Big Think: Penn Jillette- 'On Libertarianism, Taxes, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Weed'

Source:Big Think- Comedian Penn Jillette, explaining his own libertarianism.

"Take a deep breath, you're in for a ride. Here is Penn Jillette on Libertarianism, taxes, Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Gary Johnson, sex, drugs and Kurt Cobain. Jillette's latest book is "Presto!:  How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales"

Watch the video at Big Think

Penn Jillette, is a Libertarian, because he doesn't believe he's smart enough to make decisions ( I'm guessing not including his own children ) and that no one else is qualified to make decisions for other people. And that other people aren't qualified to make other decisions for other people. I'm paraphrasing, but that's pretty close.

He also said that the way he looks at his own libertarianism, is that he's Right on taxes and Left on sex. Basically saying that he's right-wing ( let's say ) on economic policy and very liberal on personal freedom. 

I as a Liberal ( or Classical Liberal, if you prefer ) I'm also in complete agreement with Penn Jillette and the people that I at least would call mainstream Libertarians ( if there are such people ) when it comes to personal freedom and most economic policy issues.

I don't want government telling people who they can hire and fire. Who they can promote and demote. Give raises or salary cuts. I don't want taxes and regulations on private businesses and organizations should be so high, that it makes it almost impossible for them to stay in business, just because you as some collectivist ( Socialist or otherwise ) believes that you and big government are smart enough to know what's best for everyone else and that people are essentially too stupid to manage their own lives. 

And of course if you're very familiar with this blog you know don't just claim to be pro choice, because we support private choice on abortion and that gays should have the same freedom as straights, and perhaps marijuana, but we're 100% pro choice on everything. Short of someone hurting an innocent person with what they're doing.

If someone wants to smoke marijuana to the point that they're so high that they're see flying elephants flying over skyscrapers in Wichita, Kansas, ( you would have to be higher than a skyscraper to see that ) that's their business. Just don't expect to bail them out when they find themselves in jail, for getting into a bar fight because they thought the bartender grabbed their ass. And don't expect me to except: "the marijuana made me to it excuse" either.

If people want to gamble their life savings away at the casino, that's their business. Just don't expect taxpayers to bail them out when they're not not just broke, but out of a job, because they lost all of their money at the damn casino, when they were supposed to be working. If guys want to screw each other, wear dresses, makeup, speak with higher voices than their mothers and marry men, that's their business. Just don't force me to approve of what they're doing. If women want to bang each other, play professional football, be dykes on bikes, and speak with deeper voices than their fathers, wear crewcuts, that's their business. Just don't expect me to approve of it.

And I could go on to paying for sex, buying, making, and viewing adult films, going to strip joints, owning strip joints, running strip joints, and being paying customer at a strip joint, just as long as I  and no other taxpayer is forced to subsidize these personal choices, or bail people out when they make bad decisions. I don't drink alcohol, smoke anything, or use any other narcotic, but like Penn Jillette I don't believe I'm qualified to make those decisions for others. And I sure as hell know that government isn't qualified to make those decision for others as well.

To paraphrase Michael Douglas from The American President, well to paraphrase President Andrew Shepard: ( Michael Douglas's character in TAP ) America is a tough place and you have to want it bad, because it's going to put up a fight. And he was talking about free speech someone I''m also bit of a radical on, but you could apply that speech to personal freedom in general, because even though all of us are free to make our own decisions, so is everyone else that is around us. So you might personally approve of the way you're living, people around you might and vice-versa. But again, who is more qualified to make these decisions for us: the individual who knows themself the best, or government? How you answer that question is where you fall when it comes to your beliefs in individual freedom.