Craig Newmark on "Nerd Values," Obama, Ayn Rand, and More

[trueshooter]

I personally believe there is a coordinated group effort attempting to destroy Craig's List by attempting to undermine its' foundation of trust and credibility. I think it is difficult to identify the group because they are hidden amongst the array of criminal opportunists who are also involved in their own nefarious agendas. If this is true, who would you suppose is behind it? eBay and Kijiji?

[Ksabrs45]

Wow, he is very confused.

[israelandersonvideo]

Oh dude, STFU, you are NOT a libertarian.

[dlix]

The Government should take over and manage his website since the "free market failed." Oh wait, he's just sucks at making money in a business and lampoons it as a free eBay flee market so there's no money for the Government to take.

[aallppiinnee]

Anyone supporting Obama has little business being featured on ReasonTV.

[parakeethands]

LOL! kind of an oxymoron huh! agreed!

[nwrhino]

Craig Newmark has done as much for the free market as any one human could hope.(thanks for craiglist,especially the private service sector:)...but seriously whats that on your lapel ?..."a pledge pin"?!!

Allowing government to be transparent except for matters of of national security is how the current system operates. However under the auspices of the NSA, the government is allowed to usurp the constitution in matters of national security, this IS the problem !

Ayn was anti - collectivism !

[stick1to2the3issue]

I know ... CRAIGSLIST IS SPONTANEOUS ORDER DEFINED!

[22NewYork]

I agree with motiongraphics81.

A Libertarian being pro-Obama? Does not compute! my head also explodes!!!!

Only Dems watch shows on TV and talk about them like they represent anything real. It is just soft thinking.

[annilita]

As evidenced by the McCain folks running their campaign like the ill-fated Geena Davis drama "Commander-in-Chief".

[22NewYork]

Never watched it.

Being a true Libertarian I find TV too painful to watch.

[AshillaBeige]

Lol. I sold my tv around the time I became a libertarian... I think that had a lot to do with it.

[healthhavencom]

this guy is no libertarian - not even close

[ahabthewhaler]

because as he said libertarianism doesn't mesh with reality, and some people have a nasty habit of needing to be realistic about the world

[healthhavencom]

Actually most human action in today's world already meshes very closely with libertarianism.

Most businesses, charities, churches, families and communities operate via libertarian principles whether they realize it or not. Craigslist is a shining example.

The rising cost of healthcare is very closely correlated w/ the increased gov. involvement over the past 60 years or so. When the industry was much freer (ie more libertarian) in the 1st half of the 1900s, costs were quite low.

[ahabthewhaler]

in america yes the government has allowed the healthcare industry to get out of control charging ridiculous amounts however rather than libertarianism, which is not going to be accepted, why not just lobby or vote for governments more likely to take better control as happens in most developed western societies. just because the american government has proved useless at it doesnt mean it is actually hard to do. i dont have enough of a word count to answer the part about most things meshing

[healthhavencom]

The rising cost of healthcare is very closely correlated w/ the increased gov. involvement over the past 60 years or so. When the industry was much freer (ie more libertarian) in the 1st half of the 1900s, costs were quite low.

[teewillis1981]

And yes...the age of reason happened because people felt like sticking to old paradigms. Just because something is happening currently does not make it rational. This man is NOT a libertarian. A libertarian being Pro-Obama is an oxymoron.

[motiongraphics81]

A Libertarian being pro-Obama? Does not compute! ::head explodes::

[Bound4NH]

The marketplace has not failed to provide health care. The marketplace provides LOTS of healthcare. The government has gotten in the way, and intereferes with providers trying to actually deliver that care to patients.

[healthhavencom]

Thank you for setting the record straight.

[TomStrong08]

Well, this looks like me in a few years.

[stick1to2the3issue]

"Moderate" Libertarian for socialist redistributionism. Redicolous. He has fallen prone to the classic occurence of unintended consequences.

[TuesdaysThursdays]

I find his use of Libertarian offensive to be honest. Being sorta for Obama for his more socially liberal ideas is fine, being for Obama for his socialist economics beliefs is anti-freedom.

Liking Ayn Rand when you were young does not a libertarian make.

[stick1to2the3issue]

Whenever there r social issues (gay marriage, recreational drugs,abortion)you have many in hollywood and academia that claim to be a social libertarian. However it is much rarer to find a social AND economic libertarian. Newmark seems to be a liberal (in modern terms). Then you have conservatives who may be economic libertarians but are largely at odds with libertarians on social issues. Since economic issues are of more importance to me, conservatives are closer to being libertarians IMHO.

[SharpesAccomplice]

Isn't there a continuum, though? It's not just communists on one side and anarcho-capitalists on the other! What would you call someone who prefers market solutions, but concedes that there are certain inefficiencies that justify government intervention?

[TuesdaysThursdays]

Moderate Pro-freedom is not libertarian.

Now sure, you have a point. You could be Market freedom on all but 1 issue. But this issue is a biggie. You have to draw a line, and I am not on the same side of the line as a supporter of socialized health care.

He has crossed the line to (D)emocrat land. And as an active supporter of Obama, he needs to admit it to himself, and stop sullying the term Libertarian by sticking a 'Moderate' onto it.

Kinda pro-freedom usually makes you a (D) or (R).

[stick1to2the3issue]

I didn't say he is communist. Just clearly in no way libertarian. It would be more accurate to identify him as a "progressive"(although I do hate that term). He says he prefers market solutions, but then he doesn't really understand the ramifications of having a state run health care system in the US. A libertarian knows full well the danger of government control and can see past the illusion of efficient government solutions (oxymoron?).