Empires “disintegrate from within,” and the United States will be no exception, says Ron Paul in a newly released video of his speech at a January 30 Ludwig von Mises Institute conference in Houston, Texas. While the disintegration of the US empire will certainly bring troubles for Americans, it also, Paul says, is “very encouraging.” This is because, Paul predicts, Americans will be offered in the disintegration an opportunity to move the country away from large-scale violations of liberty at home and intervention overseas via a peaceful revolt instead of literally having “to go to war with” the government.
In his presentation, Paul, who is chairman and founder of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, presents a sweeping analysis of history with references to the Assyrian Code, Ten Commandments, Magna Carta, and Declaration of Independence that can be understood as examples of an attempt to “develop a set of standards for tranquility and peace, and try to curtail power of government.” Paul also addresses a countertrend, which made great progress in the “downhill” twentieth century, involving governments increasing their power, disparaging individual rights, and pursuing war.
While Paul does express concern regarding potential violence and riots in America as the US empire disintegrates, he also predicts the time is approaching when Americans, buttressed by education in liberty, will be able to overcome oppressive government via a peaceful revolution. Paul presents an image of this coming peaceful revolution, stating:
We don’t have to think about how many tanks are we going to have to invade Washington, DC. They have more tanks. They have bombs and drones and everything else. But, believe me, ideas are much more powerful than those tanks that they don’t even know how to run and won’t even have the fuel to run eventually. So, I would say, stick with the ideas of liberty to combat the disaster of the twentieth century.
Watch Paul’s complete speech here:
