Ron Paul still remains one of the few politicians that I respect. He was a great recruiter to the liberty movement and got liberty loving individuals motivated to help change this country. Ultimately he encourages individuals to participate in the political process in an attempt to hijack the Republican Party and turn it into a free market anti-war organization. Needless to say it would seem that the political process is his tool of choice for bringing liberty to the United States but during the 30th anniversary celebration of the Ludwig von Mises Institute he went on record saying that economic education is more important than any political action:
If you’ve read any of Paul’s books you’ve likely noticed that he often references the likes of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. Paul’s knowledge and philosophy stem from reading and comprehending the great minds of libertarianism, which were also the great minds of, what is now referred to as, Austrian economics. Understanding Austrian economics is understanding libertarianism. Reading material by Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Friedrich Hayek, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, and the other big names of Austrian economics will explain why voluntary interactions are more beneficial and coercive force.
Spreading liberty can be done far more effectively through economic education than political action. Economic education teaches why liberty is important and allows individuals to internalize those lessons whereas political action requires participants not already educated in the school of liberty to mindlessly follow orders from figures of authority.
Paul got me into reading Rothbard, and that was that.