College students are often bombarded with the fact that there exist numerous generational problems that need to be fixed. Often the solutions are presented in a way that preaches more government influence in the lives of everyone, whether they are willing or unwilling to accept it. It is refreshing to hear a speaker who declares that the solution is “not in more government but in the cause of liberty.” While it is true that not all people agree with the message that Ron Paul preaches (not even all conservatives agree with his message) it is nevertheless, necessary to have such an illustrious name present a well-constructed argument that he did on April 6, and add one of many conservative viewpoints to the University dialogue. This is the role of Students for a Conservative Voice: to take an active view of promoting American Conservative viewpoints at the University of Minnesota campus.

Ron Paul is right in saying that the country doesn’t need to be involved in many social policies: “You can’t take stuff from other people, even if the government does it for you”.

Obviously, the debates on many of these social programs are not framed in this manner. For example, during the State of the Nation address, President Obama stated that it was a right for every American to be given two years of college education. To pay for this massive social program-President Obama intended to tax 529 college savings and home appreciation, things that were generally applicable to the middle and upper class of Americans. It is one thing to believe that everyone deserves an extent of a college education, on a personal level, but should this ideal be enforced upon all Americans? Probably not.

“It distorts the whole principle of rights,” Ron Paul stated when discussing the way in which social programs have been increasingly approached. This is the key question that all who look at the Constitution and policy in general are concerned with: the fundamental question of what is a right?

While it is undeniable that there exist many different interpretations of what is a right, it is equally undeniable that these rights should differentiated for one group or another.

“Coercion is immoral,” Ron Paul exclaimed.

Denying rights to a certain group due to a disagreement on the intellectual principles of that group is both immoral and fundamentally wrong. The only time coercion is valid against a belief allowed is when that belief is preaching violence.

Coercion is done in a variety of ways. As stated above, it could be through the denial of rights to a certain group. However, it could also be done through a clear bias in a fees process. For example, if the University were to cut one student group’s funding simply because it disagreed with parts of the message that this group was distributing, this would be another form of coercion, and it is equally immoral. As the President of Students for a Conservative Voice and Editor-and-Chief of the Minnesota Republic Allison Maass stated before Ron Paul took the stage,

“We’ve been attacked by University committees for student groups, but this only really motivates us to keep doing what were doing, and we believe that on at a University like ours, there should be a diverse view of opinions.”