起石
理想主义者
下星期二，美国共和党即将开始2012年总统大选的州初选，第一站就是爱俄华州的共和党区初选。虽然在过去的一年多时间里，共和党自己以及主流媒体用尽各种手段来忽视，边缘化，甚至排挤的手段对付得克萨斯州的众议员Ron Paul， 今天，却得到了相反的效果。据最新的几个民意调查，Ron Paul 已经稳稳地占据了民意的第一名，而且很有希望赢得这个初选的第一站。当然，当然，赢得初选，甚至大选都从来不是Ron Paul 的最终愿望。散播他的信念，和让大众了解事实，才是他的最高愿望，因为“信念比炸弹和武装的军队更强大”。
“反对大政府，反对政府干涉经济，反对干涉他国内政，反对财政赤字，坚持宪法治国，自由市场经济，健康货币及政策，取消美联储，公民享受最大自由” - Ron Paul 在过去的30多年里，坚持不懈的立场，在今天终于得到了大众的赏识，而且被公认为华盛顿唯一的诚实的政客。当然，这个代价就是30年来主流的冷嘲热讽，排挤和忽视，但他不懈的努力，和今天网络传播的力量，让普通大众可以不通过“主流媒体”而得到真正的信息。而Ron Paul 的信息和信念，就像是阳光一样，撒到今天充满黑暗的世界。让大众看到这个世界的一线希望，也让那些躲藏在阴暗角落的骗子和强盗胆寒。
下面是一些Ron Paul 的一些摘录，让你感受到他充满力量的照亮黑暗的信息：
“Ideas are very important to the shaping of society. In fact, they are more powerful than bombings or armies or guns. And this is because ideas are capable of spreading without limit. They are behind all the choices we make. They can transform the world in a way that governments and armies cannot. Fighting for liberty with ideas makes more sense to me than fighting with guns or politics or political power. With ideas, we can make real change that lasts.”
信念对于塑造一个社会非常重要。事实上，信念比炸弹和武装的军队更强大。因为它可以被无限制地传播。它是我们所有选择的依据。它用以改变这个世界的方式没有任何政府和军队可以做到的。依靠信念为自由而战对我来讲，比依靠武器和政治权力更有效力。
- Ron Paul, Liberty Defined: The 50 Urgent Issues That Affect Our Freedom
“Under the United States Constitution, the federal government has no authority to hold states “accountable” for their education performance…In the free society envisioned by the founders, schools are held accountable to parents, not federal bureaucrats.”
美国宪法之下，联邦政府没有权力要求各州对教育的成绩负责...在建国之父设想的自由社会里，学校要对家长负责，而不是联邦的官僚们。
- Ron Paul
“I’m convinced that you never have to give up liberties to be safe. I think you’re less safe when you give up your liberties.”
我相信你永远不需要为安全而牺牲自由。我认为当你放弃自由时，你会更不安全。
- Ron Paul
“Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference. Government cannot create a world without risks, nor would we really wish to live in such a fictional place. Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal, because it would require total state control over its citizens’ lives.
自由的定义不是安全。自由的定义是公民生存而不被政府干扰的能力。政府不可能创造一个没有危险的世界，我们也不能幻想有这么一个虚构的世界。只有一个极权主义的社会才会宣称绝对的安全是值得信任的，因为它会要求政府对公民生活的绝对控制。
- Ron Paul
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.”
讲真话在谎言帝国里是叛国罪。
- Ron Paul, The Revolution: A Manifesto
“Mr. Speaker, I once again find myself compelled to vote against the annual budget resolution for a very simple reason: it makes government bigger.”
“发言人先生，我发现我再次迫使我投票反对年度预算立案，只是为了一个很简单的道理：它使政府变得更庞大。”
- Ron Paul
“The most basic principle to being a free American is the notion that we as individuals are responsible for our own lives and decisions. We do not have the right to rob our neighbors to make up for our mistakes, neither does our neighbor have any right to tell us how to live, so long as we aren’t infringing on their rights. Freedom to make bad decisions is inherent in the freedom to make good ones. If we are only free to make good decisions, we are not really free.”
作为一个自由的美利坚公民的最基本的原则就是我们每个个人要为我们自己的生活及决定负责。我们没有权力为掩盖我们的错失而去掠夺我们的邻居，我们的邻居，在我们不侵犯他们的权力情况下，也没有权力指教我们如何生活。作错误决定的自由和作正确决定的自由是与生俱来的。如果我们只有作正确决定的自由，那我们就不是有真正的自由。
- Ron Paul
“Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.”
失去自由是因为自满和奉承的心态。当我们接受或甚至欢迎那些车辆盘查点，随机搜查，强制的身份证，以及街上军队式的警察，我们就已经失去了美利坚传统中最重要的部分。美利坚是因为抗议，革命，及不相信政府而诞生的。卑躬屈膝的社会不会长久也不值得获得自由。
- Ron Paul
“Failure of government programs prompts more determined effort, while the loss of liberty is ignored or rationalized away…whether is it is the war on poverty, drugs, terrorism…or the current Hitler of the day, an appeal to patriotism is used to convince the people that a little sacrifice of liberty, here or there, is a small price to pay…The results, though, are frightening and will soon become even more so.”
政府计划的失败引发（政府）更多的投入，而同时自由的丧失却被忽视了，或者被合理化了..不管是那些针对贫穷，毒品，及恐怖的战争，甚至针对今天的希特勒，那个爱国的呼吁不过是用来说服大众在这里，或那里牺牲一点自由，不过是一点代价而已...最后的结果却是，更加恐怖，和甚至更多的恐怖。
- Ron Paul
“When the federal government spends more each year than it collects in tax revenues, it has three choices: It can raise taxes, print money, or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians, all three options are bad for average Americans.”
当联邦政府每年花费的比征收的税要多时，它只有3个选择：提高税收，印钞，或者借钱。这些行为使政客们受益，却使美国大众受害。
- Ron Paul
“A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank.”
资本主义的体制是以健康的货币为假设的，而不是被中央银行控制的法币。资本主义制度是保护自愿基础上的合同，以及利率是由储蓄决定的，而不是由中央银行制造出的信用。
- Ron Paul
“The original American patriots were those individuals brave enough to resist with force the oppressive power of King George…Patriotism is more closely linked to dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security.”
最初的美利坚爱国者是那些勇于抵制国王乔治压迫的个人...爱国往往是和异议者紧密相联的，而不是盲目地追求安全及保险。
- Ron Paul
“As many frustrated Americans who have joined the Tea Party realize, we cannot stand against big government at home while supporting it abroad. We cannot talk about fiscal responsibility while spending trillions on occupying and bullying the rest of the world. We cannot talk about the budget deficit and spiraling domestic spending without looking at the costs of maintaining an American empire of more than 700 military bases in more than 120 foreign countries. We cannot pat ourselves on the back for cutting a few thousand dollars from a nature preserve or an inner-city swimming pool at home while turning a blind eye to a Pentagon budget that nearly equals those of the rest of the world combined.”
作为那些参加了“茶党”的灰心的美国大众应该明白，我们不能忍受大政府在国内，也不能支持它在海外。我们不能在谈论财政义务的同时，却花费上万亿去占领和威吓整个世界。我们不能只谈论财政赤字和高涨的政府消费，而不问一下我们为了维护美利坚帝国的在120多个国家的700多军事基地的成本。我们不能只是随便减少一些自然资源和城市游泳池的支出，同时无视五角大楼的几乎和所有其他国家加在一起一样多的预算。
- Ron Paul
“It is no coincidence that the century of total war coincided with the century of central banking.”
一世纪的战争和一世纪的中央银行的同时存在并不是偶然的事件。
