On Ferguson, Ron Paul Says ‘a culture of violence has invaded all policing activities in the United States.’

At his
Voices of Liberty channel, former congressman and presidential
candidate Ron Paul puts the violence in Ferguson (which
happily subsided last night under the direction of saner police
commanders and less confrontational tactics) in the larger context
of “Too many bureaucrats with guns, too many laws, too many
regulations, too many prisons—all designed to protect the
state.”

It’s a point, he reminds us, that he made in the wake of the
Boston bombing, when police locked down the entire area in search
of two suspects. “The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for
the government to turn what should have been a police investigation
into a military-style occupation of an American city,” he wrote at the
time, in a
widely
reported
statement.

With regard to recent events, he
comments:

Protesters to the police killing an unarmed teenager have been
met with tear gas, a substance banned in warfare. Police-initiated
violence should surprise no one. NSA spies on everyone without
warrants. Drug busts with SWAT teams making mistakes are common.
The excessive use of police power should be an expected consequence
of big government, which is authoritarian by nature.

Too many bureaucrats with guns, too many laws, too many
regulations, too many prisons—all designed to protect the state.
The people’s liberties are forgotten.

As the economy continues to deteriorate, expect the violence to
accelerate. The unfairness of the distribution of wealth that is
caused by economic intervention is the constant, smoldering issue
that can turn a skirmish with the law into something much bigger.
When root causes are not understood, emotions can easily take
over.

Before we go all Piketty, note that Paul
refers not to income inequality as an evil in itself, but to the
consequences of the state gaming and impeding people’s ability to
create wealth.

In terms of solutions, Paul urges better understanding of civil
liberties and property rights, small and local government, and
prosperity achieved through free markets rather than authoritarian
attempts at redistribution.