's only a matter of fairness that those in need are cared for there are two problems with this first the principle is used to provide a greater amount of benefits to the rich than to the poor second no one seems to be concerned about whether or not it's fair to those who end up paying for all the benefits the costs are usually placed on the backs of the middle class and are hidden from the public eye too many people believe government handouts are free like printing money out of thin air and there's no cost that deception is coming to an end the bills are coming too and that's what the economic slowdown is all about sadly we have become accustomed to living with the illegitimate use of force by government it is the tool for telling the people how to live what to eat and drink what to read and how to spend their money to develop a truly free society the issue of initiating force must be understood and rejected granting to government even a small amount of force is a dangerous concession limiting government excesses versus a virtuous moral people our constitution which was intended to limit government power and abuse has failed the founders warned that a free society depends on a virtuous and moral people the current crisis reflects that their concerns were justified many politicians and pundits are aware of the problems we face but spend all their time in trying to reform government the sad part is that the suggested reforms almost always leads to less freedom and the importance of a virtuous and moral people is either ignored or not understood the new reforms serve only to further undermine Liberty the compounding effect has given us the steady erosion of Liberty and a massive expansion of debt the real question is if it is Liberty we seek should most of the emphasis be placed on government reform or trying to understand what a virtuous and moral people means and how to promote it the Constitution has not prevented the people from demanding handouts for both rich and poor in their efforts to reform the government while ignoring the principles of a free society all branches of our government today are controlled by individuals who use their power to undermine Liberty and enhance the welfare warfare state and frequently their own wealth and power if the people are unhappy with the government performance it must be recognized that government is merely a reflection of an immoral society that rejected a moral government of constitutional limits it's on power and love of freedom if this is the problem all the tinkering with thousands of pages of new laws and regulations will do nothing to solve the problem itself evidence and our freedoms have been severely limited in the apparent prosperity we still have is nothing more than leftover wealth from a previous time this fictitious wealth based on debt and benefits from a false trust in our currency and credit will play havoc with our society when the bills come due this means that the full consequence of our lost liberties is yet to be felt but that illusion is now ending reversing a downward spiral depends on accepting a new approach expect the rapidly expanding homeschooling movement to play a significant role in the revolutionary reforms needed to rebuild a free society with constitutional protections we cannot expect a federal government controlled school system provide the intellectual ammunition to combat the dangerous growth of government that threatens our liberties the internet will provide the alternative to the government media complex that controls the news and most political propaganda this is why it's essential that the internet remains free of government regulation many of our religious institutions and secular organizations support greater dependency on the state by supporting war welfare and corporatism and ignore the need for a virtuous people I never believed that the world or our country could be made more free by politicians if the people had no desire for freedom under the current circumstances the most we can hope to achieve in the political process is to use it as a podium to reach the people to alert them of the nature of the crisis in the importance of their need to assume responsibility for themselves if it is Liberty that they truly seek without this a constitutionally protected free society is impossible if this is true our individual goal in life ought to be for us to seek virtue and excellence and recognize that self-esteem and happiness only comes from using one's natural in the most productive manner possible according to one's own talents own talents productivity and creativity are the true source of personal satisfaction freedom and not dependency provides the environment needed to achieve these goals government cannot do this for us it only gets in the way when the government gets involved the goal becomes a bailout or a subsidy and these cannot provide a sense of personal achievement achieving legislative power and political influence should not be our goal most of the change if it is to come will come will not come from the politicians but rather from individuals family friends intellectual leaders and our religious institutions the solution can only come from rejecting the use of coercion compulsion government commands an aggressive force to mold social and economic behavior without accepting these restraints inevitably the consensus will be to allow the government to mandate economic equality and obedience to the politicians who gain power and promote an environment that smothers the freedoms of everyone it is then that the responsible individuals who seek excellence and self-esteem by being self-reliant and productive become the victims in conclusion what are the greatest dangers that the American people face today that impede the goal of a free society there are five the continuous attack on our civil liberties which threaten the rule of law and our ability to resist the onrush of tyranny number two violent anti Americanism that has engulfed the world because the phenomenon of blowback is not understood or denied our foreign policy is destined to keep us involved in many wars that we have no business being in national bankruptcy and a greater threat to our national security will result number three the ease in which we go to war without a declaration by Congress but accepting international authority from the UN or NATO even from for pre-emptive Wars otherwise known as aggression a financial political Isis as a constant number for a financial political crisis as a consequence of excessive debt unfunded liabilities spending bailouts and gross discrepancy and wealth distribution going from the middle class to the rich the danger of century economic planning by the Federal Reserve must be understood world government taking over local and US sovereignty by getting involved in the issues of war welfare trade banking a world currency taxes property ownership and private ownership of guns must be addressed happily there's an answer for these very dangerous trends what a wonderful world it would be if everyone accepted the simple moral premise of rejecting all acts of aggression the retort to such a suggestion as always it's too simplistic too idealistic impractical naive utopian dangerous and unrealistic to strive for such an ideal the answer to that is after thousands of years the acceptance of government force to rule over the people at the sacrifice of liberty was considered moral and the only available option for achieving peace and prosperity what could be more utopian than that meant considering the results especially looking at the state sponsored killing by nearly every government during the 20th century estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of people it's time to reconsider this grant of authority to the state no good has ever come from granting monopoly power to the state to use aggression against the people to arbitrarily mold human behavior such power when left unchecked becomes the seed of an ugly tyranny this met this method of governance has been adequately tested and the results are in the reality dictates we try Liberty the idealism of non-aggression and rejecting the offensive use of force should be tried the idealism of government-sanctioned violence has been abused throughout history and is the primary source of poverty and war the theory of a society being based on individual freedom has been around for a long time it's time to take a bold step and actually permit it by advancing this cause rather than taking a step backwards as some would like us do today today the principal's habeas corpus established when King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215 is under attack in our own government there's every reason to believe that a renewed effort with the use of the Internet that we can instead advance the cause of Liberty by spreading an uncensored message that will serve to rein in government authority and challenge the obsession with war and welfare what I'm talking about is a system of government guided by the moral principles of peace and tolerance the founders were convinced that a free society could not exist without immoral people just writing rules won't work if the people choose to ignore them today the rule of law written in the Constitution has little meaning for most Americans especially those who work in Washington DC Benjamin Franklin claimed quote only a virtuous people are capable of freedom John Adams concerned quote our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people it is wholly inadequate for the government of any other a moral people must reject all violence in an effort to mould people's beliefs or habits a society that booze or ridicules the Golden Rule is not a moral Society all great religions endorse the golden rule the same moral standards that individuals are required to follow should apply to all government officials they cannot be exempt the ultimate solution is not in the hands of the government the solution falls on each and every individuals with guidance and family friends and community the number one responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves with hope that others will follow this is of greater importance than the working on changing the government that is secondary to promoting a virtuous Society if we can achieve this then the government will change it doesn't mean that political action or holding office has no value at times it does not see in the right direction but what is true is that when seeking office is done for personal aggrandizement money or power it becomes useless if not harmful when political action is taken for the right reasons it's easy to understand why compromise should be avoided it's also become clear why progress is best achieved by working with coalition's which bring people together without anyone sacrificing his principles political action to be truly beneficial must be directed toward changing the hearts and minds of the people recognizing that it's virtue and morality of the people that allow Liberty to flourish the Constitution or more laws per se have no value in if the people's attitudes aren't changed to achieve liberty and peace too powerful human emotions have to be overcome number one is envy which leads to hate and class warfare number two is intolerance which leads to bigoted and judgmental policies these emotions must be replaced with a much better understanding of love compassion tolerance and free market economics freedom when understood brings people together when tried freedom is popular the problem we have faced over the years has been that economic interventionist are swayed by envy where a social interventionists are swayed by intolerance or have habits and lifestyles the misunderstanding that tolerance is an endorsement of certain activity motivates many to legislate moral standards which shouldn't only be set by individuals making their own choices both sides use force to deal with these misplaced emotions both are authoritarians neither endorses volunteerism both views ought to be rejected I have come to one firm conviction after these many years of trying to figure out the plain truth of things the best chance for achieving peace and prosperity for the maximum number of people worldwide is to pursue pursue the cause of Liberty if you find this to be a worthwhile message spread it throughout the land and I yield back the balance of my time back [Applause]

Channel: CongressmanRonPaul

Views: 1,030,839

Rating: 4.9319706 out of 5

Keywords: Farewell, Speech

Id: q03cWio-zjk

Length: 48min 46sec (2926 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 14 2012

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

The first politician I could ever really believe in, and the first one that made me vote. Thank you Ron Paul.

[u/BOLDTHUMB]

Paul's 'five dangers to a free society':

1) attack on civil liberties threatening the rule of law and ability to resist tyranny

2) violent anti-Americanism around the world due to U.S. foreign policy threaten national and bankruptcy security

3) aggressive, preemptive, illegal wars

4) financial political crisis due to excessive debt, unfunded liabilities, spending, bailouts, discrepancies in wealth distribution, central economic planning (FED)

5) world government taking over sovereignty

[u/[deleted]]

A true American. Thank you Congressman Paul for your years of Dedication and Service.

[u/shortbusoneohone]

I watched this live on C-Span. It's hard to watch a man hang up his hat after sparking a brilliant revolution/movement that will be echoed throughout the lives of an entire generation, damn, has he earned it or what?

Quite frankly, I don't think anyone has ever impacted me through such selfless and altruistic actions as Dr. Paul has. His action will go down in the history books, because everything he has predicted (as he has in the past), will come to pass.

Thanks for your contribution to liberty, Dr. Paul.

[u/WorkingADEEEEM]

I've always thought that his slight "government apologist" edge was a necessity of being realistic. To actually have any effect in his political career he had to somewhat blanket over his true beliefs, those which we've finally seen in this final speach, in order to pursue an agenda that actually had a chance at restraining government. To return the abortion issue to being only a state matter, for example, is a step that he could have actually had an affect on by taking the "its a state issue" stance. If he'd come out and said its not an issue for government whatsoever, he would have likely been dismissed.

This speech is much more closely aligned with the fundamentals of voluntarism and peaceful market anarchy than many of his prior speaches and writings. My hypothesis is that he has not changed his views, but merely practiced incredible restraint for almost fourty years in order to maximize his effectiveness without ever actually compromising his ideals. This method, to me, is beyond incredible and is a true testimate to his strength as a tactical champion of freedom and anti-statism.

[u/darkviper039]

I admit, i teared up watching this but this man opened my eyes and has changed my life

Thank You Dr. Paul, I wish you well in retirement, you've earned it sir

[u/[deleted]]

I respect this man very much.

[u/arc309]

As an atheist, I truly hope I am wrong, so that Ron Paul can someday meet our founding fathers in heaven and get the appreciation he truly deserves.

[u/[deleted]]

I think he just called go-time.