Destaque

Ron Paul’s new book: A Foreign Policy of Freedom: ‘Peace, Commerce, Honest Friendship’

Foreword de Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr..

"(...)What strikes me as ridiculous is the right-wing view that government is incompetent and dangerous domestically – at least in economic and social affairs – but has some sort of Midas Touch internationally such that it can bring freedom, democracy, and justice to any land its troops deign to invade. Not that the right wing is principled enough to pursue its domestic views, but I'm speaking here of its campaign rhetoric and higher-level of critique of government that you find in their periodicals and books. The precise critique of government that they offer for the welfare state and regulatory measures – they are expensive, counterproductive, hobble human energies – applies many times over to international interventions. (...)

The freedom to trade internationally is an essential principle. It means that consumers should not be penalized for buying from anyone, or selling to anyone, regardless of the residence. Nor should domestic suppliers be granted anything like a monopoly or subsidized treatment. Nor should trade be used as a weapon in the form of sanctions. Ron Paul has upheld these principles as well, which makes him an old-fashioned liberal in the manner of Cobden and Bright and the American Southern tradition. He has also rejected the mistake of many free traders who believe that a military arm is necessary to back the invisible hand of the marketplace. For Ron Paul, freedom is all of a piece.(...)"