Ron Paul advocates for choice to drink raw milk

[PaleoPhil]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-EaOqA9akc&feature=feedlik
Interestingly, Ron Paul mentioned raw milk among other things he thinks people should be able to choose.

I don't drink raw milk myself, but I support people's right to do so.

[PaleoPhil]

Well, what do you know, Dr. Paul even introduced a bill to legalize interstate shipping of raw milk:

http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1864:statement-introducing-unpasteurized-milk-bill-hr-1830&catid=16:speeches

[klowcarb]

I voted for Ron Paul, so Obama is not my fault 

[PaleoPhil]

Eh, I'll blame you anyway.

[Projectile Vomit]

I voted for Barr & Root, so Obama's not my fault either.  But Obama's better than McCain & Palin (who didn't stand a chance in hell of winning anyway).

I'd vote for Ron Paul if I saw his name on the ballot.

[Brad462]

First of all I would love to see him get elected, but America is a fascist country and I am not sure that would change one bit on the off chance he gets elected. He would just end up like JFK. Most likely we will see 4 more years of hope and change  .

[Brad462]

I voted for Ron Paul, so Obama is not my fault 

Obama is every Americans fault. We need to run that prick out with torches and pitchforks. 

[CHK91]

I, for one, would vote for the Rhinoceros Party if it ever came to the United States.

[Projectile Vomit]

Obama is every Americans fault. We need to run that prick out with torches and pitchforks. 

Just like Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy and all the rest were Americans' fault.  We needed to run all these pricks out with torches and pitchforks, but we didn't, so here we are.

[Brad462]

No kidding, brother.

[CHK91]

Honestly, I hate the public more than the individual politicians themselves because it is the public who votes in these assholes every year. A retarded public will yield retarded leaders which perpetuate the existence of a retarded public and so on...

[TylerDurden]

“Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.”

 Oscar Wilde

“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

 Winston Churchill

“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”

 Thomas Jefferson
   
“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

 Winston Churchill quotes (British Orator, Author and Prime Minister during World War II. 1874-1965)

“In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.”
 Aristotle quotes (Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scientist and Physician, 384 BC-322 BC)

            
“Democracy... while it lasts is more bloody than either [aristocracy or monarchy]. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”John Adams

“People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing.” Walter H. Judd

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”Thomas Jefferson

“Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.”

 George Bernard Shaw

“Remember one thing about democracy. We can have anything we want and at the same time, we always end up with exactly what we deserve.”

 Edward Albee

“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.”

 John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“A democracy is a government in the hands of men of low birth, no property, and vulgar employment”

 Aristotle

“Democracy consists of choosing your dictators after they've told you what you think it is you want to hear”

 Alan Coren

“Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least.”

 Robert Byrne

“Democracy is the road to socialism.”

 Karl Marx

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." Alexander Tytler.

*As for me, I'm more in favour of enlightened despots like the King of Bhutan, but the current ruler is an idiot who wants democracy, despite the wishes of his people.

[PaleoPhil]

Politicians in general will always be liars and mediocre to lousy, that's the nature of the job. What we need is a society that is robust to lousy politicians (see Nassim Taleb for ideas--his next book, called Antifragility, coming out in about 5 years will have many ideas on this), a robust or even antifragile society that thrives even with idjits running it, because the leaders will always be idjits (with rare exceptions I suppose, but even Washington and Lincoln, the two US presidents who tend to be voted "best" by the "experts" as well as the populace, have their critics). The most robust societies are able to run fine without any politicians or dictators (such as decentralized hunter-gatherer semi-nomadic band societies).

One of the biggest problems with democracy is that the people want the benefits of programs but don't want to pay for them, so the costs end up getting deferred to the next generation until the gov't deficit becomes so huge that the gov't defaults and/or the currency collapses. It's basically a Ponzi scheme driven by the voters and abetted by the politicians who lie to them and tell them not to worry.

[TylerDurden]

The beauty of a monarchy is that short-term greed is (sometimes) largely prevented if the power is concentrated in one individual, with a weak Parliament offsetting a ruler who is too dictatorial. For example, Prince Charles has been far more in tune with his population's real needs in a number of areas(rural ones, among others) than any of his politicians. This is because he has been trained for a lifelong role rather than getting power only for a few years and then grabbing as much cash in the meantime from lobbyists as possible. The fact that he is already wealthy makes a big difference, too.

Good examples are Maria Theresia and Peter the Great, bad examples include the more inbred Habsburgs, of course. I believe the Japanese have a healthier law forcing the Emperor to marry only non-aristocrats?

[PaleoPhil]

If you like what the monarch is doing, it's great. If you don't, it's worse than politicians, because a monarch may last for a long time and if he's/she's powerful then there's little you can do about it. Monarchs and chieftains work better when a population is small, because then if he's real bad you only need a handful of guys or less to kill him.

[TylerDurden]

If you like what the monarch is doing, it's great. If you don't, it's worse than politicians, because a monarch may last for a long time and if he's/she's powerful then there's little you can do about it. Monarchs and chieftains work better when a population is small, because then if he's real bad you only need a handful of guys or less to kill him.

The point is that a king in the old days could not rule alone. He needed to have a court with a Chancellor etc. etc. Some monarchies even had Parliaments of varying strength. There have been many cases were the King was a fool or a weakling but had a strong asistant in the form of a Chancellor or General or whatever who did the real ruling, and other cases  with a strong king but  less effective assistants who had no real power.

Also, a democracy can't easily be removed, either. There are so many permanent  2 party democracies where the politicians in the 2 largest Parties are guaranteed huge numbers of votes from the masses so are always guaranteed a time in power, one after the other. These systems have been going on for decades in many countries.

The main thing is that a King can be trained from birth to his role, thus making corruption etc. far less likely. Also, in a way, a King is actually more vulnerable to regime change. After all, a democracy can go on forever even if the leading politician in the government is assassinated as rulership is not confined to one person, the death of 1 authoritarian King, however, is more likely to lead to regime-change.