Bar Room Politics

I was out the other night at a bar having a few beers with a buddy of mine and the conversation briefly turned to the election. He's a Democrat who is on the fence about whom to support. I encouraged him to consider going Republican and voting for Ron Paul. He says he's going to think about it, which I appreciate.

So another guy on my left overhears us and he chimes in. The following conversation went something like this:

Him: You support Ron Paul?

Me: Yeah.

Him: That's the wrong direction for what we need right now.

Me: Oh? You think we need more war and a bigger empire?

Him: No, no. But he'll pretty much dismantle the Federal Government.

Me: He wants to obey the Constitution. You don't think we should follow the Constitution?

Him: No, no. We need a strong central government.

Me: Well our "strong central government" has turned into a worldwide empire, and is now in the process of destroying our currency.

Him: Well, we don't want to pay $8 for a gallon of gas.

Me: If we keep debasing the currency, we are going to pay that much anyway. What do you think inflation is?

Him: We pay a lot for gas because of the existence of futures markets in energy. Big corporations can buy up big chunks of oil and monopolize supplies.

Me: Futures markets have existed for many, many years, in many different types of commodity markets - energy, farm products, currency, etc. They exist as a financial tool and provide a way to hedge against risk. If what you said was true, we'd pay $50 for a loaf of bread.

Him: (Blank stare for a moment) Hey! Look what's on TV!

I never did find out exactly who he supported. On one hand, his ignorance of economics and finance led me to believe he was a Liberal. But he felt sympathetic to endless warmaking, which would have pegged him as a Conservative. (Of course, many conservatives aren't that saavy on economics, but they are less likely to blame corporations for all economic woes, even when the criticism is legit.)