Libertarian Presidential Debate (Part 2) - Hosted by John Stossel

Fox Business via YouTube ^ | Apr 8, 2016

[snarkpup]

PART 2 of the first nationally televised Libertarian Party debate on the John Stossel show on Fox Business.

Candidates: Austin Petersen, John McAfee, and Gary Johnson.

[snarkpup]

This is Part 2. Part 1 is available here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr9Vr5p-8Fs

Some observations:

• All three are totally open-borders. Pretty much the same as the Democrats and the GOPe.

• On most of the other issues, Gary Johnson (as in Part 1) tends to be the more pragmatic—as opposed to the other two, who come across as doctrinaire anarchists.

[Eccl 10:2]

Isn’t there an arrest warrant out for McAfee?

[DoughtyOne]

Haven’t we all kind of taken a look at libertarianism and said no thanks? It looks good up front, and then you start to learn more and things go south quick.

I really like John Stossel, but his is one thing about him that I have not really appreciated.

[thoughtomator]

In Belize. Story is one of the corrupt politicians there demanded $2 million from him, he refused, and next thing he knew there were soldiers at his door.

[snarkpup]

Isn’t there an arrest warrant out for McAfee?

I believe there was at one time. He mentions it in Part 1.

[snarkpup]

Haven’t we all kind of taken a look at libertarianism and said no thanks?

As I would put it, the current Libertarian Party is not the libertarianism of the Age of Enlightenment or the American Founding. It's more like the hippie movement of the 1960s. But then, I don't see any presidential candidates from any party who are libertarians of the former kind.

[DoughtyOne]

With the mismanagement of the populace, I think it’s going to be a lot harder to have a libertarian of the Founder’s type. I’m not even sure I fully accept that title either.

We have stoked race relations so that it is at a boiling point.

We have moved a population base into the nation that has terrorists seeded in it.

We have created more problems in the last 20 years than we have resolved.

Hopefully Trump will come in, spark a revival of sorts and folks will get busy and not have as much time for strife.

[Pining_4_TX]

Gary Johnson shocked me by saying that he doesn’t think people should be able to refuse doing business with homosexuals (or anyone else) based on freedom of religion. What the heck kind of libertarian is that? Libertarians often claim they believe in maximum freedom for individuals, but their anti-religion bias runs deep.

A true libertarian, or anyone who believes in freedom, knows that freedom of association is vital. Individuals and private businesses and organizations must be permitted to discriminate on any basis they want. Anti-discrimination laws give government complete control over our lives.

[snarkpup]

Most of my current reading list is centered around the writings of the people I call the Founding Grandfathers (e.g.: Sidney, Locke, Trenchard & Gordon). In England at that time, there were three major factions that have analogs in today's Republican Party: 1) Crony capitalists ("private interests and government cooperating to fleece the people"), 2) corrupt clergy that turned the religion developed by "the gentlest man who ever lived" into a farce and power base, and 3) the reformers. I think we have the same ideas about who the modern versions of these factions are.

It is interesting to see how the reformers dealt with these other two factions 300 years ago. Like Donald Trump, these Founding Grandfathers were politically incorrect and faced ferocious denunciation by their opponents. Yet they somehow managed to lay the groundwork for what later became the United States.

[Daffynition]

John McAfee. No thanks. Uninstall.

[Impy]

I hope one of the kooks beats Johnson, I’d hate to see him provide Hillary with her margin of victory.