Sorry, Penn goes way past Libertarianism and into Anarcho-Capitalism, which is la-la fantasy land as far as I’m concerned. You need look no further than the Billions and Billions wasted/lost/looted and flat out stolen by contractors in the Iraq war. Add to that Blackwater and other military contractors all by callous disregard for human rights and dignity and the record of private companies doing jobs previously reserved for the military is sketchy at best. Multiply that throughout society.

Unbridled greed and unrestrained trade has already led to slave labor, job exportation and enviornmental catastrophe. AC would take away any impediments that we as citizens through our representatives place upon them. You go from citizen of a nation to consumer of brand America. Not a place I want to live or see as having any intrinsic value.

I don’t think the current system is ideal and there are elements of libertarianism that are very commendable (opposition to limitations on personal freedom, sensible copyright reform) but like any view left/right the edges of the spectrum get somewhat extreme.

As for being jealous of his success, not at all, but it definitely colors my perspective of him. Hearing him talk about the victims of Katrina or people in generational poverty from the comfort of a compound in the desert (a beautifully designed one, but still) does affect how I view his opinions. Millionaires lecturing other people about how they should rough it, bootstraps and all that always sound very callous to me

Wow, Penn Gilette is such a rebel.

I thought you were kidding, but; (wiki)
Anarcho-capitalism

You know, this used to be the popular socioeconomic framework on the Internet… before the dark times… before the AOLers.

Have you at least heard people use the words “extropianism” or “nootropics” online? or is it all just lolcats and crafts now?

Mr. T ate my balls, now get off my lawn!

are you sure you aren’t confusing ‘anarcho-capitalists’ with ‘crypto-anarchists’?

I really don’t remember the internet circa 1993 being overrun with anarcho-capitalists…?

Simplehuman, I can’t explain that. The other paired set of beliefs I could never understand is (1.) believing in the efficacy of the Invisible Hand of the Marketplace, and (2.) finding Dilbert funny.

Anechoic: I didn’t say the internet was overrun with them back then. I said they represented a larger fraction of the overall online population than they do today.

But hey, Mr. Deity is on the same site. Just love Mr. Deity.

Reality TV crap? Like you (not me) would see on (gag) television?

I shut it off once I realized what was happening, but the damage was already done. I feel dumbed down already.

Where’s the correct link?

He’s a very rich man who lives on a compound talking about how other people should fend for themselves. Just something to keep in mind when he’s rattling on about privatizing the cops or having corporations run damn near everything.

Anechoic (12), please don’t call people anarcho-capitalist weenies in so many words.

Takuan (13), had you not run into anarcho-capitalists before? The “sell the post office, privatize the streets” contingent? They’ve been around a long time. Back in the old days, they constituted a larger percentage of the total online population. They have some distinctive beliefs:

1. The invisible hand of the marketplace has a giant invisible brain attached to it that’s capable of optimizing all transactions for productivity and human happiness.

2. The apparent complexity of human society and institutions is an illusion caused by everyone else’s stupid inability/stubborn refusal to see that radical laissez-faire capitalism and the simple, logical social structures proposed by anarcho-capitalistic libertarianism would straighten out all their problems.

3. People have been inexplicably stupid and stubborn that way throughout human history.

4. The Hogarthian fallout of 18th C. British unregulated capitalism, or indeed of any other period of capitalist ascendancy, can’t be taken to be representative of the consequences of such a system, because they weren’t practicing perfectly pure laissez-faire anarcho-capitalism.

5. No polity has ever practiced pure laissez-faire anarcho-capitalism; and yet we know that if only they would, everything would work much better than it does now. (Note: this is roughly equivalent to believing that someone who has never run a marathon would, if they competed, infallibly win.)

6. At the point that this system is introduced, corporations will instantly cease to be the Dilbertian strongholds of entrenched stupidity we’ve all worked for, and be transformed by enlightened capitalism. They’ll become more responsible and transparent, too.

7. Any problems that aren’t automatically solved by the invisible hand of the marketplace will be addressed by suing each other for damages.

8. No matter how rich and powerful an organization becomes under this system, it will always operate under the same rules and laws that apply to everyone else.

…

Maurik (24): Whoever said he wasn’t allowed to have a political ideology?

Zuzu (28), it isn’t appropriate to jump on Simplehuman for not yet understanding that under a sufficiently pure laissez-faire anarcho-capitalist system, Blackwater wouldn’t have done any of that stuff. Explain first, then argue.

@28 You don’t know how much he donates a year, and neither do I. Just because someone has money doesn’t mean they don’t give back copiously. Obviously, Penn is a better raconteur due to his visibility, than if he was just a nerd teaching political science at some community college.

Penn Jillette was a busker on the street before the duo got big and Teller has more than a few degrees and was a high school teacher (I think…history?) at one time. Obviously, they’ve worked hard to get where they are. If they give back, great! They entertain and maybe even make some people think.

If not…well, being magicians is not the worst they could do.

wow…ru a moderator or schoolmarm?

You need look no further than the Billions and Billions wasted/lost/looted and flat out stolen by contractors in the Iraq war. Add to that Blackwater and other military contractors all by callous disregard for human rights and dignity and the record of private companies doing jobs previously reserved for the military is sketchy at best.

That’s government failure.

Blackwater is evil, so what does that say about the governments hiring them? (and only governments, via taxes, can afford mercenaries like Blackwater.)

Unbridled greed and unrestrained trade has already led to slave labor, job exportation and enviornmental catastrophe.

“Job exportation”… so you expect government to privilege you over other people? That’s called classism. The reverse of this is that you require government’s permission just to earn a living. spps y ht mmgrnts t, lk L Dbbs.

Environmental catastrophe… look up the history of government zoning and the deprecation of nuisance torts sometime. Most environmental catastrophe is the result of governments immunizing big business (i.e. corporatism) from environmental responsibility.

Slave labor… are you referring to Communist China?

That was wonderful. I will be borrowing that marathon comparison. By borrowing I mean stealing. But don’t worry, you can seek relief in the court.

I’m kind of curious how Penn’s atheism reconciles with the ineffable complexities of the free market, which, to me, has always sounded an awful lot like some kind of economic collective unconscious/godhead.

So because he’s got a good job and makes a lot of money he’s not allowed to have a political ideology?

Sorry but I don’t think you quite understand that in a libertarian society , social security gets replaced in the form voluntary donations.

Bt yr pst jst mks t snd lk y’r jls bcs y dn’t mk s mch mny s hm.