Ron Paul: How to End Violence in America

Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul has penned a must-read essay on how applying the libertarian principle of non-aggression to government would reduce private as well as government violence.

The article is reprinted below and the original, from the Ron Paul Liberty Report, is available here.

If you have not done so, I strongly recommend that you subscribe to Dr. Paul’s daily show The Ron Paul Liberty Report on YouTube, and visit his website on a daily basis for fantastic libertarian commentary.

How to Cure America’s Culture of Violence

By Ron Paul

Government thrives on the threat of violence and/or the initiation of violence. Naturally such an institution will attract individuals and groups that will want to steer that violence in their favor and in the favor of friends.

This setup creates resentment amongst the victims of government violence. People themselves resort to using aggressive force against others. After all, if the government can do it, why can’t they? An unfair justice system only adds fuel to the fire.

Then you have to consider the perpetual war that the U.S. government has subjected us to. Add to that an FCC-licensed media that sensationalizes and glorifies war. Ultimately, you end up with an entire culture of violence.

Professional demagogues are provided with a population ready for to hear that they are victims. Responsibility for ones own-self and actions are replaced with the temptation of identifying with a group or collective. Instead of using your mind to shape your own world, the siren song of the demagogue, and the abundance that is promised, become too hard to resist.

Only the adoption of a different set of ideas has the ability to turn around a culture of violence and victimization. If you and I are not allowed to rob our neighbor, the government should not be allowed to do it either. If you and I are not allowed to use aggressive force against our fellow man, neither should the government be granted immunity either.

The more that people decide to live by the non-aggression principle, the faster society would heal. Transactions, exchanges, trades and contracts should all be done voluntarily. Government violence should never be introduced to tilt the tables one way or another.

​Once again, if government violence is introduced, resentment creeps in and a cycle of fighting to get in control of government force takes over.

The answers exist, and they’re found in the ideas of liberty.