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Only Ron Paul supporters can live in this town!

thelede.blogs.nytimes.com — A group of ardent backers of Ron Paul, the maverick congressman and Republican presidential candidate, are flocking to Paulville.org — presumably to help them replicate in the physical world the comfortable feeling they’ve experienced online, of being fenced-off from the rest of us.

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  • MarkDTS, on 05/10/2008, -3/+11While I would consider myself a supporter of Ron Paul, this sounds a bit like a cult,or at least a foundation to one. Then again, I'm not a fan of gated communities. :)
  • DentThat, on 05/10/2008, -5/+7For any critics:

    Who complained about Arnold Palmer, Walt Disney World, Central American or other gated communities. I never hear insinuations for Gold statutes at the main gates of other places. So what is the mocking for of Ron Paul Americans choosing to freely associate in a community?

    I personally would buy an island and let the world tank its self all the way to hell
    • Tone453, on 05/11/2008, -2/+2Agreed except the last bit.
    • chaosium, on 05/11/2008, -3/+8"So what is the mocking for of Ron Paul Americans choosing to freely associate in a community?"

      It's because it will fail spectacularly, like every other libertarian endeavor. Everyone is too busy being individualists to act like a human being to others. Infrastructure falls apart, contracts are voided left and right, and promises are broken. I can't wait for it to happen, it'll be like the FLDS only funny.
      • PeppermintPig, on 05/11/2008, -1/+3Unlike how things occur in the US now...?

        Bridges falling down, people acting like jerks to one another, and corporations violating contracts and getting bank bailouts. Yeah, this Paulville has nowhere to go but down!

        These people don't seem to wish you any ill will, so it might be nice to act like a human yourself.
  • Kdiz, on 05/10/2008, -2/+4To me it looks like they like Ron Paul to me, all you gotta do is look at the community
    • DentThat, on 05/12/2008, -0/+1You sound stupid...............hahaha :P
  • jair428, on 05/10/2008, -3/+12i'll help them pack!
  • jeanine22, on 05/10/2008, -6/+3Obama/Paul
    well
    perhaps Ron as Secretary of State?
  • bohemianowl, on 05/11/2008, -8/+9better than the fascist NWO playground the neocons are turning the rest of the USA into.
    • chaosium, on 05/11/2008, -5/+9Goooo awaaaay.
    • onetimer, on 05/11/2008, -4/+12It's a lot more complicated than a normal playground. The illuminati generally hang near the see-saw, so if your a zionist commander, you're safer just sticking to the swing-set. But don't even THINK of using the monkey bars, unless you want to risk the Trilateral commissioners pulling your pants down.
  • bohemianowl, on 05/11/2008, -3/+6An even better idea is to educate all your neighbors therefore creating new Ron Paul supporters all around where you live... thats how we WON my precinct.
  • Tone453, on 05/11/2008, -6/+4All it takes to change the world is the tireless efforts of an irate minority. People of similar belief working together could produce better results. This is surely an area bigbro will target, as it may undermine the system's power seeking agenda. Maybe a freedom minded community will find a way to magnify and strengthen the efforts of protecting the crumbling Constitution. Brainstorming can happen more easily in the RL than can happen on the net. It's more spontaneous. I'm doubtful that this will produce a cult because it's not religious, but it will be more extreme when any set of ideas are the norm. I think Ron Paul is just a banner that people are uniting under as it's synonymous with genuine core principles of Americanism and liberty and doesn't get as easily confused with the doublethink "neo" version of freedom many politicians and media parrots tout. The best we can hope for is that it helps protect and further their freedom and maybe even that of outside the community, and the worst case scenario could be another Waco or Ruby Ridge. Divide and conquer is the motto of the ruling elite. United we're strong. Join or die.
    • KMye, on 05/11/2008, -2/+10"I'm doubtful that this will produce a cult because it's not religious"

      From a cult characteristics checklist at http://www.csj.org/infoserv_cult101/checklis.htm

      *The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.
      *Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
      *The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).
      *The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society.
      *The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).
      *The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
      *The group is preoccupied with making money.
      *Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.

      And, as if you guys weren't already there...

      *Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.
      • onetimer, on 05/11/2008, -3/+8Ding ding ding ding ding. Yep, this has been noticed before. It's scary how many parallels there are. I knew it was a cult (among the hard-core supporters) when I read a post on the RonPaulForums about a member who admitted he "would gladly sacrifice his life for paul and the revolution"
        • Tone453, on 05/11/2008, -2/+1If you don't have something worth dying for, you don't have anything worth living for. Think of all the veterans who joined the military to protect the Constitution and died defending it. Ron Paul and the revolution is just an idea. It's the idea of defending liberty and economic prosperity here at home and not policing the world. It's a world away from the corruption of the Bush administration. All supporters want to do is undo the damage done. If Ron Paul was the commander in chief, I'd have a lot more trust in joining the military, as I have confidence he would avoid nation building and warmongering. If we did fight for anything, it'd be to defend our own borders here from foreign enemies. That's something worth fighting for.
      • Tone453, on 05/11/2008, -6/+3Many people create artificial constructs within which to make a political ideology the norm. They're called countries.
        • onetimer, on 05/11/2008, -3/+8Yes, but no group except cult members make communities based around one man. The name "Paulville" and the fact that it is advertised as a community for "ron paul supporters" (not even "libertarian supporters") just screams cult.
          • KMye, on 05/11/2008, -2/+7Well, there have been a few countries based around a cult of personality. And interestingly, most all of them had a book written by their leader that almost all people had at least one copy of, or were required to own a copy of, and that true followers took as near-divine Truth.
          • Tone453, on 05/11/2008, -1/+1"The goal of Paulville.org it to establish gated communities containing 100% Ron Paul supporters AND OR PEOPLE THAT LIVE BY THE IDEALS OF FREEDOM AND LIBERTY." You don't have to agree with Paul. As long as you live by the ideals of freedom and liberty, you're in. Anarchocapitalists and voluntarianists who don't vote in presidential elections because they disagree with electing anyone to rule over them would also be welcome even if they didn't support Ron Paul.
            "The community VOTES on all community efforts, such as utilities etc. However NO ONE IS FORCED to consume these utilities and or pay for them, AKA people can be off grid on their share of land. "THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE IDEALS THAT YOU'RE FREE TO LIVE YOUR LIFE THE WAY YOU WANT AND NOT BE FORCED TO DO OR PAY FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S LIFE STYLES YOU MAY NOT AGREE WITH."
            Sounds like a cult that wants to control every aspect of your life to me. Surely Paul will rule with an iron fist, as he is their leader whose every whim they must obey (sarcasm). Get real. You can live however you want here. That's the point.
    • jair428, on 05/11/2008, -1/+8i see myself as a supporter of Ron Paul but this idea of creating a community of Paul supporters is clearly insane... I also believe that this idea contradicts Paul's beliefs. I just wonder what Ron thinks about all this, that may determine my current attitude towards him.
      • chaosium, on 05/11/2008, -3/+6For good or for ill, you're going to see more and more libertarian gimmicks like this to come from Paul backers (but not really the official camp.)

        A monoculture of only libertarian personalities and ideals is not going to succeed very well on the micro or macro scale.

        China Mieville had a rockin' article about a similar endeavor

        http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3328/floating_ ...
      • Tone453, on 05/11/2008, -2/+0Even if he thought it was a bad idea, he'd still probably say that people should mind their own business and let others do what they want as long as they aren't hurting anybody. If it hurts his image, well, it's not part of the campaign. He doesn't have anything to do with it. But on the other hand, if there's anything good about it, it will probably be written about in his biography as something to do with his legacy that was inspired by him but not connected to him. Time will tell.
  • onetimer, on 05/11/2008, -4/+10If it's composed of 100% Ron Paul supporters, you know it's going to be the typical "r3[LOVE]ution" sausage-fest. At least we don't have to worry about them procreating...
    • chaosium, on 05/11/2008, -3/+8And one 60 year old Ayn clone to be the smurfette of their "anti-commune".
    • Semirhage527, on 05/15/2008, -0/+1Because no women support Paul? What an asinine assumption.
  • jair428, on 05/11/2008, -3/+10could someone pass me the punch?
    • onetimer, on 05/11/2008, -3/+9What flavor? Jones? Koresh? Or some good ol' fashion Rand?
  • jcm267, on 05/11/2008, -2/+10It's fitting that the idiot in the Justin.tv clip is saying that Paulville idiots can grow sheep and chickens for food.
  • jcm267, on 05/11/2008, -2/+10"I like wind because solar is only going to work 12 hours a day. Wind you can get any time of the day."
    Good God this guy is an idiot. People who put solar cells on their rooftops have batteries.
    • onetimer, on 05/11/2008, -2/+10Seriously? One of them seriously said that? And to think some of these guys want to buy their own island. Their civilization would collapse even before it started...
      • jcm267, on 05/11/2008, -2/+8You should listen to that Justin.tv thing that is linked to in this article. It's full of stupid comments. The host just commented on a chat room user's suggestion to put a "beer grid" that delivers beer to houses in Paulville much like how the water company delivers water.
        • GhostyBoy, on 05/11/2008, -1/+3As much as having a steady flow of beer pumped into my home *seems* like a good idea (in a red-eyed "...dude I just thought of the coolest thing..." kind of way), is that even remotely practical at all?
  • Tone453, on 05/11/2008, -0/+4It sounds somewhat like the freestate project except in that they moved amongst the rest of the people in an attempt to take over the politics of the area. It might be better if they were more open and not so exclusive. It's interesting to me to think about what the community will be like in ten years and what kind of ideas and influence they produce. It's uncertain whether or not this will be a nice addition to all the activism scattered throughout the country by having a concentration in a town or other community. This has the possibility of being a double edged sword. It's easy to predict that if anything bad came about from there, it would be spun and used to demonize the whole movement.
  • Tone453, on 05/11/2008, -2/+1"The goal of Paulville.org it to establish gated communities containing 100% Ron Paul supporters AND OR PEOPLE THAT LIVE BY THE IDEALS OF FREEDOM AND LIBERTY." You don't have to agree with Paul. As long as you live by the ideals of freedom and liberty, you're in. Anarchocapitalists and voluntarianists who don't vote in presidential elections because they disagree with electing anyone to rule over them would also be welcome even if they didn't support Ron Paul.
    "The community VOTES on all community efforts, such as utilities etc. However NO ONE IS FORCED to consume these utilities and or pay for them, AKA people can be off grid on their share of land. "THIS IS IN LINE WITH THE IDEALS THAT YOU'RE FREE TO LIVE YOUR LIFE THE WAY YOU WANT AND NOT BE FORCED TO DO OR PAY FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S LIFE STYLES YOU MAY NOT AGREE WITH."
    Sounds like a cult that wants to control every aspect of your life to me. Surely Paul will rule with an iron fist, as he is their leader whose every whim they must obey (sarcasm). Get real. You can live however you want here. That's the point.
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