Liberty Defined, by Ron Paul

My Book Summary & Review

Liberty Defined is Ron Paul’s views on 50 different issues that pertain to liberty and freedom. If you want to understand Paul’s political views, this is the book for that. Each of the 50 topics are summarized into short chapters, and can be read in any order since they’re in alphabetical order. Liberty Defined, in essence, should be a guidebook for the Libertarian Party. 

Paul, throughout the book, gives examples of how the government has gotten out of control since the founders wrote the constitution. The Roman empire went through phases and themes before their eventual downfall that Paul points out have striking similarities to the current American empire. America has come a long way since it’s founding, but our Founders knew of the dangers of an out-of-control government, and they put protections in place to prevent an aggressive empire from forming. But there is a constant struggle between Liberty and Authoritarianism, and Liberty Defined lays out these struggles in a simplistic way that is easy to grasp. 

“My guess is that the majority of Americans believe that citizens, especially if in need, have a "right" to medical care, free education, a house, subsidized food, and endless other services. What they don't want to hear is that governments have nothing to pass out, since they produce nothing. Anytime government provides a benefit, it must first steal it from someone else who is producing it, thus violating the rights of that individual.”~ Ron Paul, Liberty Defined

Here are the 50 topics Paul chose to write about in Liberty Defined: 

This book is full of great and memorable Ron Paul quotes, but I’m going to provide a few of my favorites from the book. 

Foreign Aid

“Many are convinced by the argument that U.S. foreign aid is a small amount and the rich will pay. The truth is that borrowed money and inflating the currency to pay for the deficit that foreign aid contributes to puts the burden on the poor and the middle class. Tragically, the humanitarian arguments are far removed from reality. Foreign aid can best be described as taking money from the poor in a rich country and giving it to the rich and powerful in a poor country. Unchecked, it assures that both the donor and recipient countries become poorer in the end.”~ Ron Paul, Liberty Defined

Security

“As we've seen throughout history, fear drives the growth of government. If there's no natural or inadvertent crisis, one is easily created or imagined by those who agitate for the authoritarian state. Fear will ignite a demand to be taken care of. In a free society, where depending on government is minimal or absent, any real crisis serves to motivate individuals, families, churches, and communities to come together and work to offset the crisis, whether it comes from natural causes such as floods, droughts, fire, illness, or predators or is man-made. Once dependency on government for both rich and poor is ingrained in society, any perceived, actual, or created crisis will prompt a demand for a rescue at any cost.

And usually the costs are to be borne by others-so it is hoped. Any benefits are short-lived. They are never fairly distributed, and all benefits are achieved through theft. The assumption that government can rescue us from all problems, and it's not the individual's responsibility to plan for unforeseen circumstances, causes behavior changes that magnify all crises through a constant erosion of liberty.”~ Ron Paul, Liberty Defined

Political Correctness

“PC is never designed to protect the dignity of individuals or groups who might be insulted or maligned. It's driven by cynicism, scoring political points, or trying to prove that the challengers to incorrect speech are morally superior. More likely, they are driven by a feeling of inferiority and are trying to prove to themselves with a pretense of moral outrage that they themselves deserve respect, not the "victims" of insensitive language. The whole process is a reflection of an authoritarian society.”~ Ron Paul, Liberty Defined

Keynesianism

“The idea that wealth without productive effort is possible is a Keynesian myth. It is this myth that deceives the Fed into believing it can create capital with the click of a computer and reject the notion that true capital can only come from production and savings.

This myth perpetuates the notion that a government and its citizens can live beyond their means and never be forced to live beneath their means. Depending on government stimulus programs, paid for with deficits and money creation, becomes an economic narcotic addiction. The longer the dependency lasts, the greater the dosage required to alleviate temporarily the unwelcome symptoms of the necessary correction."~ Ron Paul, Liberty Defined

My Thoughts on Liberty Defined

This is a great book, and after reading it, you’ll start to think about why these topics aren’t publicly discussed more often. And when they are, that political candidate discussing them is labeled as an outsider.

These are not ideas and thoughts that any authoritarian government wants its citizens to understand and even have any knowledge about. The people that have the power to make the changes for the citizens are the same people that don’t want to lose that power. In my opinion, the change that should be made soon, is to end the Federal Reserve. Ron Paul covers this extensively in his book End The Fed, which is one of my all-time favorite books. Ending the Fed is still within reach with the correct backing and movement behind it.

If you’ve made it this far, I’d recommend checking out my book summary and review of another liberty focused book, The Free Market & It's Enemies, by Ludwig Von Mises. This book is a summary of 9 lectures that gives a broad look at Mises's views on economics, history, philosophy, and society. Excellent quick read!