Ron Paul’s book The Revolution: A Manifesto is truly one of those rare books that cuts through all the noise one is likely to see on any mainstream news channel. It’s easy to be confused with politics when so many opinionated news hosts ardently defending their view on a topic and following it up with straw-man arguments, personal insults at the opposition, or just plain errors in logic.
Ron Paul’s book is ambitious in that it seeks to do several complicated things, one is to identify the issues that are most pressing to our nation and society as a whole, and second to give credible solutions to those problems, and finally to inspire the reader to take action and join the intellectual revolution that is taking place. It is the final objective that makes the book truly a manifesto that should be read by anybody who either follows Ron Paul or has found some of his policies interesting.
One chapter each is devoted to substantial topics like: foreign policy, civil liberties, the Constitution, economics, and monetary policy. The astounding thing is that Dr. Paul’s philosophy which is anchored on liberty is used as the main weapon is dismantling all the common arguments used by either Democrats or Republicans. It’s remarkable how consistent Dr. Paul truly is in applying the principle of freedom to both civil and economic issues. It’s no wonder that according Dr. Paul “freedom is popular” and his campaign has been successful in attracting Democrats and Republicans to his camp. My favourite part would have to be at the beginning of chapter 5 when Dr. Paul draws on the work of Frederic Bastiat in which he describes the government as one big distribution center which special interests are trying to loot. Dr. Paul forces us to look at the “forgotten man” that has had his wealth stolen in order to give to somebody else, but that man is not talked about in today’s debates.
It is by using his principles consistently to every issue and by giving solutions that promote freedom, that Ron Paul’s book becomes a wrecking ball to the establishment that is very effective. He also devotes a wonderful chapter in the defence of the Constitution and how the founding father hoped that by following the Constitution that the government would be kept in check and liberty could be preserved. Dr. Paul makes a reference on how he has the most single no votes of the entire members of Congress combined, the implication is clear, follow the Constitution to the letter and most of the problems facing Americans would wash away.
This book has personally led me to change some of my views. I am now more in favour of a pro-life stance. This book also peaked my interest in the Federal Reserve as the most likely culprit of our boom-bust business cycle, as well the possibility of having a hard currency based on a metal like gold or silver. This is pretty significant since I was born in the year 1985 which means I have lived in a society dominated by paper money. And this is the most fundamental thing about Dr. Paul, this book, and the revolution in general. It changes minds.
One of the neat little things about this book is that there is a reading list at the end for anybody that is interested in exploring the themes of liberty further or perhaps understand how Dr. Paul has come to his beliefs. Myself personally I have come to see the Ludwig Von Mises institute as a deep reservoir of knowledge with the power to truly change the world for the better.
Whether you are a Democrat or Republican and have agreed to at least some of Dr. Paul policies I seriously hope you will consider reading this book. I can personally say it changed my life very deeply and has given me an effective framework that helps me cut through most of the divisive arguments put forth by pundits and so called political analysts today.
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