Reading through the debate that's sprung up between Dana Goldstein and others over Ron Paul points to a curious fact the interlocutors have overlooked: of all the leading candidates for the Republican nomination, Paul alone has an official campaign issue statement on "racism". The doctor thinks he can cure this perpetual cancer on the American body politic:
Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans strictly as members of groups rather than as individuals. Racists believe that all individuals who share superficial physical characteristics are alike: as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called "diversity" actually perpetuate racism.
The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence - not skin color, gender, or ethnicity.
Gee, congressman, is it really that easy to solve a problem that's plagued us continually from the very moment we were constituted as a nation? 'America, take two of those liberty pills, and vote for me in the morning.' Irrespective of whether you think Paul harbors racist views, don't his current thoughts on the subject seem woefully simplistic?
