I was browsing the Ron Paul Forums and DailyPaul, where there were some discussions of the two Rons endorsing one another. I noticed a number of extremely pro-Reagan comments from people who do not seem to be typical mainstream Republican tools/NeoCons. Now, I won't hold it against Paul for falling for Reagan's rhetoric 70s but what perpetuated the myth of Reagan among libertarian-leaning conservatives? Have they not made any effort to actually look into Reagan's record as governor or President? All Reagan did was talk free-markets, as even Pat Buchanan has (favorably) noted, Reagan was a regulating, protectionist.
The also seem to be stunningly unaware of the Mises Institute.
I agree. The mythos built up around him because generally America values talk and not action. Reagan talked a big game and conservatives pine for the days of "smaller government" the same way most Democrats pine for the good ol' days of Bill Clinton, when Seinfeld was popular and the economy was "going smoothly." I think it mostly has to do with the way he interacted with the media and used self-depricating humor in addition to getting credit for the inevitable collapse of the Soviet Union.
"Reagan beat the automoton, Godless communists! Hoo-rah!"
Rothbard has a very harsh article about Reagan...http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard60.html
My Blog: http://www.anarchico.net/
Production is 'anarchistic' - Ludwig von Mises
I've read 'em all. Linked several on DailyPaul. Also, check out this one by Ray Harvey: http://rayharvey.org/index.php/2009/12/ronald-reagan-and-the-myth-of-deregulation/
David Boaz repeats the Reagan myth. Beh. Boaz is either dishonest, an incompetent researcher or not a libertarian. But I won't get into that again.
Ricky James Moore II: David Boaz repeats the Reagan myth. Beh. Boaz is either dishonest, an incompetent researcher or not a libertarian. But I won't get into that again.
think you need a reality check.
"His actions in office did not always fulfill those promises. Government spending continued to grow, there was little devolution of power to the states, and the cost of federal regulation continued to increase. Instead of abolishing two Cabinet departments, as he had promised (Education and Energy), he created one (Veterans Affairs). We owe to him the presidencies of George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, neither of whom shared his commitment to liberty and limited government."
The state is not the enemy. The idea of the state is.
I think Boaz does:
As a liberal who moved to the right, he might have been called the first neoconservative. Except that he had been a liberal anticommunist, not a communist like the original neoconservatives. And his conservatism involved making government smaller, not using big government for conservative goals. We miss that kind of conservatism in Washington today.
Reagan was a big government liberal democrat. Though he was a NeoCon - the bad kind.
Ricky James Moore II: I think Boaz does: As a liberal who moved to the right, he might have been called the first neoconservative. Except that he had been a liberal anticommunist, not a communist like the original neoconservatives. And his conservatism involved making government smaller, not using big government for conservative goals. We miss that kind of conservatism in Washington today. Reagan was a big government liberal democrat. Though he was a NeoCon - the bad kind.
I don't see any conflict between your assessment and the one from Boaz?
Boaz paints him as though he were a small government guy and his actions only 'sometimes failed to live up to it. In fact Reagan was the most expansionist president since FDR, the most warfarist since Kennedy, and the most police-state since Nixon. While not as bad a the paens to Reagan we get from the NeoCons, it still feeds into the Myth that is Reagan. Reagan was, objectively, throughout his entire career, on every single subject he touched - excepting California abortion laws - anti-libertarian, anti-capitalist, big government and statist.
One of the things we need to remember about the Reagan year was the massive histeria regarding Soviet supremacy. People really believed the Soviets were ready to take over the world: while in the '50s it was nuclear armed missiles and bombers (the latter threat turned out to be grossly exagerated to say the least), now it was the fear of superiority of the Soviet economy (please refrain from laughter for now) and technology.
People really believed all of this mumbo-jumbo. They looked at steel and concrete production figures and at the scared "military analysts" telling them the latest MIG was so superior to anything NATO could put in the air. It didn't matter the out figures were the result of lot of "creative accounting" and the latest MIG only existed in the heads of generals and defense contractors bent on getting even more money. I have no idea if this was done on a purpose to keep up the sense of insecurity or if it was simply the result of decades of Soviet-worship in the press and general paranoia.
Ronnie was seen as humanity's last hope against the Soviet threat. He may have been nothing more than a dupe being served well-written scripts but he was simply magnificent in his role. Here was a good ol' boy leading the fight against the most terrible enemy humanity had ever seen. I don't know who his handlers were but Obama's could learn a thing or two from them. Even a minuscule thing like sending troops to Grenada (a military operation the scale of a clandestine US incursion into Pakistan, something we don't even pay attention to nowadays) turned into a major occasion to flatten the military, whose image and morale was still in shambles from the '70s, and play the patriotism card. Every talk turned into an inspirational source for all the "free-world". I personally doubt Reagan truly understood what was going on: he was just happy to enjoy that stardom that eluded him in Hollywood for so long. He surely didn't understand (and din't care either) for all those bills concerning tax increases, new regulations etc but it was his job. This was his last performance and by far his greatest.