Freedomain Radio

I am 23, live in St. Louis, and have taken a rather quick route to the study of Libertarianism.  From voting for John Kerry (against Bush), to doubting the the official story of 9/11, which led to the discovery of Alex Jones, which of whom introduced me to Ron Paul, which led to my almost die hard support for Ron Paul, which later brought me here. Ron was really the guy who introduced me to Libertarianism, and like all of his loyal supporters, really thought I could defy the odds and push this guy to the top.  It's funny, because I saw a couple of Steph's videos posted on the "Congressman Ron Paul in 2008" Facebook group, where he spoke of US history in the Middle East and sorts.  They were very educational.  The big kicker to me was when there was a new post with Steph criticizing Ron Paul.  (All this was before I knew Steph was an anarchist, or even before I even understood anarchism as a whole) As much as I loved Ron Paul, I found the video startling for it made a lot of sense.  I don't remember the title of the video, but it was the one where Steph says something like "I know this may be hard, but just let this cook on the back burner a bit.  Maybe later, you can take an umbrella when it rains, and come back and have a look at these again sometime."  I'll admit, I didn't want to believe it, and continued to donate, sign wave, and attend Republican conventions.  We did end up failing after all, but even during all that hard campaign work,  I did leave the videos cooking, and I did watch them again, which means I'm soaking wet and need that umbrella!  That, and a glass of water so I can start chuggin these red pills!  Anyways, I have always had a burning desire to discover the truth, hence the wild chain of events mentioned above.  The corruption in our government makes me sick and I really want to fix it for the future, but I know there has to be a better way to combat this rather than protesting, signwaving, voting, running for office to try and lift the building off the ground with my bare hands, or to sum it all up, give up my personal freedom!  My main concerns are how to decipher truth from falsity, how to even engage in these types of conversations with others, and how to deal with a possible crash of our system in years to come.  As of now, I have listenened to the first 45 podcasts which is probably the equivalent to a full semester of a college class!   I have found them to be most enlightening, and look forward to engaging in discussions to help further my understanding of Libertarianism and life in the absence of a state!

Welcome to the board.

that_z_dude:

I have listenened to the first 45 podcasts which is probably the equivalent to a full semester of a college class! ...

but it was the one where Steph says something like "I know this may be hard, but just let this cook on the back burner a bit.

you'r in for a treat

Welcome to the boards! I'd advise you to make use of the "enter" key to make your posts more readable (but don't overdo it like Stef and his single-sentence paragraphs ). You bring a very common story along with you; I was once a Ron Paul supporter on the quest for discerning truth.

On truth, you said that you doubted the official story of 9/11. Of course, this is a reasonable OPINION. But what makes such an assertion an objective fact? I can doubt the validity of someone's recollections, but to provide an alternative explanation I would need to know more. I am not trying to get into a debate about 9/11, I'm just trying to make you more aware of the methods you used to arrive at your conclusions. If you have not done so already, the free book UPB (hit books at the top) will help you discover the answers you desire.

P.S. Libertarianism with a big "L" refers to political groups associated with liberal ideas (in the European sense of the word "liberal"). Libertarianism with a small "l" refers to apolitical ideas which are opposite to authoritarianism.

Welcome.

Welcome!!!

Hello retrapher.  Glad to see there are other former Ron Paul supporters here looking for alternative methods to learning the truth about freedom! 

retrapher:

On truth, you said that you doubted the official story of 9/11. Of course, this is a reasonable OPINION. But what makes such an assertion an objective fact? I can doubt the validity of someone's recollections, but to provide an alternative explanation I would need to know more.

I pretty much agree with you 100%.  When I mentioned this, I didn't mean to drop it as I accept alternative stories as objective facts.  (afterall, there are many alternative stories).  What I did mean however was that I have seen inconsistencies in the official story that are ripe for questioning.  I've watched many documentaries such as Loose Change, Alex Jone's Martial Law, 9/11 Press for Truth, and all have peaked my interest in doing my own research.  In fact the whole reason the 9/11 Commission was put into place was because 4 women who had lost their husbands in the World Trade Centers had doubts about the official story and pushed for an open investigation.  With that said, I never run around saying "Hey you sheep!  9/11 was an inside job!".  I can't because one it is insulting, and two, like you said, there is no way to prove it.  But it doesn't stop me from doing research.  I also bought the 9/11 Comission Report which I have yet to finish, and will definitely check out the UPB book you mentioned as well.

And thanks for the tip on using big "L" versus little "l".  I was completely unaware of this difference.

Hello, and welcome! Great to have you with us, if you're interested in an intro to philosophy as a whole, there is an intro series at the bottom of my 'videos' page above...

What is going on with the RP movement these days - has it broken up completely, or is there still some meetups?

RP is trying to start some sort of PAC or political movement, but not connected with the election.

I remember seeing an interview with him recently where he talked about some sort of new movement he was putting together, organized loosely around the volunteer groups that fueled his campaign, and based on his notions of minarchism.

I've heard of some small group of RP supporters trying to create a "Libertopia" in the middle of Texas. I read it in an article about the book "The Big Sort".

I think many RP supporters have switched to supporting Bob Barr. A few are writing in Ron Paul. A few come over to FDR. And the rest wallow in contempt for their neighbors.

Hey that_z_dude!

I, too, was once into all that 9/11 conspiracy stuff.  I recommend watching a video called "Screw Loose Change."  Most of the "research" going on in the 9/11 truth movement is being done by people who have little actual background in science/engineering, from what I can tell.

Cya around!

Thank you Steph!  Yea it looks like these guys have pretty much hit on a few of the areas in which RP supporters have scattered off.  RP has started his Campaign for Liberty which will be kicking off September 2nd in St. Paul, Minnesota.  As to what the focus of this campaign is, I am not sure.  But the meetups are still around, and are focusing on getting their people to either run for office, or work to support other politicians that claim to possess the same ideology as RP.  By doing all this, they hope to slowly take over the Republican Party and convert the platform to match RP's philisophical framework.  This process however is not something I'm really interested in. 

And retrapher, I have heard of the "Libertopia".  If it is the same one you are reffering to, I had read about a town being created called Paulville.  I don't know much about it, but I do know that RP didn't embrace it.

But do want to thank everyone for their warm welcoming and reccomendations!

 Congrats on your journey, and glad to have you here!

I look forward to chatting with you.

Crystal