Compassionate conservatism XXIV: Ron Paul demonstrates his compassionate side

It always strikes me as odd when non-right wingers embrace Ron Paul, treating him like some kind of old man puppy dog. While his stand on overseas wars and drugs are enlightened, his other views are somewhat less than enlightened – let’s just say, downright medieval. You know, in a ‘let em eat cake’ sort of way. Don’t know what I mean? Here, let me help you with that.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul explained Wednesday that famines in Africa were a result of a lack of a “free market systems.”

“All I know is if you look at history and if you compare good medical care and you compare famine, the countries that are more socialistic have more famines,” Paul told CNN’s T.J. Holmes. “If you look at Africa, they don’t have any free market systems and property rights and they have famines and no medical care. So the freer the system, the better the health care.”

Holmes also gave Paul a chance to respond to a controversy that ensued after the tea party audience at Monday night’s Republican presidential debate cheered the notion that an uninsured man in a coma would be left to die.

“This whole idea that they world will not provide for people if you don’t depend on government — freedom provides more prosperity and better health care than all the socialism and welfarism in the world,” Paul said. “Nobody can compete with me about compassion because I know and understand how free markets and sound money and a sensible foreign policy is the most compassionate system ever known to mankind. So if you care about people you have to look to the freedom philosophy and limited government.”

CK adds: When you consider there are no regulations, social safety nets, labour standards, etc., no services of any kind in countries like Somalia; that’s where the worst famines happen to be at this time.