Although there is much to say for Ron Paul support for him is questionable. One problem in the United States is the role that corporations play in manipulating elections, office holders and the press. Although Paul has supported the Occupy Wall Street movement his libertarian philosophy would remove what restraints the government has on corporations. Although Paul would eliminate much of the US military's involvement in foreign affairs his libertarian philosophy would prevent any restriction on US arms sales by US corporations to foreign entities. This is a source of international tension and would increase under Paul. One important act of the US government to promote social justice and oppose racism is the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Paul has stated that his vision of limited government would oppose that act. In my view open slather for US corporations and lack of governmental controls on racism would be worse than what we have now. I am a US citizen living in Australia, am disappointed in many Obama policies and vote in US elections by absentee ballot. I shall vote for Obama with a regret that there is no better alternative.

Well put, david f.

A libertarian doth not a leftist make. Ron Paul is more isolationist than leftist, more free-marketeer than socialist.

Were Mr Paul, by some wierd sequence of events, to wind up as POTUS, I expect his sincerely held "leftist" policies soon would suffer the same fate as Mr Obama's, but more directly at the hands of the corporations who control US elections and hold great sway over legislation, rather than through an entrenched and recalcitrant opposition and an undisciplined governing party.

The latest example is the XL Pipeline read this, from Twitter, five minutes ago:

"@brianbeutler Obama on Keystone: "I’m disappointed that Republicans in Congress forced this decision" "

Oddly (or not), Daniel Kogoy says nothing whatever about Ron Paul's energy policies. Unfortunately, many of the "leftists" who will vote for Ron Paul will not give this a second thought as to why this plank is missing from Ron Paul's campaign platform. I wonder: could it be a matter of softly, softly, to assure support from fossil fuel interests?

Disgraceful. So a major Green's members supports a racist, sexist anti-working class republican. He will abolish health care, opposes support for minorities, eg the Civil Rights Act, and wants to destroy the organised working class. He is part of the one percent. His prescriptions would destroy US capitalism and the living standards of its workers. He wants to withdraw from foreign wars to impose his economic neoliberalism the better on US society. This says a lot about the bankruptcy of the Greens that a prominent member would write this absolutely disgraceful article. I have two articles on this, attacking Paul and the left who support them, on my blog En Passant with John Passant.

So the best the left can come up with is that they would prefer to mindlessly support the escalation of perpetual aggressive imperialist war, prefer to support siphoning trillions of dollars from the poorest members of society and the vast majority of ordinary workers to channel it to the big banks and billionaires, prefer a truly fascist society in which government can now permanently detain people without charge or trial - just so they can hold onto their precious forced redistributions, the need for which is overwhelmingly caused by dysfunctional interventionist policies in the first place.

"Although Paul has supported the Occupy Wall Street movement his libertarian philosophy would remove what restraints the government has on corporations."

This is where the economic illiteracy of the left wing is culpable. It never occurs to them that the predominance of big corporations might have anything to do with the policies they've been supporting for the last hundred years. In particular, Keynesian policies work by manipulating the supply of money, which works by channelling money to the big banks and corporations - wealth that has been stolen from the ordinary workers at the rate of inflation. And you guys support it! And claim to be leftist! Unbelievable. All the tax, superannuation, regulatory, occupational licensing, consumer protection and compulsory insurance schemes you guys support - all of them work to favour big corporations and marginalise small business. You are hoist with your own petard.

It is not a sound complaint against Paul that he opposes abortion and the Civil Rights Act, because he opposes them only at the *federal* level because they are none of the federal governments' business - read the Constitution. This still leaves the states free to legislate on matters that are within their proper competence. This leftist argument just shows the usual contempt for the concept of the rule of law, or of reason itself - and then they have the gall to complain about fascism of which their own support is the primary cause!

"I shall vote for Obama with a regret that there is no better alternative."

Amazing. I only regret the families of the many many many people who are going to be killed by your own admitted representative cannot bring you to justice.

Daniel, you have hit the nail on the head. Policies of freedom, peace, and honest money are preferable to anyone who really cares about social justice. Those members of the left who would prefer an out-and-out fascist, and killing large numbers of innocent people so as to favour the military-industrial complex, and the Keynesian policies of permanent crony capitalism and bailouts, need to look in the mirror, and need to DO A RE-THINK.

it is great to read something from a Greens councillor that shows an understanding of Libertarian philosophy and how it is fundamentally different from that of the conservatives