ad astra

So I won’t lie.  I basically have no real knowledge of what’s been going on in the GOP primaries for the past few months.  I’m not even sure if I can name all of the candidates, or if I know who’s still in and who’s still out.  But yesterday I saw a videoclip which really freaked me out.  Not because of something one of the candidates said, but because of the audience’s reaction to it.

“My point is, if another country does to us what we do others, we’re not going to like it very much. So I would say that maybe we ought to consider a golden rule in — in foreign policy.”

That was what Ron Paul said in response to a question about foreign policy.  And before he even finished his sentence, he was booed.  He then continued:

“We endlessly bomb … these countries and then we wonder — wonder why they get upset with us? And — and yet it — it continues on and on.”

The response to that?  More boos.  I was literally sort of stunned, thinking I was hearing things or something.  But I wasn’t.

How is that possible?  Children are taught from the time they are toddlers “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.”  It’s called the “Golden Rule” for a reason - because we supposedly highly esteem it.  But does the rule only go as far as not stealing another kids toy?  How can we expect children, or any human being to act that way, and then boo a politician for daring to apply it to foreign policy?  Isn’t that a double standard?

(I feel like I should mention here that many Christians have a tendency to reject the Golden Rule for another: “Do unto others as Jesus would do unto them.” But I guess that one goes out the window too at an international level.  Either that or some Christians believe that Jesus was a warmonger.)

I’m not endorsing Ron Paul.  I have no real opinion of him, and would probably agree with very few of his policies if I looked into them further.  But he won my respect with this episode.  It’s a refreshing change from the “Terrorists hate us because they hate our freedom” narrative which we were force fed after 9/11, and I look forward to hearing more about what he has to say.

As a side note, if someone wants to explain to me why a Golden Rule policy deserves boos and hisses, I’d be glad to listen.

Oh, and another side note, I do realize that the crowd cheers at the end when he says essentially the same thing, which I don’t entirely understand.  Maybe it’s different people?  Or maybe he just has incredible powers of persuasion and won them over in under a minute.