Ron Paul in statistical tie for first in Iowa

For those who want to know more about Paul's positions and consistency through the decades, "Pillars of Prosperity" is also a good read. (TOC, hard copy, PDF) It is a collection of his speeches to the House dating back to the 1970s.

You'll see his advice and admonishments to his "peers." And you'll be able to compare them with the events that have since transpired, here and abroad.
 


but if you did some more research into his positions, by say reading a book like the Revolution Manifesto or Liberty Defined, I think you might see those policies much differently.

I'll keep those books in mind. Not only do we need to challenge our fears but we need to constantly challenge our own political and economic philosophies. Rarely does someone challenge their own philosophy by reading literature from the opposing philosophy. And if they did, it's nearly impossible to read it without feeling the mental investment that they already have in their preferred philosophy.

Also, each book is pure propaganda with an author trying to justify their position using logical arguments. But from what I've seen, in complex systems (economics, political), logic can be used to justify any position because it's nearly impossible to come up with valid logical arguments to support one philosophy or another because there are always too many often false assumptions.

Anyway, not saying that people shouldn't read because of this.. but just that they should not accept the literature they read as truth as easy as we do. Reading is one-way communication, just like political radio, and is extremely persuasive.

I'd honestly prefer an experimental approach to finding out what economic and political philosophies are best - we don't do enough of this. But obviously the biggest prob with this is the lack of control consistency. Another prob is obviously a lack of time, which itself is a variable. But it'd be great to split-test philosophies.
 
What particular policies of his are you afraid of?

- Gold backed currency. Don't want to get into a big argument about it but check out Bill Still's documentary "The Secret of Oz" on torrents for information I'm guessing is most true about gold backed currency.

- I think a properly ran government can be very useful in some things that the market is not able to do. The EPA is a good example. Not sure of all RP's position on which gov institutions he'd like to eliminate but I'm guessing I'd disagree with some of them.

I know most of you prob don't agree with me and I don't really want to get into it because it can take a lot of time. I'm only as good as the information I've accumulated throughout the years and my decisions on that info. I could definitely be wrong. And I definitely lack all information on the subjects - but so do you. I doubt anyone here is an actual economist or politician - not that they have all the info either.
 
But from what I've seen, in complex systems (economics, political), logic can be used to justify any position because it's nearly impossible to come up with valid logical arguments to support one philosophy or another because there are always too many often false assumptions.

I have no idea how familiar you are with the use of different systems of logic. Here's a good read in the context of economics:

Austrian Method, Praxeology I

I won't be offended if you dismiss it as mere propaganda as opposed to logically disproving the points therein. This is, after all, forum life. :)
 
I know most of you prob don't agree with me and I don't really want to get into it because it can take a lot of time. I'm only as good as the information I've accumulated throughout the years and my decisions on that info. I could definitely be wrong. And I definitely lack all information on the subjects - but so do you. I doubt anyone here is an actual economist or politician - not that they have all the info either.
Politicians are a lot dumber than us.

I'd like to think I am a lay economist.

I appreciate your intellectual honesty, it's refreshing on this particular forum.

About Bill Still, I'd just say, be wary of any information you get from the patriot movement about money and government. There is a ton of disinfo out there. Also, Ron Paul is for a free market in money not necessarily a gold standard.
 
Its laughable how the media treats him.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvrMTrhkAxM&"]Ron Paul on Meet the Press 12/12/11 - YouTube[/ame]
 
Hence why I can't help but not care about politics. As tinfoil hat as it sounds, I can't help but feel like whoever "they" want to win, will win, regardless of how anyone votes.

"They", of course, being The Illuminati.

NEWT

14 + 5 + 23 + 20 = 62

6 x 2 = 12

2012

We're fucked.

Politicians having been cheating in elections for a long time. Democrats bus in illegal immigrants from other districts and register them as dead people to vote and Republicans get hackers to fuck with the machines. So my thought is that if RP gets the nomination, we'd all better go join the election commission, because it's going to get fucking ugly.
 
As weed is currently in a under-supplied market, legalisation will drive a much higher increase in supply than demand thus lowering the price.

supplyanddemand2.GIF


On the topic of Ron Paul I'm pretty sure the point of democracy is to vote for the candidate who can best serve the public, not a betting game of "who's going to win" so you can stroke your ego.

A noble and admirable attitude. Unfortunately, the power-players who game both the elections and the voting system don't care who can serve the public - they only care about their own power games. How to stop them from taking over (even more)?
 
Spent most the day in my car, decided to listen to talk radio and wow, Hannity and everyone else was rehashing the american spectator articles against him as if they were all brand new, rehashing that newsletter drama as if it were a brand new thing that was never discovered.

They had Mitt and Newt on the radio, slobbered all over them for an hour each, then spent the next 4 hours bashing Ron Paul. Jeff Lord even called his supporters and Libertarians anti Jew. I guess anti Semitic is going to be the right wings race card.

Jeff Lord's spin was so blatantly obvious that honestly, Hannity should have been offended, but he took it hook, line, and sinker. Jeff Lord even talked about how Ron Paul was anti-Reagan, asking how anyone could take him seriously when he was against the republicans best president in recent history, totally dismissing that Ron Paul went against Ronald Reagan after that whole anti-constitutional/illegal Iran/Contra thing.

They have to be taking him seriously to stoop to the misinformation campaign they are running now, they are definitely not underestimating him because of his wardrobe.
 
Don't take this as me being condescending, but if you did some more research into his positions, by say reading a book like the Revolution Manifesto or Liberty Defined, I think you might see those policies much differently.

I saw a RP interview recently where he suggested a book called The Law. As soon as I finish A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, it will be next on my list!

The Law
 
I saw a RP interview recently where he suggested a book called The Law. As soon as I finish A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, it will be next on my list!
Free versions available here.
The Law - Frederic Bastiat - Mises Institute

Frederic Bastiat was a brilliant economist and political scientist. The Law is very easy to understand, and it is not very long. The arguments are compelling.

I think you will really like it.
 
There is a very good chance he'll win in Iowa since it's a caucus state, in 2008 his supporters were able to game the Nevada system and get him a victory through some simple rule changes by his delegates. But he can probably win even without any delegate chess based on the simple fact that Ron Paul's supporters are usually under-sampled in phone polls.
 
I saw a RP interview recently where he suggested a book called The Law. As soon as I finish A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, it will be next on my list!

The Law

I'm curious about that too as I hadn't heard of it until recently. Justin Amash (31 year old US Rep. from Michigan who was endorsed by RP in his 2010 election) posts quotes from it on his facebook page all the time.
 
Ron Paul is going to be on Jay Leno on Friday!!!!
http://www.thestatecolumn.com/texas/ron-paul-is-headed-to-the-tonight-show-with-jay-leno/

Last time around RP's campaign manager said he had no intentions of getting Ron Paul on that show. Which IMO was a big mistake considering how many millions of old people watch it and how he needs to start targeting the older crowds in order to poll better. Instead mike huckabee we went on and got an instant 3% bump in the polls from it.
 
If Ron Paul wins the nomination I will take back everything I've ever preached to people about the democracy being a scam and elites having complete control over the political system.

Those poll numbers give me so much hope, but I don't want to get sucked into the scam.

Newt is in the show to make Romney's eventual victory seem less one-sided, Romney/Perry will be the actual ticket and will lose to the Democrats.

No one really wants to win this election because the economy will be so horrible that its better to just keep making profits off the war machine and let the other party take the blame for the deplorable state of the union.
 
As I asked guerilla, please explain. Can any random person grow and smoke their own pot in California? Obviously not, which is why everybody flocks to dispensaries.

But you can brew your own beer or distill your own vodka.

Small changes can rock the system but the commercial demand will never leave as most people don't DIY. Those that do (plenty) would have their demand removed alltogether from the market place, and potentially the demand of their closest relatives/friends as overproduction is easy.

For that reason, I don't think it's wise to make any predictions about what the market for herb will be like after legalization other than saying that the market will exist for commercial, local grown and homegrown buyers and sellers. It would produce ample tax revenue regardless.

nidaDOTnihDOTgovSLASHinfofactsSLASHmarijuanaDOThtml said:
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2009, 16.7 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed

That's saying very conservatively (gov't survey) 5% of Americans are pretty much daily consumers. That my friend is a massive market!!
 
Explanation? Not to sound like a jackass, but there's really nothing I can take from that statement.
When something is illegal, there are additional costs beyond the cost of, or preference for, production.

Risk premium, chance of jail time, legal fees, black market premiums etc.

To argue that these costs don't raise the price more than their absence is an economics fail.