Now, a friend of mine, Liz, is featured briefly in the first of a vodcast series on the recent TAM6, by Soccergirl
Incorporated! Looking gorgeous as always, but made me scream out loud with her ‘look at me, I’m a circus freak!’ arm trick!
She sounds more suave than freaky on her own gaming podcast, which you should check out here – Natural 20!
But it’s the summation of Penn Jillette’s comment that gets to me too. And more in a non-good freaky-way. Sheesh.
I’ve already said something about ‘yet another fanboy Q&A by P&T at these things…’, but it’s the first time I have actual evidence as to what he said about public schools. In front of an audience that contain teachers, because the timing of TAM6 was moved to ‘appeal to them’. Interesting.
It’s not on YouTube, but the site is here and the video is here. 06.28.08 SG #286 The Amazing Meeting, Part 1
Download the show here:
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Well, the really odd thing is that half the audience at this conference of science literacy advocates *clapped* for the sentiment “Eliminate the public schools…Better to be uneducated than be educated by our government.”
I love the best of Penn’s skeptical work. And I can accept that he has a commitment to a libertarian framework within which he forms these sorts of (in my opinion, preposterous) positions. It’s not like he hides his (to my mind, extreme) bias; it was, in fact, something he conceded quite candidly during this session. I expect Penn the libertarian to see the world through a libertarian lens.
But, like Soccergirl, I was disappointed in the audience. Really, TAM-goers? Clapping for “better uneducated”? Really?
I was sent the following by a friend, I hope they don’t mind my reproducing it – I know so little about US politics:
Penn doesn’t think the above platform goes far enough. He says, “I guess libertarian is a little too much government for me. I tend to be a little more anarcho-capitalist. But I will take libertarianism to get that in place, then work to get that out of place. I see libertarianism as a stepping stone. ” http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_136178.html
…You can google “Lincoln worst president libertarian” to get stuff like this: “The Worst President in American History … Was Abraham Lincoln, without question. Worse than Bush Jr, FDR, Wilson, Carter, Nixon, all of them, pale in comparison to the grotesque and permanent damage Lincoln achieved.” http://www.nolanchart.com/article804.html
From the 2004 Libertarian Party platform: “End governmental interference in consumer affairs by eliminating the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Food and Drug Administration and other ineffective governmental organizations. … We call for the privatization of airports, air traffic control systems, public roads and the national highway system. … We demand the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency. … We oppose any government restriction or funding of medical or scientific research.” http://www.lpedia.org/index.php?title=2004_Libertarian_Party_Platform
Remember, Penn doesn’t think this goes far enough.
It should be noted that a subsequent question for Penn was “what are your ‘gris-gris’”? What things do you believe that you probably shouldn’t, or without rational evidence?
Penn’s answer was that he recognized in himself tendencies towards belief without adequate rational support within the areas of arts and politics, and specifically noted his libertarian beliefs.
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