Study Our History
columnist: Gary Wood

Topic: Ron Paul
Paul Campaign Awakening Understanding

Whether you support Ron Paul, abhor him, or just plain don't know yet the one key victory of the Ron Paul rEVOLution so far is an awakening when it comes to the need to really study the history of the United States as well as the world. This isn't the history most students receive in public schooling, or even in private schooling. It's also not the history dominated by two-party politics and big Federal government programs. It is a history much deeper than our world since World War II or even since the dawning of the 20^th century.

Prior to the current campaign for President there were a lot of people who felt they understood the history of politics in the U.S. The knowledge was based largely on what was studied most in school and what life experience had taught. Among those relying on life experience there was a large number who had just become apathetic to the entire political process due to feeling politics was mostly a bad experience but that is a topic for another discussion.

Some of us attending school in the 1960s and 70s remember political history being a rather boring subject that moved quite rapidly from Aristotle through Ancient Greece to the American Revolution. After a fairly lengthy visit from 1776 to 1787 we were propelled into the Civil War era through Lincoln's assassination. Suddenly we were time-warped into the Industrial Revolution, WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, and then we slowed down long enough to look at modern times. Most schools did not get too in-depth into American Government until students reached the junior or, more likely, senior years in high school. By this time most tuned out history in favor of other pursuits. Along the way a small percentage of us were lucky enough to have a history teacher that brought the subject to life and created a desire to learn more rather than less.

For me it was my 7^th & 8^th Grade teacher, Mrs. Ross. She really emphasized the importance of studying the theories, events, and people shaping the world today. By truly grasping a long view of history modern times were much easier to understand. When we fail to fully understand history over time we skew our own beliefs of today. There are many lessons to be learned if we take the time to investigate history, lessons lost or misunderstood without more than a rudimentary treatment of the times and events shaping our world. Political history was the one aspect driven home by Mrs. Ross. She believed the better we understood government theories from the days of Socrates, through the enlightenment era with Locke, Voltaire, and Rousseau, into the American Revolution the better prepared we were to understand government today.

Attending events, talking with people, and interacting on different forums and online communities I am seeing a true interest in historical foundations that I've never seen before. Just one example is close to home. I have a 30 year old nephew who never studied history in-depth. He was very concerned about the world today and read ferociously all he could regarding key economic, foreign, and domestic concepts driving us in what seemed to be the wrong direction from his vantage point. His vantage point is that of a very hard working entrepreneur with a young son and an uncertain feeling about the type of country his son's generation would inherit.

Some of his conclusions about the government and the world were being influenced in unique ways. He would share some of his thoughts on different conspiracy theories or social beliefs that were gaining popularity on the Internet. His beliefs were beginning to be formed through a shallow understanding of history, the history he'd lived and studied in school. I'd speak to him of history and he'd say he really didn't care about that; he was concerned with today and tomorrow instead of the dead bones of yesterday. Once he began to study the candidates he ran into information about Ron Paul. This was the beginning of the awakening I'm seeing in not only him but hundreds of thousands of people.

He mentioned to me, "Now I'm beginning to understand why history is not boring to you Uncle Gary. The more I learn about history the easier it is for me to understand what politicians are really saying." He's discovering the difference between accepting sound bites that are pleasing to the ear and accepting real differences on the major policies impacting our future. By knowing our past much better we are more prepared to make decisions on where we see the future going. We also are better prepared to support a candidate that really shares in our major areas of importance.

One example is the debate over a foreign policy based on intervention compared to non-intervention. Sound bite politicians are quick to connect non-intervention with isolationism and pacifism. Someone who has not studied the ideas of non-intervention as prescribed by Thomas Jefferson and embraced by George Washington will likely accept at face value non-intervention = isolationism. After all, a person with the experience of a John McCain says it so it must be accurate. To isolate our country from the world makes no sense due largely in part to the nature of our global economy and the intimate interaction we have with so many countries. However, by truly studying the differences and history of all these theories of foreign interaction one quickly is able to see non-intervention has no connection to isolationism, quite the opposite actually. Even after studying the history of these concepts one may well decide they prefer intervention over non-intervention, perhaps even isolationism, yet the decision will be an educated one rather than a blind one. Also, the candidate supporting personal preference will be easier to find.

Another is the debate over income taxes and the IRS. Should we abolish the IRS and end income taxation or keep the system while adjusting the tax code? Many people believe we've always had income taxes, based on their life experience its all they know. Hearing the old saying about nothing being certain except death and taxes is easily confused to assume taxes must be income taxes. Sound bite politicians can say it is just crazy to abolish the IRS, after all how will we fund the government if we do that? They say its radical and many who don't have the historical background often quickly agree and ignore any politician that says it is possible. Whether you believe in income taxation or not the decision should be based on a solid understanding of the history of the practice of taxing production. Without this level of understanding it is harder to make a good choice of whether you agree or not and WHY!

Two-party control of both the government and of the election process is set in history and tradition that is roughly 110 years old. The way we organize Congress, the way we hold two-party primaries with no other party involved, the way we vote on Senators, and the way we select a President and Vice President are adulterations of the way the Constitution set process. Some changes, like that of electing Senators, were actually changed through the legal amendment process. Still others were never vetted through that process and morphed into existence.

Today it is traditional but the price for the tradition, the price for not understanding the full scope of the history is we are manipulated by two major parties while the power of the people to control government is diminished. Many voters feel their vote doesn't matter yet don't understand what changes in history created this feeling. The more one studies and is awakened to history beyond life experience or limited school exposure the more understanding develops.

I titled this article 'Paul Campaign Awakening Understanding' because more people are finding themselves studying history due to listening or reading Ron Paul's policy positions. Liberty and freedom are attractive yet many initially find Dr. Paul's comments hard to digest or understand. Not because they are stupid, only because they realize they don't have enough information about the history surrounding his positions. I'm not trying to say if you study history you will automatically begin to believe everything Ron Paul says is good. However, an awakened understanding leads to a better decision on whom to support and people are realizing they must make a good decision this election year. Without his campaign and his popularity the level of awakening we are witnessing would not be realized in mass.

Too many of the front-runners and media darlings feed us sound bites. More voters are realizing the political sound bites are the same as they hear year after year while the country falters. As more awaken to an understanding of history the people move closer to regaining control of government. No matter what else happens as a result of Congressman Ron Paul running for President this will go down as the biggest victory of his campaign. History will view it that way I believe.

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2008 by Gary Wood
- Permission to copy with attribution granted.

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©2008 Gary Wood, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Monday, February 4, 2008
Last modified: Tuesday, February 5, 2008

The views expressed in this article are those of Gary Wood only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Gary Wood is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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