Zombie Lenin

There has been a welcomed new force on the Left speaking out against the misconceptions and ill-placed support many have put on Ron Paul. I think one element is not stressed enough, especially since the claim is even given credence from journalists like Glenn Greenwald and the ACLU, the idea that Ron Paul is the ‘civil liberties’ candidate. It is not simply false in the cases that many accept, but find less important than his opposition to the wars; women’s rights, gay rights, workers’ rights, civil rights, immigrant rights, etc. But Ron Paul is the candidate of total tyranny and thus the candidate for the total loss of civil liberties for those ruled under this tyranny. 

This is the myth of libertarian civil liberties. The tyranny supported by “libertarians” (the perverse definition used in the United States) is the owner of property over those without. Remove the laws that restrict owners and ensure public spheres dissolves the ability for non-owners to express their liberties, and then do they truly have them?

Serfs, slaves and workers have long fought harsh battles to win gains against the tyranny of their owners and landlords and in today’s republics this is enforced by the central government. Ron Paul and “libertarians” want to dissolve all of these protections against tyranny and hand the power over to those unelected bastions of freedom, the capitalists.

Ron Paul has made clear his total adherence to these ideals. When asked about federal laws protecting against sexual harassment he argued that if one is made uncomfortable by sexual harassment it is up to the individual to switch jobs.

With real unemployment in the teens (and far higher for minorities) this is hardly an option favorable to the working class. This forces men and women to accept the conditions of their workplace no matter how insulting and demeaning and perverse. If you are lucky enough to even get a job under Ron Paul when people will have the freedom to hire and fire based on anything they dislike about you. 

If the tyrant abuses you, move to a new tyrant, for you are free!