Ron Paul, who resembles an elf, thinks the free market will save his elven people from oppression at the hands of the governments dark sorcery.
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  • Ron Paul, who resembles an elf, thinks the free market will save his [elven] people from oppression at the hands of the government['s dark sorcery].

Grist's Ben Adler linked to an astonishing essay written by Ron Paul about Ebola. What do you think Paul believes the government should do to stop this disease? That's right: Nothing. Paul believes that the free market can stop Ebola. In fact, he says it outright: "individuals acting in the free market can do a better job of containing Ebola than can governments. "

"The people of Liberia and other countries would be better off if the US government left them alone," Paul writes. "Leave it to private citizens to invest in African business and trade with the African people." He has many examples of what the government should do to help business help itself. Here's one: "Legitimate concerns about protecting airline passengers from those with Ebola or other infectious diseases can best be addressed by returning responsibility for passenger safety to the airlines." Paul also rails against the "the FDA’s cumbersome approval process," even though, by his own admission, "Ebola patients in the US have received permission from the Food and Drug Administration to use 'unapproved' drugs." Paul's problem, you see, is that anyone has to ask "special permission" of the government when it comes to using untested medicine.

Paul cites as an example a Firestone plant in Liberia that oversaw its own quarantine procedures when the Ebola outbreak began. "Firestone has successfully kept the Ebola virus from spreading among its employees," Paul says. In fact, "As of this writing, there are only three Ebola patients at Firestone's treatment facility." Of course, the market was much freer in 1918 when the flu pandemic killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people, but Ron Paul has never given a shit about history. Ron Paul only gives a shit about one thing: The free market. Of course he looks at Ebola as an opportunity to cheerlead for his life's one cause.