Neat quote saw when reading. Admitting you’re wrong in a genuine way is something you see rarely these days.
“In a 2024 interview, he said he renounced his libertarianism as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic after a libertarian group asked him to speak at an anti-mask rally. “The fact they sent me this email is something I need to be very ashamed of, and I need to change” adding “Many times when I identified as Libertarian, people said to me, ‘It’s just rich white guys that don’t want to be told what to do,’ and I had a zillion answers to that — and now that seems 100 percent accurate.”[56]”
I’ve always had a lot of respect for Penn’s sincere “individual freedoms as long as they don’t infringe on the individual freedoms of others” brand of libertarinism that advocated still caring about other people, and isn’t about just deferring to corporations
I’m not surprised he no longer identifies with libertarianism, given what it’s increasingly come to mean. I may not look at the world exactly the same as him or always agree with him but people with sincere principles always have my respect.
The way he and Teller made a show to basically showcase other magicians is super cool. If you look up Penn & Teller: Fool Us on YouTube you’ll see tons of magicians publishing their segments on the show on their personal channels, which must mean Penn and Teller negotiated that performers would have rights to their own performances and can publish them themselves.
Thats fucking cool. (Also a great show, it makes a great YouTube binge!)
That’s what I thought libertarianism was until my mid 20s. That’s seriously what I was taught that it was to be a Texan. If you don’t like what your neighbor is up to, don’t fucking look. The issue is that dumb motherfuckers keep expanding on what they think “infringing on the individual freedoms of others” means. Now it just means “anything I don’t like”.
Hell, I’m still anti-authoritarian for individuals (companies should be heavily regulated). If you’re not hurting someone else I don’t really care what you’re doing. Anyone that does has too much time on their hands.
This is because modern political libertarianism was literally financed by fossil fuel and tobacco billionaires who opposed all regulations; especially health, environmental, and labor. They seized libertarianism as a means to destroy the government. Prior to their takeover in the 70’s, Libertarianism was considered to be progressive.
Most libertarians don’t know what libertarianism is, because they are conservatives who believe their narcissistic “fuck you, got mine” conservatism is libertarianism.
Yeah, I was really confused when I used to identify with libertarianism, and got lumped in with conservatives. I always hated those authoritarians, and the corporations they rode in on.
Hell, I’m still anti-authoritarian for individuals (companies should be heavily regulated).
That’s more or less my political ideology. “I think gay married couples should be allowed to protect their weed farms with guns.” But as soon as it comes to income, I’m hardcore authoritarian. Don’t even get me started on how I feel about rental properties. What I have to say about landlords could get me a visit from an FBI party van
I think you (past you at least) would have identified as a libertarian socialist and those other idiots are libertarian anarchists.
Anarchism is the better version of libertarianism. Left-anarchism gives all of the liberties but without capitalism. If only capitalist realists could get past that hurdle.
I need to learn more about anarchism as a political philosophy, I have little grasp of like, what it actually means in practice
by its nature there’s a lot of free content online.
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-anarchy-works isn’t a bad start.
The works of Kropotkin are on there as well. Conquest of Bread is a banger.
I’m really glad to see this.
Penn Jillette played a big role in who I am today. Bullshit! helped shape my skepticism in my late teens, and I was fascinated with magic even earlier than that. I went on to adopt some libertarian views and listened to his podcast for years, but I grew away from him during COVID because I was seeing how his position was harming people. I always thought he was a smart respectable guy, so seeing him reflect and change is heartwarming.
I’ve been rewatching Bullshit! recently and found myself disagreeing with him quite a lot. I used to like the show a lot, and the same as you it helped build my skepticism. Some episodes are still good, some have aged terribly.
They had a pretty shitty take on wealth redistribution
Also compared social security to a pyramid scheme
I don’t love their stance on gun regulations
They do have some pretty based takes though. They’re against the death penalty, and they’ve always been right about vaccines
I’m so glad. Good for him. I was a bit cooled down on him for a while because of this tbh
This old Toothpaste for Dinner comic is all I can think about when someone says they’re a libertarian. It’s got me this far.
Funny that an anti-mask group asked him to speak considering that him and Teller filmed this. https://youtu.be/RfdZTZQvuCo
“‘But without religion, people would rape and murder all they want!’ I already do rape and murder all I want. And that number is ZERO, because I have no desire to rape and murder!” - Penn Jillette
Also: When playing the Devil’s Advocate in the argument that vaccines cause autism, using the made up figures of the rate that supposedly happens, still showing how it’s more harmful to not vaccinate if only 1 out of every 10 people get autism, there’s still thousands of deaths caused by curable diseases from not vaccinating.
