EspañolConservative and libertarian students gathered in Los Angeles this past weekend for the Young Americans for Liberty California state convention — an event replete with activism training, networking, and even star-gazing.
After a morning of political boot camp, attendees gathered into the Fowler Museum’s Lenart Auditorium, and actor, screenwriter, and producer Vince Vaughn stepped onto the stage.
YAL Director of Programs and Operations Edward King sat down with Vaughn to talk about his involvement with the “liberty movement,” a grassroots movement sparked by former Congressman Ron Paul’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns. During the Q&A, the film star discussed the issues that caused him to turn to liberty, the 2016 presidential election, and talking politics with his co-stars.
Vaughn claimed he was always very interested in the Federal Reserve, even before getting politically involved. In spite of his own research into the matter, the Swingers star felt like something was missing. To get to the bottom of it, the star decided to call Ron Paul.
“I have always been interested in the Federal Reserve, questioning it, you know? So I [decided] to call Ron [Paul] and he was very warm, very genuine, and nice, so we started a friendship. He was always more than willing to talk to me about different issues.”
For Vaughn, the fact that US Americans are not entirely aware of what the Federal Reserve does allows those running the system to operate mostly in the dark. That has created unintended consequences that are now hurting the economy.
“The system the [federal government] uses for banking is not sustainable,” Vaughn said. “[It impairs] people’s ability to make their own choices in their lives.” Vaughn gave a brief introduction to the concept of central banking before saying the government’s rationale “is deceiving. It starts to become very clear when you start to look at the [theories] of Austrian economics versus Keynesian economics.”
When asked whether he ever seizes the opportunity to talk to co-stars on set about economics and politics, Vaughn replied, “Yeah, I talk to them a lot. [Although] I find it that people have to be open to talk about that stuff.” Vaughn heartily admitted, “I like to debate them and aggravate them sometimes!”
According to the actor, co-stars who come to him to talk usually have to do some homework before trying to “stump” him. But as he shows them he knows the subject well, he feels he’s able to break their defenses:
They start to realize it’s the principle you’re talking about, not the place or the given situation [that matters]. [They start to understand] that it’s about the principle.
That can be contagious to people, once they start to realize that a lot of government action is force, that [government] really hounds people [and] decides [for them] what is okay and not okay. [Government action] usually leads to some people being mistreated and some people abusing it.
When asked about what he likes about Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, Vaughn claimed he respects Paul’s stances: “I got to know Rand through Ron. I found him to be very consistent on a lot of the issues where liberty is concerned, and I liked him very much.”
But could Rand be Vaughn’s pick in 2016? “He’s the [only] candidate who’s currently running that I sort of align with, his thoughts and philosophies, but Ron to me was the most consistent in the tradition [of liberty].”
This article first appeared on Watchdog.org.