Best Way To Present Ron Paul's Message On A T-Shirt?

[Jackie Moon]

I'm working on designing a new shirt and could use some help deciding the best way to present Ron Paul's message. The design is going to be "Truth Is Treason In The Empire Of Lies". I can't decide though if it's better to include or leave off a reference to Ron Paul.

The first two shirts I've done have one each way...

I still like wearing the first one to openly represent for Ron Paul and to show people that we haven't given up or gone away just because the campaign is over. And I still get people giving a thumbs up or yelling out "Ron Paul!" while wearing it.

But I didn't use his name on the second one so that anyone with preconceived negative feelings towards Ron Paul wouldn't get turned off before reading and thinking about what it says. Then when they comment "nice shirt, what's that from?", you can start explaining further.

So, my question is which do you think is more effective at reaching new people... to include Dr. Paul's name as the messenger or just keep it to his message?

 

[sailingaway]

I think his name is, but it is your shirt. And it might depend on your audience.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

I like the top one best

-t

 

[acptulsa]

I'm working on designing a new shirt and could use some help deciding the best way to present Ron Paul's message. The design is going to be "Truth Is Treason In The Empire Of Lies". I can't decide though if it's better to include or leave off a reference to Ron Paul.

I consider it basic courtesy and decency to attribute a quote that great. A little --Ron Paul at the end is imminently appropriate.

 

[Article V]

Ron was paraphrasing Orwell and Hugo. He didn't come up with those quotes on his own.

I'm working on designing a new shirt and could use some help deciding the best way to present Ron Paul's message. The design is going to be "Truth Is Treason In The Empire Of Lies". I can't decide though if it's better to include or leave off a reference to Ron Paul.

The first two shirts I've done have one each way...

But I didn't use his name on the second one so that anyone with preconceived negative feelings towards Ron Paul wouldn't get turned off before reading and thinking about what it says. Then when they comment "nice shirt, what's that from?", you can start explaining further.

Well, it's a good thing you left off Ron Paul's name on the second shirt, since Ron himself was paraphrasing Victor Hugo. It would have been highly inappropriate to attribute the quote to Ron while not mentioning Hugo.

Likewise "Truth is treason in the empire of lies" is a paraphrasing of George Orwell.

Ron, being a well-read libertarian, has no doubt been exposed to the works of both Orwell and Hugo, who were both open critics to authoritarian government, which is why their historical fiction continues to inspire libertarians decades and centuries later. Ron knew he was paraphrasing those writers. It makes sense for you to make your audience likewise aware if you decide to attribute the quotes at all.

Imagine how wrong it would be for a politician 50 years from now to be credited as the author of the quote "“I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine," without any mention of Ayn Rand and/or Atlas Shrugged.

Let us not be promoters of Ron Paul by diminishing the shoulders he stands upon. If the message is what you are using to inspire the world, then it shouldn't matter that Ron Paul paraphrased it. The message can be left attributed to the mind that first thought it up, and it will be just as effective if not more so. More minds throughout time are influenced toward libertarianism and the evils of authoritarianism by the words of Hugo, Orwell, and Rand than will ever be influenced by those of Ron Paul (that's not to diminish Ron; it's to acknowledge the power of great fiction as it influences society and generations).

 

[dbill27]

It's not just his message anymore and he's not running for anything so why make what appears to be a campaign shirt? Just my 2 cents

 

[sailingaway]

But there are a ton of things Ron has said that are his message. If you are referring to his message you could use any of those, and attribute them to him. When Hugo was speaking, he was speaking of ideas generally, not Ron's specifically. It does mean something different coming from Ron.

I agree it would be odd to credit Ron for the second one and not Hugo, though. Ron was acknowledging Hugo, while speaking in respect of the R3VOLution.

 

[sailingaway]

It's not just his message anymore and he's not running for anything so why make what appears to be a campaign shirt? Just my 2 cents

Ron set a standard, and to refer to him is to refer to the entirety of that standard, it is concise enough for a T shirt, that way.

 

[Article V]

But there are a ton of things Ron has said that are his message. If you are referring to his message you could use any of those, and attribute them to him. When Hugo was speaking, he was speaking of ideas generally, not Ron's specifically. It does mean something different coming from Ron.

I agree it would be odd to credit Ron for the second one and not Hugo, though. Ron was acknowledging Hugo, while speaking in respect of the R3VOLution.

I just think it makes us look sort of silly and ignorant to attribute quotes to Ron Paul that are widely known to be penned by writers infinitely more famous than Ron Paul will ever be. The "truth is treason" quote is a paraphrase of a George Orwell bumper-sticker, for heaven's sake (one in which Orwell literally mentions revolution which is why Ron used the quote in the preface for his own book The Revolution: A Manifesto).

 

[jbuttell]

I'd make one that says "Liberty In Excelsis!"

 

[sailingaway]

I just think it makes us look sort of silly and ignorant to attribute quotes to Ron Paul that are widely known to be penned by writers infinitely more famous than Ron Paul will ever be. The "truth is treason" quote is a paraphrase of a George Orwell bumper-sticker, for heaven's sake (one in which Orwell literally mentions revolution which is why Ron used the quote in the preface for his own book The Revolution: A Manifesto).

But no one is talking about using that.

 

[Article V]

I just think it makes us look sort of silly and ignorant to attribute quotes to Ron Paul that are widely known to be penned by writers infinitely more famous than Ron Paul will ever be. The "truth is treason" quote is a paraphrase of a George Orwell bumper-sticker, for heaven's sake (one in which Orwell literally mentions revolution which is why Ron used the quote in the preface for his own book The Revolution: A Manifesto).

But no one is talking about using that.

Um... you must be reading the wrong thread, because the very first words of this thread's OP are:

I'm working on designing a new shirt and could use some help deciding the best way to present Ron Paul's message. The design is going to be "Truth Is Treason In The Empire Of Lies". I can't decide though if it's better to include or leave off a reference to Ron Paul.
...
So, my question is which do you think is more effective at reaching new people... to include Dr. Paul's name as the messenger or just keep it to his message?

So, yes, not only is someone talking about it; but this entire thread is about it since the guy designing the shirt in the OP is wondering if he should credit Ron Paul for a paraphrasing of Orwell. I say, he should NOT because attributing the words to Ron Paul while omitting any mention of Orwell is disrespectful, offensive, ignorance-promoting, and a bad example to set for our movement.

If you credit Ron, then you should also credit Orwell. That's my opinion.

 

[Clay Hamm]

The ideas stand on their own and many of them were not original to Dr. Paul. Leave his name off and focus on the philosophy. Without a name the person will be forced to think about the message and not the messenger.

 

[acptulsa]

Article V, then why don't you do the OP a favor and expose us all to the non-paraphrased, original Orwell version of the quote? That would be interesting to all of us, and would give the OP something that they could honestly attribute to Orwell alone.

 

[roho76]

Ron Zombie once said - "every great heavy metal riff was already written by Black Sabath and we're just copying them" so goes the same with great quotes. Every combination of great quotes was already written by the generations before us. There is nothing worth saying that hasn't already been said. The problem is it falls on deaf ears.

 

[XTreat]

Most effective shirt for spreading the message in my experience.

[/IMG]



Guess what everyone asks me?

 

[sailingaway]

even now that he has 90%+ name recognition?

 

[acptulsa]

I agree that Orwell deserves bucketloads of credit. However, 'improved quotes' (for lack of a better description) are generally attributed to the person who improved them. Just as improvements on existing inventions have always been patentable seperately from the original.

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”--George Orwell

Now, what Orwell said is a truly great quote, and deserves a place of honor on a t-shirt. But in my opinion, it is neither as short nor as sweet as:

And though it's clearly a related concept, it isn't an identical sentiment. Yes, unquestionably there's a fine line between a time of deceit and an empire of deceit, or between revolution and treason. But sometimes those fine little lines can have a disproportionate effect on the idea it expresses and/or the impact it has. As for the idea, traditionally America looks upon revolution and treason very differently. America was born in revolution, and America runs on revolution--the framers of the Constitution considered every election a revolution! But treason, well; unlike revolution, treason is an affront to that very Constitution that allows and even encourages revolution.

I say Ron Paul deserves more credit for his words than Orwell, no matter how much Ron Paul owes to Orwell. And I also say that I want a shirt with one of these quotes on the front and the other on the back!

 

[XTreat]

even now that he has 90%+ name recognition?

I wear this shirt all the time, I don't think I have ever worn it out without someone asking me.

 

[sailingaway]

I wear this shirt all the time, I don't think I have ever worn it out without someone asking me.

hm. something to consider.

I agree 'revolutionary act' and 'treason' ring different bells, and Ron deserves credit for his.

and doing front and back will let you put his name on one side and not on the other, so you get the benefit of both theories!