Ron Paul is painted as fringe by the Establishment. (If you’re not part of the establishment then you must be “fringe”, right?).
Ten years ago Ron Paul made long series of detailed economic and foreign policy predictions that he hoped he would be proven wrong on. It was a year before the US started action in Iraq. Five years before the housing bubble busted. Six years before the Global Financial Crisis. Nine years before the Arab Spring. (At least he was wrong on the US “draft”. So far).
How many mainstream politicians can point to a speech like this? How many presidential candidates saw it coming?
“Let it not he said that no one cared,
that no one objected once its realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy”
Ron Paul
Ron Paul 2002 April 24th.
There’s a copy of the video of the speech without newspaper overlays, and background music, for those who prefer the uncluttered view.
“He saw these things coming because he reveres liberty above all else and when you cherish liberty you can see the things that threaten it. “ John Carey
I have transcribed parts, but not all of his rapid fire delivery of specific point after point. The video above shows recent headlines to match the predictions as he made them. (The full transcript is here.)
I predict US taxpayers will pay to rebuild Palestine, Gaza, Afghanistan.
Peace will be short lived in the middle east. There will be big promises of US money…
US troops will be used to monitor peace. In time an oil boycott will be imposed with oil prices soaring…
Current Isreali policies will solidify muslim nations against the US
Some of our moderate arab allies will be overthrown by muslim fundamentalists
china will sell weapons to Arab nations.
Harmid Karzai government will fail.
An international dollar crisis will dramatically boost interest rates in the US. Price inflation with a major economic downturn will decimate federal US government finances and exploding deficits with uncontrolled government spending.
Massive credit expansion will make the dollar crisis worse.
Gold will be seen as an alternative to paper money as it returns to it’s historic role as money…
Many Americans will be killed in the coming conflict.
We will not lose the war, but neither will we win…
Policy changes could undo all of this, but that will not happen.
The congress and president will shift radically towards expanding the size and scope of the fed government. This will satisfy both the liberals and conservatives. Military and police powers will grow, satisfying the conservatives. The welfare state will expand satisfying the liberals. Both sides will endorse military adventurism overseas.
In due course the constitution will be steadily undermined, and the American republic weakened… during the next decade the American people will become steadily poorer while they become less free…. they will become more dependent on the government for economic security. The war will become divisive… class warfare will divide us domestically…
July 2002: Ron Paul predicts the housing bubble will burst and wipe out home equity
This video compilation of other Paul predictions is also interesting — comparing his predictions to statements from Hilary Clinton, Barney Frank, John McCain, George Bush… see the first video on this page.
I am uncomfortable with his foreign policy, with the isolationist non-interventionist* view. But at the moment it seems the greatest threats to the US come from within. Ron Paul may not be the President for every era, but he seems relevant now. Will he get people to talk about the benefits of small government, real money, and real freedom?
*Edited, thanks to Tom and D Bonson