Just wondering if anyone agrees with his view or even know who is so to speak. I mean I didn't for a long time. He barely gets any media coverage.
I support Mike Gravel. I agree with him on pretty much everything. I think he's right on and he speaks the truth about everything. In my dream world what's happening with Ron Paul would be happening with Mike Gravel instead. They have very similar positions on foreign policy & civil liberties but otherwise they are quite different. For whatever reason, Gravel didn't catch on. I think it's because he's a little too weird for most folks. I honestly think that if people would vote entirely based on platform that Gravel would win. To me he's got the perfect understanding of what the federal government is for. I don't agree with Libertarians that there's no place for the federal Government, I just think that place isn't telling people what they can do with their own bodies (ie making drugs illegal etc)
I like Gravel, and he's a principled man. But he's made a few missteps with his political career that didn't give him a base to launch his campaign from. I don't agree with his views on socialism, because one has to understand that when you compromise some services to the government outside of defense of the nation and rule of law, you need a tax. And taxes allow the government to grow. The enabler for the current state size was the New Deal. Social programs for everyone. As soon as we got a tax and a fiat money system, we got a little socialism, and that has snowballed to where we are today. The only exception I would be willing to make for this, would be if we had a hard money currency system and a mandate that the government couldn't deficit spend. Then the government would have to directly raise taxes to pay for the services it provides, and I am betting that people would get pretty pissed off at tax increases, and low government service on the delivery of services and goods. Ron Paul puts it so well. It's immoral to take your money, and give it to someone less fortunate. YOU have a moral obligation to provide charity to those in need, but when the government gets into the business of confiscating wealth, and redistributing it, you're on a path to communism, which inevitably destroys the currency and impoverishes the nation.
I think its mainly cause he's not as charismatic and doesn't got the looks. Of course there are other reasons, but these are contributors. Its sad that there are people there that will be base part of their decision on looks because they know too little or are too gullible but its true. And also people like to hear what they like. And Gravel doesn't give that them, he just throws it out straight forward and truth without filtering through and searching for choice of words.