Editor's note: This interview was originally published on January 20, 2017.
Story by Joseph Ford Cotto
Story by Joseph Ford Cotto
Nowadays, a video
camera and Web streaming can get you farther than most once thought possible.
Paul Ramsey, though, has taken the basics to a new level. The nationalistic
humorist does not have graphics, soundtracks, or split-screens, but only
himself, his stream-of-consciousness style, and no small amount to say about
the political and cultural happenings of our time.
To say that he
marches to the beat of his own drum is an understatement.
Reviled by
neo-Nazis – none of whom will get even passing mention here – as a race traitor
par excellence and castigated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as “[a]
scathing critic of ‘cultural Marxism’ …. who posts Internet videos of himself
talking to the camera …. he has uploaded hundreds of liberal-loathing,
feminist-bashing, and racial separatist-supporting videos”, Ramsey can hardly
catch a break.
Already well known
to millions through his RamZPaul account on YouTube, he
attained Internet infamy after parting ways with anything and everything
Alt-Right – which followed Richard Spencer hailing Trump and receiving
an enthusiastic not-at-all-Roman salute.
“Most normal people
can support the Alt Right ideas of self-determination, protection of borders,
good trade deals, America First, etc,” Ramsey wrote on his website
late last month. “But normal people can't support anything that is associated
with Nazism …. The Alt Right was a phenomenon that helped launch Trump into the
White House. Now that he has been elected, there is no need for the ‘alternative’
label. We are now the Trump Right.”
At the dawn of the
Donald’s presidential administration, Ramsey shares his views on some timely
topics. This is the first of three articles spanning a most lively discussion.
****
Joseph Ford Cotto: A few years ago, certain political forecasters claimed that the
future of America's center-right belongs to libertarians. Since the 2012
presidential election, protectionism has surged in both major parties. Now, in
the age of Trump, libertarianism's once-ascendant nature seems a distant
memory. Would you say that right-libertarian politics have any serious
potential under Trump?
Paul Ramsey: The outsourcing of jobs in the United
States due to Free Trade policies has been devastating to middle-class
Americans. The migration of jobs started decades ago with blue collar factory
workers. Now, with the advent of the Internet, we are seeing many high paying
white collar jobs outsourced to lower cost countries.
While Free Trade
does lower the cost of goods, that is little consolation to the former
middle-class Americas who are out of a job or are required to take a lower wage
job.
I am sure economists
can produce fancy charts and graphs explaining why a Free Trade policy is good.
However, Americans tend to be pragmatic. If this does not translated to a
higher standard of living, they will reject it.
Cotto: More than anything else, why did libertarianism fail to
fundamentally transform the American conservative movement?
Ramsey: The image of [the] fat, naked man at
the Libertarian convention symbolized how the Libertarian party has become
somewhat a joke.
Murray Rothbard and
Ayn Rand have been replaced with Gary Johnson. Brilliant minds have been
reduced to that of a druggie that was unfamiliar with Aleppo.
Cotto: Economic protectionism was said to be a dead idea; something
relegated to the pre-World War II era. Nonetheless, it has found enduring
popularity. Now, protectionism is primed to define American conservatism during
the years to come. Why does the future look so bright for an idea that, over
the last few generations, has been castigated ruthlessly?
Ramsey: America was founded with economic
protectionism. The period of Free Trade was only successful after WW2 because
half the world was Communist and the other half was in ruins. Those days are over.
