tl;dr - I ignored reading about some Texas Republican Congressman for years in an investment newsletter; finally read about him and agreed with 99% of his policies. Dr. Paul cured my apathy.
It's hard making money in the U.S.
I did all the right things (so I thought at the time):
In 2003, I met this guy, Hamid who owned 2.5 gas stations in the East (SF) Bay and he made $40,000/month from his business. He dropped out of UCSD to run gas stations and this guy made my yearly salary in two months.
Mind you, this was the middle of the housing boom when everyone was getting into houses... Hamid was telling me to buy gold, silver and diamonds. Why?
"Because gold is real wealth; silver is real wealth; diamonds are real wealth."
I still didn't get it. You can't eat gold. You can't drive gold. At least a house puts a roof over your head. The conversation didn't last long. He told me I wasn't qualified to talk to him and to go read Richard Russell and the Dow Theory Letters before he talks with me any further.
That got be burning mad. I hold a Master's degree - this guy was just some college dropout! So I subscribed to Richard Russell and was lost in his words for years.
What's this about a P&F chart showing bearish activity? The Federal Reserve... huh? Dow non-confirmation what? And at the Richard Russell's daily remarks, he posts noteworthy articles from the day. And when it said, "Texas Republican Congressma...." I closed the page. Nothing good in this world is Republican.
Politically, I have never voted for a Republican president. My voting history has been:
Clinton '96
{nobody} '00
Badnarik '04
Nobody was fiscally conservative, socially liberal. Until I read about Ron Paul on the web. Then I realized this was the same Texas Republican Congressman my investment newsletter kept mentioning. Then I read articles like, The Dollar Hegemony. The more Ron Paul I read, the more Richard Russell made sense. And gave proof to the fact that it's hard to make money in the US.
This guy has been saying the same thing since he entered congress in the 70's. His every vote has been on the principle of strict interpretation of the Constitution. So automatic you can write a computer program:
His personal beliefs... his political viability... the short-term benefit of his constituents be damned. His fidelity to the Constitution was insane (yes, that's the only insane thing about Ron Paul... how he is able to vote his principles).
This was 2006, when I began drinking from the fire hose of liberty define my socially liberal, fiscally conservatism. Admittedly, a lot of things that Ron Paul said "No" to were shocking. But measured against the requirements of liberty, it made sense in every case.
I maxed out on my individual donations. I met him in San Francisco and in Reno. I waved signs, I wrote letters, I canvassed 4 to 5 precincts... I made calls for him.
Though ultimately, Obama won, I realized a ton of things:
That's it. I support Ron Paul's 2012 run as a top-tier GOP presidential candidate. I have high hopes for him, but I have too many responsibilities to be out doing the things I used to be doing. So here's a blog post to give you even more web-presence.
It's hard making money in the U.S.
I did all the right things (so I thought at the time):
- Got good grades
- Went to a prestigious university
- Studied engineering
- Got a job
- Climbed the career ladder
In 2003, I met this guy, Hamid who owned 2.5 gas stations in the East (SF) Bay and he made $40,000/month from his business. He dropped out of UCSD to run gas stations and this guy made my yearly salary in two months.
Mind you, this was the middle of the housing boom when everyone was getting into houses... Hamid was telling me to buy gold, silver and diamonds. Why?
"Because gold is real wealth; silver is real wealth; diamonds are real wealth."
I still didn't get it. You can't eat gold. You can't drive gold. At least a house puts a roof over your head. The conversation didn't last long. He told me I wasn't qualified to talk to him and to go read Richard Russell and the Dow Theory Letters before he talks with me any further.
That got be burning mad. I hold a Master's degree - this guy was just some college dropout! So I subscribed to Richard Russell and was lost in his words for years.
What's this about a P&F chart showing bearish activity? The Federal Reserve... huh? Dow non-confirmation what? And at the Richard Russell's daily remarks, he posts noteworthy articles from the day. And when it said, "Texas Republican Congressma...." I closed the page. Nothing good in this world is Republican.
Politically, I have never voted for a Republican president. My voting history has been:
Clinton '96
{nobody} '00
Badnarik '04
Nobody was fiscally conservative, socially liberal. Until I read about Ron Paul on the web. Then I realized this was the same Texas Republican Congressman my investment newsletter kept mentioning. Then I read articles like, The Dollar Hegemony. The more Ron Paul I read, the more Richard Russell made sense. And gave proof to the fact that it's hard to make money in the US.
This guy has been saying the same thing since he entered congress in the 70's. His every vote has been on the principle of strict interpretation of the Constitution. So automatic you can write a computer program:
if ( legislationAuthorizedByArticle1Section8 )
{
voteYes();
}
else
{
voteNo();
}
His personal beliefs... his political viability... the short-term benefit of his constituents be damned. His fidelity to the Constitution was insane (yes, that's the only insane thing about Ron Paul... how he is able to vote his principles).
This was 2006, when I began drinking from the fire hose of liberty define my socially liberal, fiscally conservatism. Admittedly, a lot of things that Ron Paul said "No" to were shocking. But measured against the requirements of liberty, it made sense in every case.
I maxed out on my individual donations. I met him in San Francisco and in Reno. I waved signs, I wrote letters, I canvassed 4 to 5 precincts... I made calls for him.
Though ultimately, Obama won, I realized a ton of things:
- I had fun (as Ron Paul commands)
- I have instant camaraderie with fellow supporters
- I get to imbue future kids with a firm philosophy for a better society
That's it. I support Ron Paul's 2012 run as a top-tier GOP presidential candidate. I have high hopes for him, but I have too many responsibilities to be out doing the things I used to be doing. So here's a blog post to give you even more web-presence.
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