The media obsess about Trump/Biden, but another candidate will be on every state ballot: Libertarian Party nominee Jo Jorgensen.
Dr. Jorgensen, a psychology lecturer at Clemson University, is very different from Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Instead of promising government solutions, she tells people, “You can spend your money better than the politicians.”
I like that. So, she’s the subject of my video this week.
I start with COVID-19. Libertarians are skeptical of government action, but a pandemic may be the rare situation when government should act. People need protection from contagious people. No one wants medical facilities overwhelmed.
When politicians issued lockdown orders, their actions were praised by most media. “There are no libertarians in a pandemic,” smug people said to me.
Jorgensen says that’s nonsense, that COVID-19 became one more excuse for authoritarian politicians to boss people around.
“Is it right for the government to take away tens of millions of jobs? I say no. Young people could be out there and have no more risks than having the flu.”
If government stepped back, she says, the private sector would lead the way. She points out that Walmart required masks be worn in all their stores. “It shows that, yes, we can be adults without government telling us we need to be adults.”
I tell Jorgensen that my former Fox Business colleague Lou Dobbs calls libertarianism “an absurd philosophy.”
“What I think is crazy,” she replies, “is spending a lot more than you take in… having troops in the Middle East, which makes us more at risk, just like we saw with 9/11… crazy is actually having taxpayers pay for the defense of Germany and France.”
Good points. Why does America need to be the whole world’s policeman?
Vice President Biden helped get America into many of its endless wars. President Trump said he’d like to bring our soldiers home, but he hasn’t done much of it.
“Instead of fighting wars and having military bases all over the world,” Jorgensen says, she’d “make America one giant Switzerland, armed and neutral.”
Biden says he would “end gun violence” and that “the Second Amendment is limited.” Jorgensen replies, “we limit gun violence by allowing peaceful citizens to arm themselves.”
Trump taxed imports, claiming America “loses” when we have a trade deficit.
Jorgensen calls that laughably ignorant. “I have a trade deficit with my gas station because I buy gas from them and they buy nothing from me,” says Jorgensen. “It doesn’t matter what one country does.”
Biden says increasing the minimum wage to $15 is “just a start.” Jorgensen quips: “Yeah. A start to minorities not being able to get a rung on the ladder to successful employment.”
Jorgensen opposes Trump’s immigration restrictions.
I push back: “There are billions of poor people all over the world. Some want to come here to freeload.”
Jorgensen replies that welfare programs have rules to prevent freeloading, “Many… have a five-year waiting list.” Also, “if you look at people who have the initiative to come here, they typically have the initiative to work.”
Biden would spend $2 trillion to try to delay climate change. Jorgensen says the free market is the better way. “Wherever there’s big government, there’s more pollution.”
Neither Trump nor Biden wants to stop the war on drugs. Jorgensen believes that (for adults) all drugs should be legal.
I agree with Jorgensen about most things. But people say a vote for a Libertarian candidate is wasted.
In addition, Jorgensen will be accused of taking votes from Trump at a time when “only Trump might stop big government Democrats.” She’ll be accused of taking votes from Biden, when “we need to get this clown (Trump) out of office.”
“We need to get both clowns away from the presidency,” Jorgensen replies.
Jorgensen won’t win, but I hope her campaign inspires some Americans to think about the proper role of government.
Jorgensen is absolutely correct when, at the end of our interview, she says: “We’ve got Washington in everything we do. It’s just causing more problems.”
The problem with allowing people to do whatever drugs they want is that you have to support them. They don’t do jobs well. You can only allow them to do drugs if you withhold public assistance. Rights and responsibilities. If you do drugs, you have the responsibility to support yourself according to societal rules. If you don’t, you starve.
Our country doesn’t have the political will to take that position. So, full legalization isn’t feasible.
Legalizing drugs for adults means the tax payers do not pay for them to repeatedly be incarcerated. This means we can treat drug abuse vs incarcerating drug abuse which never fixes the abuse.
“The problem with allowing people to do whatever drugs they want is that you have to support them. They don’t do jobs well.”
EVERY argument against autonomy, free will and freedom in general is that it won’t happen. Well, the more people simply uphold the status quo of government control and coercion in the society simply because ” it can’t be changed”, is just more reason the country goes down the “Road To Serfdom”. These folks, like Arthur Julian just want to complain about how bad the country is, but they are simply UNWILLING to do what’s necessary to change it for the better. As a friend of mine submits, “we just need to hold the line right now”. I hear that every day, every year, every election. No WONDER why the country is going to hell in a handbasket! Holding the line ALWAYS results in taking one step forward and two steps backward!
Lastly I ask, WHY is the statement by Julian framed in the “allowing” mode? Once one caves into the “allowing” people argument/basis, to do with their lives as they see fit, the battle is lost – it’s just a matter of time that nothing is “allowed” any more. The slippery slope IS a very strong argument to cutting off the statist RIGHT at the beginning, irrespective of WHAT the time period is. I say, cut off the statists . . . beginning NOW!
Used to be a libertarian back in college but they never win an election. Still have libertarian views but vote Republican.
That’s the reason why libertarians don’t win. If everyone who is actually libertarian or leans libertarian, voted libertarian, they’d win in a landslide. The objective right now is not to win but get to 5% of the pop vote so that 2024 looks a LOT different!
The problem with that is that if the Libertarians take 5% of the popular vote, the Communists will control the Presidency and both houses of Congress. That’ll make 2024 look different for sure.
History (data that had been collected) as well as logic indicates that Libertarian candidates “take votes” equally from Dems and Reps, give or take a few percentage points. Additionally, there is NO way to know that someone MIGHT have voted Republican or Democrat . . .frankly, there are a LOT of Libertarians who wouldn’t vote otherwise.
Thus, your comment that “if the Libertarians take 5% of the popular vote, the Communists will control the Presidency” is simply only a knee-jerk reaction and isn’t grounded in fact, reality, logic or reason.
Thanks a lot. How’s the GOP working out for ya?
1.We need a president who will be followed by at least half of our nation.
2. We need a president who will not deny the “law of relativity” in case of our nation: my self, my family, my town, my state, my country, and… then, my continent and my world.
3. We need a president who is physically and mentally healthy to be public servant.
4. We need a strong monitoring system in our country ( not fake news or pro President news ) to keep every single public servant accountable for every single taxpayers money spent.
5. We need to declare illegal all money received from any kind of profit or nonprofit organizations for any kind of political activities / elections.
6. We need to limit terms of service for any elected public officials to prevent any kind of possible bribery or well covered illegal activity.
7.
8.
….
You need to do longer form pieces on everything you do…. 5 minutes of watching or reading just raises more questions than answers. I think if you did 1/2 hour to hour long pieces you would get more attention and more advertising as I’m sure your in this to make a little coin while you inform the masses. Joe Rogan has the success he has because people crave more info than small pieces can offer. Just my opinion but I love your content and would love more of it.
I’m not the only person noticing that she leans more left as the campaign drags on (is she pandering to potential voters or showing her true beliefs). Equating a trade deficit between an individual and a gas station is short sighted and ignorant. When looking at the National and Global Econimies, trade deficits are incredibly complex and impact business at a level that’s much bigger. If you decide to get gas elsewhere, it’s highly unlikely that a gas station will notice. If you start buying steel from another nation with lower prices (because of things like lower standards and pay to workers), local steel mills who can’t compete close.
The President is actually a small cog in the wheels of our Federal Government, by design. They can’t draft and put bills before the House to start the approval process. The President’s Veto can be overridden. If the House and Senate are controlled by warring parties who disagree with the President, nothing gets done and the current status quo continues until the next President. We need a lot more Libertarians in office at every level to get things done.
There is always a tendency for LP candidates to try to appeal to leftists and conservatives. I say that Jorgensen is leaning LIBERTARIAN, and trying to appeal to the left and right, on grounds that are in concert. Many on the left do NOT want communism . . . many on the left do NOT want endless wars and foreign intervention . . . many on the left do NOT want to continue down the never ending drug war . . meanwhile many on the right do NOT want high tariffs; they want free trade; many on the right do NOT want federal debt and deficits to explode; many on the right do NOT want government lockdowns and DO want unbiased science. The lists of commonality go on.
“Equating a trade deficit between an individual and a gas station is short sighted and ignorant.” Unless of course, there actually WAS freely derived money, not the phony fiat currency that has been foisted on people. Trade deficits and surpluses are of ZERO consequence with logically, and rationally derived from the market. With that, these “imbalances” are meaningless. But I also ask, why can’t “local steel mills who can’t compete close.” WHY can;t they compete? It’s for one reason only – Americans have gotten fat, dumb and happy with protectionism and the moment firms in other countries can undercut the price, the “UNFAIR” cry is shouted! If its a productivity problem, then American steel companies ought to invest more in property, plant and equipment which MAKES the worker more productive!
Thus JBlack’s comment of “leaning left” is completely NOT substantiated, as are most of the other points made.this person wants libertarians in office at all levels, but I submit, this person needs to understand economics before making any more comments that are viable.
If we don’t get spending down, and if we don’t get health care costs down – caused by government meddling, this country will be in serious trouble. Young workers will be hampered by poor job prospects. Millions of baby boomers will live in poverty. Jorgensen is the only candidate addressing these issues in a serious way.
If we don’t take practical measures to reform our justice system, we’ll have more riots – and no change. Jorgensen is the only candidate addressing this issue in a serious way.
If we don’t stop intervening in foreign countries, we will bankrupt our nation and drag the U.S. into conflicts unnecessarily, which increases our risk of a terrorist attack. Jorgensen is the only candidate addressing this issue in a serious way. Tulsi Gabbard did, but the Democrats silenced her.
If you want real change, a vote for Jorgensen is the only one that will make a difference.
She would have open borders?
No.
1. Bad guys do love open borders.
2. As soon as a suitcase nuke goes off her opinion will change albeit too late.
She would have meth addicts run free?
No.
1. Drug pushers target kids. There is no such thing as a partial drug war.
2. The cost of curing the problem would be ten times that of prevention.
She is woefully ignorant on these subjects.
On the other hand she doesn’t mention truly libertarian stances such as;
– Abolishing / prohibiting property taxes on home owners primary residences (let’s say up to five acres). Thus eliminating dependence on government to allow one to live on the land he supposedly owns.
– Or passing a national school voucher amendment allowing citizens to educate their kids as they see fit and getting them out of a situation of possible state run indoctrination.
Speaking from the Heartland — property taxes are not federal, and in most cases not state either. They are levied by local governments for local revenue, and very commonly to support the schools and mend the roads. I think in this case the libertarians are just wrong.
You had me until open borders. Just imagine, there are 176 countries with lower GDP than the US. Take the bottom 50% earners from all of those countries, and there is a target of over 2 billion people that would love to come here. Living in the US, being poor without welfare is certainly better than in Burundi or Afganistan. What would that do to our environment, traffic, community? Would it require MORE government planning/control? According the World Bank, 3.4 billion live on $5.50 per day or less. Should they all come to the US? What would that do to US wages? How about our hospitals? Finca states that nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read or write. Why wouldn’t they all come here; our laws require government funding of education that they can’t get at home. And what about the people who knowingly broke the law to come here. Do they deserve the same access as people who waited patiently in line and were properly vetted? How about foreign felons? Full freedom requires educated, responsible decisions, while irresponsible freedom impairs society as a whole (e.g. drug use). We need responsible immigration rules that benefit the country as a whole.
John : I really would like you to advise – I’m sure there are better candidates than the Dem & Rep. I lean Libertarian. But this year – more than most – I cannot bear to give power to Biden / Pelosi. My sons vote Libertarian – – I respect and agree with their principles but I watch them throwing their vote away – and now Virginia is a Blue state- and there Is a difference – flawed as the Republicans are, they were better. You know voting Lib. is giving your power away- for principles. I respect that – but don’t you think the Progressives have evolved to being So far from what our goals are ? And there’s no recovering when they are in power. Look at Healthcare now. please advise.
” I cannot bear to give power to Biden / Pelosi.” Well, unless your state’s election results end up with a one vote difference, then your one vote has virtually (one in several million I’d guess) no chance of giving “power to Biden / Pelosi”. A libertarian premise is the autonomy of the individual and each of us possesses exactly ONE vote. This idea that one’s vote swings power one way or another is simply ludicrous. It’s the collectivist idea that “WE can’t give power to Biden/Pelosi”, when in fact the deciding unit IS the individual – there is no “we”.
For me, a life long Libertarian, it comes down to this: I want choice in my life and I do not want the government to be my daddy AND my mommy! I have been self-supporting since I was 17 years old (which was a loooong time ago) and have been successful in the US (not my native country) because of hard work and making good choices. But for the working class, the overall direction of the country has been downward, regardless who was in power. The only hope for change are therefore the Libertarians. Jo knows she will never win the presidency, but she hopes to inspire enough voters to elect libertarian candidates to to Congress. Even a small number could make a big difference, if it prevents either of the majors to have an absolute majority. So what do you have to lose? Vote Libertarian and save your right to self determination!
Being an immigrant myself I have big concerns about massive uncontrolled immigration. I agree it should be easier, but it should also be controlled.
I share your libertarian values BUT the last time I voted for a third party candidate we ended up with eight years of Clinton. Never again.