Laura Knoy: Now how does this noninterventionist philosophy play out when it's a humanitarian crisis like genocide in Darfur, Sudan? Ron Paul: ...it should be done voluntarily. I have no right - no moral right or constitutional right - to come with a gun and tax the people and say: 'I will take money because I want to do good' ... there's warring factions going on there, it's a civil war... You could've argued that in Somalia as well ... And the American people are generous - there's no reason why we can't help feed the world, and we do. But there's no justification to use violence against our people to extract money to do good overseas.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Ron Paul argues that humanitarian aid should be voluntary and not funded by coercive taxation or military intervention.
- In plain terms
- Help abroad voluntarily, not through forced taxes or war.
- What can you take from it?
- Provide aid through voluntary contributions.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When is government aid justified?
- How can voluntary aid be scaled effectively?
Another view
Large crises sometimes require coordinated government response.
More from Ron Paul
We go about the world, fighting to spread democracy and tell them how to live, but we really don't have a democratic system... The laws have been made to make …
Permalink to quote #42 Clearly, language threatening to wipe a nation or a group of people off the map is to be condemned by all civilized people. And I do condemn any such language.…
Permalink to quote #44 Most often, our messing around and meddling in the affairs of other countries have unintended consequences. Sometimes just over in those countries that we mess…
Permalink to quote #41
Related quotes
Nobody's suffering more than the Palestinian people from this whole process. And I would like to see - if we could get some movement from Palestinian leadershi…
Barack ObamaBarack Obama quote #40 Lasting peace is sought, it is essential to adopt international measures to improve the lot of the masses. The welfare of the entire human race must replace hu…
Mustafa Kemal AtaturkMustafa Kemal Ataturk quote #8 'It gives me great pleasure to add my voice to all those paying tribute to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug on his 90th birthday. As we celebrate Dr. Borlaug's long and r…
Norman BorlaugNorman Borlaug quote #14