My review: The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was interesting. I consider myself to be a bit left of center politically, but there are certain aspects of libertarianism that appeal to me. Ron Paul (who I was surprised to learn was a practicing OB/GYN prior to entering politics) makes several very good arguments, and it is hard to disagree with him.
He bases many of his opinions on a literal interpretation of the constitution. This is fine, because we were fortunate in this country in late 1700’s to have several very wise men concentrated at the same place and the same time. Paul makes the argument that our constitutional system of checks and balances has been corrupted over the years. One example of this would be the growing power of the President and the executive branch of government.
Another premise that he espouses is that the federal government should have a very limited role in what we do. He advocates for a greatly reduced bureaucracy and increased ability for state and local governments to pass laws relevant to the desires of the local residents. The best example that he cites is the department of education, which he sees as a totally ineffective, unconstitutional and expensive institution. He then takes the extra step to say that by advocating the dissolution of this agency, it does not mean that he is anti-education.
Another example of over-reaching government is the ever growing and increasingly punitive drug enforcement laws. We spend a lot of time and money waging a war on drugs, but we do not see significant declines in drug use, and we have one of the highest prison populations in the world, mostly people charged with drug related offenses.
Something that I really agree with him on is a need to decrease our military presence around the world. We should not have to be, and other countries would rather us not be, the world police. We need to focus our strength and resources on the welfare and safety of our own people. It is perhaps ironic that our meddling in the affairs of other countries actually decreases our safety.
This book is very thoughtful, and well written. It is a good introduction to Libertarianism (Though Ron Paul recently ran as a Republican Presidential candidate) I have to think about it more to decide how much I agree with him.
(**This post was cross-posted on my political opinion blog The Way I See It.. And on my Goodreads.com account. View all my Good Reads reviews.)
