Benjamin Wolkon
Dr. Paul answers Question 8, on the topic of abortion (Dr. Paul emphasizes individual liberty, but also believe life begins at conception): Says he thinks abortion is one of the most challenging philosophical issues today, and thinks the debate on fetus rights is unsettled. But to say that we should not restrict abortion is to say that the fetus is not alive and does not have rights, and this must hold for the entire 9 months. Trying to address the difficulty of assessing fetus rights: “Talk to an OB doctor about if a fetus has rights–If I did something wrong, I could be sued for harming a person.” Then says laws will not dictate whether abortions are done or not. “I have a lot of trouble defending everybody’s minutia of liberty if I’m not really careful about how to define life.” Says, “It’s an important issue to talk about, and a tremendous challenge for many libertarians.”
Benjamin Wolkon
Dr. Paul answers Question 7, on the topic of subsidies: Says that getting “easy credit” from the Federal Reserve is “what I call crony capitalism.”
Benjamin Wolkon
Dr. Paul answers Question 6, in which a student asks what the government’s role should be in making sure workers are ready to go back to work after their corporations go bankrupt: “The role of government is important, but different from what most people think.” Instead of giving unemployment benefits, he says, the government should focus on saving the system and ensuring economic liberty. Concedes that allocation of government resources towards worker re-training for new industries is reasonable.
Benjamin Wolkon
Dr. Paul answers Question 5, on the topic of lobbying: “The best way to start on this is don’t send anyone to Washington who is not willing to take his office seriously and obey the constitution.”
Benjamin Wolkon
Dr. Paul answers Question 4, on the topic of bond rates: “Trust and confidence, which is subjective, is something that you can’t measure.” Says confidence in America today could be because “As bad as we are, other countries are even worse.” Furthermore, there is tremendous inflation in the bond market now, but we “never know which prices are going to go up.” Prediction: “Anticipate that the interest rates will one day rise.”
Benjamin Wolkon
Dr. Paul answers 2 more questions on drug legalization and the gold standard. On the gold standard, mentions “collusion” between the Fed and the government. Additionally, “The gold standard would hold the government in check.” Says it would also ensure an honest wage for workers and the middle class.
Benjamin Wolkon
Question 1: What role should monetary policy play to get us out of the recession today?
Answer: “Crony capitalism” got us into the recession by creating bubbles. The fed printing too much money plays a large role too. Says that we should allow companies to go bankrupt rather than bailing them out. Then “eventually you need to have monetary reform…needs to be more market oriented. You don’t need a central bank.” The central bank destroys the market with interest rates, he says, and we can start getting out of the recession by reducing the Fed’s involvement.
Benjamin Wolkon
Ron Paul ends his speech encouraging the idea that we only need a minority of citizens to start spreading what he sees as true liberty. His closing words: “It is the cause of liberty that I stand for.” Now, students will begin to ask questions.
