Penn Jillette on why his views on libertarianism have changed

“The cliché when anybody fades away from a movement is ‘I didn’t change. The organization left me’… And I don’t want to be into that cliché, but I feel there’s some truth to it. My idea of libertarianism was responsibility for others. That was the most important part. I wanted to trust people to take care of each other and not use force. Libertarianism, from my point of view, was almost a pathological optimism and love for people. It was complete and utter lack of cynicism. I am not a cynical person, I am crazily optimistic. And I saw people using that same word, ‘libertarian,’ to mean ‘I don’t care about other people.’” - Penn Jillette

[DodderingOldMan]

A lot of what he says resonates with me. I thought Libertarianism had a lot going for it... until I discovered what most Libertarians think and believe...

[kristiandoon]

I have always found it quaint and rather touching that there is a movement
[Libertarians] in the US that thinks Americans are not yet selfish enough.
~Christopher Hitchens

[lrvogt]

Despite the lofty rhetoric, Libertarianism is a stalking horse for plutocracy. When democratic institutions are weakened, the power vacuum is filled by money. Advantage begets advantage and the disadvantaged become more powerless and poorer as income inequality increases.

[thefareplayer]

Who else is watching this on November 7th, 2024 and REALLY resonated with the last line?

[diesixdie]

I have always misinterpreted Penn's definition of libertarianism, until now. I would like to thank him for clarifying. I wish more of us could be as optimistic, and that we could live up to his ideal of what it would be like to live in that kind of world. Yes. We should take care of one another, and we shouldn't have to be forced to do so.

[ScooterDugnutt]

"For someone like me, who lives his life like an optimist, the world is making it kind of goddamn hard right now."

PREACH 🙏🙏

[kumar]

Just in case anyone forgot. When Penn and Teller had their show Bullshit, they did an episode on vaccines where they debunked a lot of what Jenny McCarthy said. So, never associate pen with the antivax movement

[AlucardsQuest]

This is it in a nutshell. The balance of your freedom verses doing what's right so as not to harm others. No seatbelt verses drunk driving. Not wearing a mask verses not wanting to spread a dangerous, new virus to those around you. Where is the consideration for others? Why are we so selfish? In places like Japan, they have no problem wearing masks if they don't feel well, because they respect other people. America had one of the highest death rates of covid in the world... is that what makes us great?

[Stewman-gps]

I was a member of the Libertarian party for about 8 years prior to the pandemic. At that time, I noticed many people who identified as Libertarians refused to comply with the quarantine, mask, and ultimately vaccine mandates because they felt it was their personal right to not comply. They basically held the view that their wants and needs are the only thing that matters. Little did they consider the risk their choices were putting on others around them. Not complying with health and safety measures put others in danger, and these so-called Libertarians didn't seem to care. At that point, and because I agree 100% with Penn's perspective about caring for others and understanding how our individual choices can impact others, I left the Libertarian party to become an Independent.

[hyweljones]

Penn Jillette = Legend
He was one of the main people to get me interested in Libertarianism.
Now he has pretty much summed up all of my issues with a lot of so-called

[ravennewton]

The anti-drunk driver stance he took is key to debunking libertarian arguments. Essentially, if individuals are not responsible enough (or intellectually capable enough) to avoid behavior that jeopardizes the other people with whom they share this planet, the other people have three elementary responses: 1) People can unite to compel others to behave responsibly (government action) or, 2) respond individually (vigilantism), or, 3) do nothing and get massacred by all the idiots that are "free" to do whatever they want without any intervention.

Vigilante behavior quickly deteriorates into gang warfare, tribalism, or similar settings of violence and retribution, and most folks refuse to go there for that reason. And, since most people refuse to idly let themselves and their families be exploited or massacred without opposition, the default option throughout most of human history has been the first option: government response. Of course, the nuances and complexity of government issues and functions is as limitless as human imagination and emotion, but that is what we ought to all be working towards bettering. Everything else is navel gazing.

[AnonUser]

I was a libertarian as well, and then we had a pandemic, and half of our country refused to just wear a mask to protect their neighbors because "Fweedumb." We had an experiment that proved the libertarian claim that we don't need the government for people to do the right thing is objectively wrong

[mclartychannel]

I miss those days when libertarian was a synonym for leftist anarchist. Emma Goldman called herself a libertarian and she recognized that the power of economic elites in a "free market" was just as dangerous as the power of government, and that the two were closely linked. Noam Chomsky and others have called themselves libertarian socialists.

[damn]

His way to describe libertarianism seems to best fit the description for healthy anarchism

[stixx]

The fact is, in an emergency situation, a seat belt does help you keep the vehicle under control. Wear it.

[ered]

"Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint." - Alexander Hamilton

[helbent]

I've never heard American libertarianism described as being about responsibility for others. Typically it's seen as focused on minimal government intervention in markets and personal lives; personal responsibility is crucial. You can feel responsible towards others if you like, that's your choice and your freedom, but by no means are you expected to. This makes me think he's actually more of an anarchist. Not in the cliche sense of anarchy being no government or rules, but it is about minimal government intervention (etc.) because you are expected to feel responsibility towards others and not need a government to compel this.

[patricklewis]

Selfishness is one of the core tenants of libertarianism according to Rand.

[GNXClone]

I thought about libertarianism until I saw Ron Paul kissing up to Donald Trump. I will remain independent thank you.

[joshuascholar]

The word "Libertarian" originally meant a kind of left wing anti-authoritarian. That word was deliberately misrepresented and destroyed for the purpose of destroying what is now called anarchism since "libertarianism" is no longer available.
See this quote:

"One gratifying aspect of our rise to some prominence is that, for the first time in my memory, we, 'our side, ' had captured a crucial word from the enemy. 'Libertarians' had long been simply a polite word for left-wing anarchists, that is for anti-private property anarchists, either of the communist or syndicalist variety. But now we had taken it over."

- Rothbard, Murray