Ron Paul for President in 2012: Yes to Ron Paul and Liberty [Paperback]

Walter E. Block (Author), Rafi Farber (Introduction), Ron Paul (Commentary), Lew Rockwell (Commentary), Tom Woods (Commentary)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2012

This book consists of a series of essays about Dr. Paul and his campaigns for the presidency of the U.S. in 2008 and 2012, with primary emphasis on the latter. The gist of them all is to make the case for his occupancy of the White House. Each and every last one of these chapters is an attempt to expand and expound upon his views, to publicize them, to promote his candidacy, to defend it against attacks from within and without the libertarian movement. Will Ron Paul win? At the time of this writing, it is far too early to know whether or not he will become the next president of the United States. From the perspective of this point in time, Dr. Paul faces an uphill, and then a downhill battle. He will have a more difficult time winning the Republican nomination than he will in beating Obama. This is because Paul attracts people from all over the political spectrum. Republicans, yes; but he is very attractive to Independents, and even, more surprisingly at the outset, to Democrats. And, while some of the primaries are open to voters from all three categories, these elections are of course statistically biased in the direction of Republicans, and Ron Paul has no comparative advantage vis a vis his three remaining competitors, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, in this section of the electorate. That is his weakness, but also his strength; for if and when he gets the nod from the Republicans, he can attract more voters from the Democratic and Independent camps than these other three, and thus has the best chance of overturning the sitting president in the fall of 2012. In recent polls, only Paul and Romney are in a statistical dead heat with Obama. Gingrich and Santorum fall by the wayside in this regard. But Dr. Paul is not only running for the presidency of the U.S. His campaign is also an attempt to change the hearts and minds of the more than 300 million people in America, but also the nearly 7 billion inhabitants of the entire Earth. And in this latter quest he has already succeeded, beyond even the most ambitious of hopes of his most fervent supporters.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Walter Block is Harold E. Wirth Endowed Chair and Professor of Economics, College of Business, Loyola University New Orleans, and senior fellow at the Mises Institute. He earned his PhD in economics at Columbia University in 1972. He has taught at Rutgers, SUNY Stony Brook, Baruch CUNY, Holy Cross and the University of Central Arkansas. He is the author of over 400 articles in professional journals, two dozen books, and hundreds of op eds. He lectures widely on college campuses, delivers seminars around the world and appears regularly on television and radio shows. He has been a friend of Ron Paul’s since the 1970s. Block is a leading Austrian School economist and an international leader of the freedom movement. His earliest work Defending the Undefendable (first edition Fleet 1976, latest edition Mises 2008, translated in 12 languages) is now, more than 30 years later, regarded as an overlooked classic on libertarianism. This collection of essays, which argues for societal villains as economic scapegoats based on the principles of nonaggression, forces its reader to think and to rethink his or her initial knee-jerk emotional responses, and to gain a new and far sounder appreciation of economic theory and of the virtues and operations of the free market economy. Block’s writing was inspired by Henry Hazlitt, the author of the most widely read economics text Economics in One Lesson. Block has been a fixture in the libertarian movement for some four decades. He actually met Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek, and was friends with Murray Rothbard. His contributions to academic libertarianism and to Austrian economics have been prodigious. Block’s writings continue to challenge the conventional wisdom (or ignorance) of how economics works and will retain its freshness for decades to come.

Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: Ishi Press (May 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4871873234
• ISBN-13: 978-4871873239
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,647,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for all of us who want to know the person May 25, 2012

By W. Tomasik

I used not to be interested in politics (with the "why bother" attitude) but it got so stupid and bad that I had to bother. And the only sense had Ron Paul's words!
But on tv they either didn't talk about Ron Paul or just labeled him a racist and anti-semite. NOT TRUE! And you will know that from that beautifully written book by (Jewish!) Mr. Block.

Here I was interested in truth about Ron Paul (which I learned!) but I'm eager to know other books of Mr. Block whose style and choice of words are perfect!

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A flawed representative for a flawless message May 10, 2012

By Sextus Empiricus

Ron Paul is not the most eloquent, the most charismatic, or the most assertive candidate the libertarian movement could hope for; but he's the only one, and while he won't change official policy any time soon he is certainly changing people's hearts and minds.

This book describes in (somewhat wishful) detail what a Ron Paul presidency might be like and how it will be better than any other option. I like the depth of philosophy behind it, and while I think most of it will never be allowed to happen, just the possibilities mentioned here will be a great bargaining chip for the side of liberty.

I think this book is a must read for all of us who are interested in American politics. Not only Ron Paul supporters or libertarians; everyone! If you want to understand the forces behind the Ron Paul revolution.. if you want to understand the motives, the actual positions, and the possibilities the future may hold - read this book. You'll thank me later.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Such a great help for a beginner libertarian/Austrian May 18, 2012

By Martha

Amazon Verified Purchase

Thank You, Walter Block! As a newcomer to Austrian Economic principles, and the finer points of true libertarian philosophy, I was utterly devastated by Stephan Molyneux's hour long video rant against my hero, Dr.Ron Paul.
I thought perhaps I didn't understand the "bigger picture", since I am the first to admit that lots of these ideas are extremely compelling, but new, to me. You have given me the words and the logic to refute what intuitively seemed to me an illogical and contrary point of view by "so-called" libertarians, and I feel a LOT stronger in my position now. I never realized, before this book, what silly, contrarian positions some well known "libertarians" take against their own.