Is this statement true?

Question

"The conflict of the ages has been between the state and the individual: central power versus liberty."

-Congressman Dr. Ron Paul
July 10, 2003
On the floor of the House of Representatives

Answer 1

Of course its true though I dont know if Dr Paul was the one who said it.

To make it simple, true individual liberty would allow you to drive as fast as you want on the highway....vs the state that says, "thats too dangerous... you can only go 60mph"

Answer 2

Its true. I dissagree with the example of speed limits though. Speed limits actually make it safer to and allow us to travel more freely.

Regarding this country it is also an example of this struggle. In case anyone has forgotten the civil war is an example of a struggle between the states and the central authority. A struggle in which the States and individuals are losing.

Sadly Mr. Paul has marginalized himself with his belief that you can remain free and at the same time refuse to defend your freedom by force of arms if necessary.

Answer 3

It has certainly been A conflict of the ages, but I wouldn't say THE conflict. The conflict between the state and the individual is actually only one skirmish within a greater war, which is all about divinely ordained authority and the tendency for every delegate to overstep its bounds. This is from a post I just made on my blog yesterday:

"Exodus 6:13 '…gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt…' God delegates all authority to be used for a purpose. Rulers have authority over cities and regions and nations to be a terror to evildoers. Bishops and elders have authority over congregations for their teaching and guidance. Husbands have authority over their wives, and fathers have authority over their children, but not so they can do whatever they want with them. If Moses had ordered Pharaoh to let the Ethiopians go or if he had led the Hebrews in armed rebellion, he would have overstepped his commission. He was granted authority over Israel and Pharaoh solely for the purpose of bringing Israel out of Egypt."

As Paul wrote in Romans, rulers are given authority to be a terror to evil-doers. When the state ceases to fill that role or becomes a terror to those who do good, it oversteps its ordination, and citizens are no longer obligated to obey it. The first state was formed by Nimrod, who the Bible describes as "a mighty hunter before the Lord." "Before" in this case means "in defiance of." Adam was made to be a gardener, and God's people have historically been shepherds and farmers organized around the family. The tendency to congregate in cities is not evil in itself, but is conducive to evil. It enables some men to dominate others for their own gain and in direct opposition to God.

The conflict of the ages is man's rebellion against God, and the accumulation of power in the hands of a few is but one symptom of that rebellion. God's intended order is one of decentralized power and familial structures organized around the worship of God and the cultivation and caretaking of the Earth. The state enables some men to weaken and control ties to family and the earth to the detriment of all.

Libertarian philosophy pushes the redistribution of power back to the individual and the family where God intended it to be.

-yk

P.S. I just found this in the Babylonian Talmud: "Three persons will never come to Gehenna: He who suffers from extreme poverty, he who suffers with a diseased stomach and one who is oppressed by the government, and others add also the man who is afflicted with a bad wife." So, bad government excuses all sins.

Answer 4

I say Phillip has the best answer so far. And I'm sure Dr Paul was quoting some noted philosoper. He is one of the most educated candidates running, with a keen insight. Unfortunately, he's an isolationist Libertarian masquerading as a Republican, who believes that the best government is the one that governs least.

Answer 5

The statement is true but lacks in completeness.
You MUST add that with freedom comes responsibility.
You may have a "right", but you MUST BE LIABLE for the consequences of exercising that right.
You must be responsible and liable for miss-use of a gun, miss-use of speech, using religion to justify criminal acts.....etc., etc., etc....
Our failure to observe that FACT is a source of TYRANNY because it gives the Government an excuse to step in and take away your freedoms when too many of us miss-use them.

Answer 6

No, it isn't. Which--if the "libertarians" running around actually understood the philosophy they parrot, they would know. Durant, Rand, and others were concerned about over-powerful governmet, yes. but they wer far more concerned about the things jerks like Paul ignores--like the corrupting influence of corporations subverting the political process, the promotion of conformist ideologies, etc. And they most certainly condemned the kid of bigotry Paul tries to excuse by pretending he jsut wants to "get the government out of people's lives." What Ron Paul advocates is fascism, not libertarianism.

Besides, who listens to a racist like ron Paul, anyway?

Answer 7

So true. Ron Paul is an honest man.

Answer 8

yes in generality it is true. but only in a general way. if your adding the specifics of todays american politics, then no its not true. if you go back to good ol' civil war days and liberating from england, then of course this is true. and yes.. the more i think about it.. the more it becomes true. in the historical sense yes yes.

Answer 9

Yes it is. There have been, of course, other conflicts. But yep, that's a mostly true statement.

Answer 10

I think it is true. Ron Paul All the Way!!!!