Encouragement and Applause

Writes a friend:

Hi Mr. Rockwell,

I just wanted to write a note of encouragement and thanks for people like yourself, Ron Paul, and all at LRC and Mises Institute.  I have just been reflecting on the fact that a lot of people whom used to be very much either liberal or statist have come around to changing their minds about many issues in relation to the state, liberty, etc.

People often disparage those who change their mind or their position with the epithet “flip flopper”.  I personally am the ultimate flip flopper.  I used to be the greatest advocate for the state in any room.  The general welfare clause in the Preamble to the Constitution was the ultimate phrase in the entire document.  Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, and FDR were my holy Trinity, and the American System they promoted was my Gospel.  I had read all their writings, documents, and speeches advocating for greater state power and the primacy of the state intervening in all areas of human life.  I was a Social Justice Warrior to the core, and very militant in the statist position.

Well, at one point, someone I highly respected mentioned very nonchalantly that they liked Ron Paul, someone who I knew very little about, except that he was a very free market, anti-statist if I could call him that.  Eventually, I ran into a brick wall philosophically and decided to obtain a copy of one of his books.  That book was “Liberty Defined”.  Ron Paul caused me to flip-flop on every single issue with every successive chapter I read.  And Mr. Paul wasn’t nasty.  He wasn’t diminishing or patronizing or insulting.  He just explained his positions and how they relate to the principle of liberty.  Reason prevailed.

I have seen calm collected reasoning change many people’s minds since I first read that book by Ron Paul.  Amongst my family and friends who I most associate with, I have seen a definite shift from statist positions to more libertarian ones.  While not everyone I know has become liberty-driven in all issues, people are looking less and less towards the state, and more and more to liberty, self-reliance, personal responsibility, etc.

I just wanted to describe how I have seen people change, and that flip flopping can be a good thing.  I admire someone who can examine their own views, and admit to themselves and to others that they were wrong and change their position.  And I admire people like Ron Paul who can explain an issue to someone, even and especially someone who completely disagrees with them, as I did before I read his books, and respecting the ability of an opponent to see the soundness of an argument, help them to change their mind to be in accordance with truth, and in tune with reality and good principles.

Your work is bearing fruit.  I am an example of that, but also the people I interact with are moving in the same general direction.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.