The Revolution: A Manifesto

I am slowly reading through Ron Paul’s great New York Time’s best-seller: The Revolution: A Manifesto. The first two chapters argue persuasively about the deep flaws of American policy both at home and abroad. The American government has in many ways undermined the dreams of our Founding Fathers. Instead, they have opted for a policy of greed and disrespect for our traditions. The Jeffersonian foreign policy of peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations is nothing more than a dead bumper sticker. But Paul is not about to abandon the principles of the American Republic. In the Manifesto, he calls Republicans and Democrats to return to a more sane foreign policy; a policy that does not threaten our existence and that properly allows other nations to handle their own problems. It is a well-known fact that American intervention has hindered certain nations to proceed as they think best. Rather, American interventionism over the last century has led to the phenomenon called “blowback.” Blowback is the necessary consequence of an unrestrained government which thinks it is always able to intervene in the affairs of other nations. As a result, these nations (especially Middle Eastern nations) easily–through charismatic leaders–galvanize a loyal group of supporters who will do anything to rid their own country of American presence. As Paul writes: The terrorists, in short, have played us like a fiddle. With the unnecessary and unprovoked attack on Iraq, our government gave them just what they wanted.” Preemptive wars against nations who never attacked us is an political and strategic blunder. The Manifesto calls us to re-consider our ways.