Ron Paul, Imperial Japan, and the (Il)Legitimacy of American Expansion

An old friend currently working as an advisor to the John McCain campaign recently remarked to me that “much of what Ron Paul says makes sense; but don’t be a wimp -- vote McCain.” The comment was a reminder that the irrational instincts -- the ones that urge us to ignore our more reasonable impulses and not be a "wimp" -- still do drive much of the conventional policy-making in this country.

Unfortunately, it’s too late in the game to turn Senator McCain around. In fact, he's been advocating his own brand of authoritarianism for decades now, which is why the libertarian-leaning Barry Goldwater was never too fond of him.

The problem is that, like the Japanese Empire circa 1935, the U.S.'s central government has become all too powerful to be challenged by an occasional voice of reason. There were several Ron Paul-esque voices in Japan, too, at the time, but they were easily crushed for appearing "sympathetic to the enemy," just as Congressman Paul was "crushed" (according to the major papers) by Giuliani a few months ago for pointing out the fact that we are despised not for our tremendous freedom and wealth, but for our policies and actions abroad.