Thread: Ron Paul on Imus and whats really going on

Government and Racism

April 16, 2007

The controversy surrounding remarks by talk show host Don Imus shows that the nation remains incredibly sensitive about matters of race, despite the outward progress of the last 40 years. A nation that once prided itself on a sense of rugged individualism has become uncomfortably obsessed with racial group identities.
The young women on the basketball team Mr. Imus insulted are over 18 and can speak for themselves. It’s disconcerting to see third parties become involved and presume to speak collectively for minority groups. It is precisely this collectivist mindset that is at the heart of racism.
It’s also disconcerting to hear the subtle or not-so-subtle threats against free speech. Since the FCC regulates airwaves and grants broadcast licenses, we’re told it’s proper for government to forbid certain kinds of insulting or offensive speech in the name of racial and social tolerance. Never mind the 1st Amendment, which states unequivocally that, “Congress shall make NO law.”

Let’s be perfectly clear: the federal government has no business regulating speech in any way. Furthermore, government as an institution is particularly ill suited to combating bigotry in our society. Bigotry at its essence is a sin of the heart, and we can’t change people’s hearts by passing more laws and regulations.
In fact it is the federal government more than anything else that divides us along race, class, religion, and gender lines. Government, through its taxes, restrictive regulations, corporate subsidies, racial set-asides, and welfare programs, plays far too large a role in determining who succeeds and who fails in our society. This government "benevolence" crowds out genuine goodwill between men by institutionalizing group thinking, thus making each group suspicious that others are receiving more of the government loot. This leads to resentment and hostility between us.

The political left argues that stringent federal laws are needed to combat racism, even as they advocate incredibly divisive collectivist policies.
Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans strictly as members of groups rather than individuals. Racists believe that all individuals who share superficial physical characteristics are alike: as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called "diversity" actually perpetuate racism. Their obsession with racial group identity is inherently racist.
The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity.

More importantly, in a free society every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality. This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Rather than looking to government to correct our sins, we should understand that racism will endure until we stop thinking in terms of groups and begin thinking in terms of individual liberty

Racism and Government

Comment: yep we are seeing thought control

Well I thought some one would like this but it was probably posted prior to this.

It's pretty tough to debunk Ron Paul speeches, Robo.

More conspiracies. Imus was fired for making a sexually and racially charged comment on the air. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson then used it to create a media stir that they used to further their own agenda. Thats the whole thing right there. If the FCC fired IMus, then there would be a thought control issue. Since it was the media and anyone with half a brain knows that sensationalist media outlets feed on this stuff for ratings, it's not thought control, it's bad media.

Originally Posted by sid2112

More conspiracies. Imus was fired for making a sexually and racially charged comment on the air. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson then used it to create a media stir that they used to further their own agenda. Thats the whole thing right there. If the FCC fired IMus, then there would be a thought control issue. Since it was the media and anyone with half a brain knows that sensationalist media outlets feed on this stuff for ratings, it's not thought control, it's bad media.

There's no "conspiracy theory" here, if that's what you mean.

The title to the thread is....

Government and Racism

The government didn't fire Imus, CBS did. The government is not responsible for Imus, Sharpton, and Jackson opening thier big mouths. Thought Control? What thought control? If there was thought control I wouldn't be against the Iraq war, I wouldn't disagree with the president's immigration policy. Thought Control is a conspiracy theory, nothing more in my opinion.

Before you get upset, I respect your views and wouldn't have you change them except through honest debate.

Originally Posted by sid2112

The title to the thread is....

Government and Racism

The government didn't fire Imus, CBS did. The government is not responsible for Imus, Sharpton, and Jackson opening thier big mouths. Thought Control? What thought control? If there was thought control I wouldn't be against the Iraq war, I wouldn't disagree with the president's immigration policy. Thought Control is a conspiracy theory, nothing more in my opinion.

Before you get upset, I respect your views and wouldn't have you change them except through honest debate.

Re-read what's being said.

Originally Posted by Feslin

Re-read what's being said.

I did read it, the meat of the essay is sound philosophy and I agree with it. The headlines are want makes me itchy. They are designed to reinforce the notion that government is somehow controlling all this. I'll refer you to the comment at the bottom of the post. The top of the post further reinforces the argument that the government is interested in using technique and outlets like the media to perpetuate some sort of 'common mindset' to the average American. This is a trick used by the media on both sides to institute an overall 'thrust' of an article before it's even read.

Originally Posted by sid2112

I did read it, the meat of the essay is sound philosophy and I agree with it. The headlines are want makes me itchy. They are designed to reinforce the notion that government is somehow controlling all this. I'll refer you to the comment at the bottom of the post. The top of the post further reinforces the argument that the government is interested in using technique and outlets like the media to perpetuate some sort of 'common mindset' to the average American. This is a trick used by the media on both sides to institute an overall 'thrust' of an article before it's even read.

The title could refer to many things, and the comment at the bottom is Robodoon's own doing.

Ron Paul is far too intelligent to say such things.

Now, the government is causing more racism than would otherwise exist by even considering laws regarding race.

Damn, I hate it when I get caught covering up a perfectly good lie. I didn't read the article, I just saw the top and assumed something else.