Torn between candidates (Ron Paul)

I find myself in the position that I think most people find themselves in. It's the position that typically keeps people from voting altogether...I don't like everything about one candidate yet, but I like certain things about most of the candidates.

The part I'm torn about currently is what most people believe that Ron Paul stands for, isolationism. Many thinks that he wants to withdraw troops from every country in the world, cut off ties to all other countries, and basically curl up into a little ball within ourselves and only focus on our country. I don't think that's what he really believes, if fact, I'm certain that's not exactly what he believes, but he never gets a chance to fully explain his point of view on why he thinks we should withdraw troops from the war as well as military bases around the world.

I think this is a topic we need more discussion on, rather than scoffing at Ron Paul and dismissing the idea altogether. I'll admit, I'm not sure where I stand on this issue right now...I can see both sides of the issue.

On one hand, we believe that Democracy should be the way throughout all the world. Our freedom is so special that we believe it is our responsibility to spread it to other countries. We take the view point of it is our responsibility as the world's superpower to stand up for those that can't stand up for themselves, and when a people are being oppressed, we take it upon ourselves, at times, to go in and "free" the people.

I can certainly see that...this country is so blessed with our freedoms, and we merely want others to experience the same blessings that we enjoy.

But if we look at it from the other point of view...people think America stands up on it's moral high horse, trying to make everyone like them, like they think they know what's best for us.

It's not that they don't think democracy is good, it's that they don't want to be forced into it. And when they see our military bases in foreign countries, they look at it as being occupied, not completely free to live their life the way they want to.

If I think about it...would we want China, or Russia, or Japan, or anyone to open up a military base in the United States? Hell no! I'd be pissed if China decided that they wanted to protect their monetary investment they have in the United States (which is significant) by having a military base here.

So why are we surprised that people don't like it when we "occupy" their country? Oh I understand that we don't view it as "occupying", but would we consider it a form of "occupying" if it was the former scenario where China had a military base in the United States to protect their monetary investment??

So where do you stand? Pull out the troops from other countries, as well as Iraq, so that the rest of the world likes us? Pull out the troops because as the moral leaders in the world, we know we wouldn't want other countries having military bases in our country? Or, leave the troops, because we have to protect ourselves by not allowing other countries that hate us, via the previously described, self-fulfilling prophecy, to arm themselves and potentially come to attack us? Or, take a different view on morality, believe that we owe it to the rest of the world to spread our democracy throughout, and that "occupying" a country is merely a by-product of helping a country get on it's feet?

It's not quite as easy as all that, of course, but if you think that much of the rest of the world hates the United States merely because we are a wealthy nation, you don't have much reflective prowess. At a first glance, many people love the United States. We give monetary aid throughout the world. Citizens see what we have, they want what we have, and I don't think they covet what we have (meaning that they want us not to have it, for clarification).

Such is the deliemma that I struggle with. If the scenario about China "occupying" us were true, and then they decided to just close their base and withdraw their troops...would we immediately trust them? Would it make things easier, knowing that we have control of our own country again?

These are things we need to think about, that we need to demand that our Representatives, Senators, and President, think about and give answers on. And then we need to VOTE for whom we believe will lead us safely into the future, with our dignity, morality, and conscious in tact.