Letter to Ron Paul

Dear Dr. Paul,

When I traveled abroad to visit some friends earlier this year, I could see the people there being polite but not warm to Americans. It was a different experience even from when I visited a few years ago. People wanted to know what I thought as an American about the Iraq war in particular – often times expressing that concern over whether or not the US would be invading other countries as well.

My only response was that I disagreed with the war, that it wasn’t a declared war, and that many people in America were angry about it – but that the President and the government chose to go ahead anyway. When some of my friends spoke of America, they talked about it once being a great nation, but that it was now filled with arrogance and greed. They talked about America’s rejection of God.

The more people talked about America in this way, I was felt sad and embarrassed. America was no longer seen by other countries as a place of hope or freedom. It hurt because deep down, I knew that they were right.

To add insult to injury, I had just had the experience of going through the airport security, and had my baby’s (whom I was holding in my arms!) much-needed diaper rash cream taken away because the container itself – not even based on the amount of cream inside – was about one centimeter larger than what allowed on the airplane. So, it was really impossible for me to disagree over the current state of freedom in our country.

It seems like a small thing, to have diaper rash cream taken away, but to me it represented the larger picture of freedoms being removed. How did things get to be so bad? Why are people so fearful? (And, as a tangent, families are being kicked off of airplanes because a baby is breastfeeding or, because a baby is crying – yet parents can’t take with them things that would make them better – like soothing rash cream. It’s so ridiculous! Parents are left in a catch 22 situation when it comes to traveling with children – a direct result of sacrificing practicality to avoid fear.)

I just want to thank you for renewing my hope for America. Listening to you speak truth has been so refreshing.

I deeply appreciate how you love the constitution and how, as a politician, you have sought to uphold it instead of wielding your power to find loopholes.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for consistently voting to protect the rights that we do have and for not being afraid to vote differently than the rest of your party. I am sure that this took a great deal of courage, to vote for what is right although it was not popular. Thank you for setting this example to the rest of Americans.

May I respectfully offer a suggestion on how you answer questions at debates or in forums?

I think you need to do more to consider where my generation is coming from.

I don’t think that it’s necessarily laziness – which is what many people of other generations have tried to say of my generation. It’s more that my generation doesn’t know any alternatives. They don’t know how to make sense of things because they haven’t been taught how to do so – yet are trying to work with what they have been given. The state of freedom is a result of decisions that happened before we were even old enough to vote. Even though we hate it, we are used to relying on the government. We are weary.

My generation – I’m 27 – has never had a President like the one that you will be. I was still learning to walk when Reagan was President. We hear about great leaders through older relatives. My grandfather gets a twinkle in his eyes when he talks about the Eisenhower presidency.

The experience my generation has with politics has been wars in middle east, followed by sexual scandals, followed by more war. That’s it. Oh yes — and lots and lots of reasons why we should be afraid.

In addition to fear, the burden of debt has coerced Americans into allowing personal freedoms to be taken away.

The national debt seems impossible to pay off, and the example that it has set to Americans is that it is acceptable to buy on credit – and they do! American’s personal debt to income is also at a disgusting ratio. Debt creates dependency. Think of the current housing crisis – my bank, NetBank, just went under last week because so many people could not pay their mortgages! People are losing their homes because of their slavery to debt.

Many other issues stem from the problem of debt. For example, many Americans are so in debt – between paying high taxes and the minimum payment on high-interest credit cards – that they can’t afford health care. So, they see the government as a savior who can help them. “Affordable health care for all!” It’s a vicious cycle.

Dr. Paul, what your are proposing – which is awesome, by the way – to reduce the size of the federal government, to reduce how the government is subsidizing the lives of many Americans, to pull out of wars (that are supposedly preemptively protecting us) – is to essentially take away my generation’s security blanket.

As parents, we know that it’s not good for children to stay dependent upon a bottle their whole life. Children don’t know what they’re missing when they’ve only been given a diet of milk and bland mashed up food. They don’t know what it’s like to have steak or deliciously spiced dishes. Weaning children off of a breast or bottle is a frustrating experience for a child – because it involves removing comfort from them. It’s a gradual process, and they don’t understand it at first.

I think the same can be said for Americans of my generation.

We are USED to high taxes. Since we’ve been old enough to vote, and since we have become adults, and some of us home owners, this is all we have known. We hate paying them, but they seem to be a necessary evil. We are told that the taxes are going into “good” things, like “protecting” us and into researching things that “help”, like drug research. (Many people rely on prescription drugs – even starting in preschool – for anxiety these days because they can’t deal with the burden of fear that they are carrying!) (And, I have heard you speak many times on how drug companies are controlling the FDA .. you can’t even pick up a magazine anymore without finding five different prescription drug ads!)

We have fears – the government have answers. That is what many are led to believe. There are many factors working together to create fear and give a government solution as the answer.

We are free to bear arms under the Second Amendment – and I love how you put it so well when you said, “The Second Amendment is not about hunting deer or keeping a pistol in your nightstand. It is not about protecting oneself against common criminals. It is about preventing tyranny.”

But, how many young people in the United States are comfortable around guns? When that’s the first thing that schools check for as students enter the building? Young people need to know how to safely use guns. This is opposite from the “guns are evil” message we’ve grown up with. People need to be reminded why the right to bear arms was written into our constitution in the first place. It wasn’t just written for police and for those in the military, but for civilians.

Taxes ARE an important issue to us – and you’re good at talking about reducing taxes and putting more money in our pockets. But, even THAT can be a scary thing – giving BACK money to a generation of people who don’t know how to manage money in the first place. Many are so bad at it that I think it’s a relief to them that the government is delegating it to “worthy causes” on their behalf. For example, think of all the people who get debt consolidation loans and have the opportunity for a “fresh” start and to take better control of their finances – only to run up even more debt and to be worse off than before.

People of my generation are wondering HOW to do things WITHOUT funding from taxes. HOW DOES THIS PROCESS WORK?

I think you’re starting to do this more with the seven movie clips on your website on various topics – but I’d like to see more of the explanations in your speeches to the public forums and in answers during debates.

Tell us the logistics of functioning without the federal government in our lives. How would state and local government play a different role, and why is this a good thing?

Think about role as an OBGYN. I’m sure that you’ve had to work with patients to make difficult changes in their diets or lifestyles to better their health. I imagine that sometimes it was like pulling teeth to convince them that they needed to change – but in the end, they were grateful for your kindness and patience for sticking with them every step of the path for a better life.

You are NOT lacking zeal or truth in your speeches! And I’d much rather truth than warm fuzzy feelings!

But I think perhaps you would benefit from a strategy of “bedside manner” as you are slowly taking away the proverbial baby bottle. As you speak, think about presenting delicious, savory food to a generation who has never tasted it before. Describe how it smells, what it takes like. Give us things to compare it to.

Remind us that we have and can continue to accomplish great things as private citizens (like choosing to donate our money to and volunteering our time to worthy causes – like helping victims of Katrina) and that efforts like these do not require the federal government’s oversight to be a success. We CAN do it without the government! And, we can do a BETTER job than the government.

Empower us in your speeches. Give us a history lesson. The history books we have access to have been re-written. Teachers filter history through the rhetoric of fear and tolerance. Please teach us the truth about what the constitution says, how its application looks in every day life, and how it makes us a great nation, set apart from the rest. Sadly, not everyone in your audience knows these things.

Tell us how we no longer have to live in fear and why.

Tell us how you will lead us on this path for a better American life, and how you’ll walk with us as we embark on this journey together.

Remind people that it DOES take courage to have a consistent voting record when your peers in your own party are pressuring you to vote differently, and that WE TOO can have courage as we vote for a change. You certainly have proven this.

Thanks again for renewing my hope. This is a precious gift. If I could hug you, I would!

You have my vote, and I’m doing my best to tell others why they should be voting for you, too. The response is very positive – the message of Truth and Freedom sells itself.

Keep up the good work, and I look forward to hearing you speak when you come to the Philadelphia area.

Respectfully,
Sarah Joy Albrecht