Not meaning to hijack the thread....but...
I have a former student (he graduated HS about 8 years ago) who was a very bright and promising young man. He pigeon-holed 80% of his post-tax earnings from working at the family resteraunt while in high school. That 80% went directly into his investment account he had set up himself. He bought and sold stocks like a pro. His Senior year, he paid cash for a brand new Volkswagen Passat that he shopped around for and figured costs of flying to pick up the car/etc. to get the very best bottom line.
He went on to college and rapidly earned his Batchelor’s degree in business, and then completed his MBA. He now has his own business in which he buys and sells property, automobiles, and still has time to work for the family restaraunt for “fun”. He is super bright in business matters and has an uncanny eye on world markets - particularly in all sorts of investment funds. Let’s just say that I consider his opinion on anything related to stocks or the markets in general to be almost as good as gold.
He like Ron Paul. While he disagrees with RP on returning to the Gold Standard (practicalities), he really likes Ron Paul on pretty much every other issue.
Is this former student a nut-job? He is a unique individual, but I also respect his opinion. And in some cases, it is hard to argue with his logic.
So... I do agree that the Ron Paul followers are much like a cult, there are some truly bright and generally logical people who present some pretty good arguments.
I believe the premise of the thread is that if he isn't he can be made one given a sufficient quantity of perjoratives and epithets.