Conscientious Objection

This is a bit of my latest episode in which I respond to Tom Woods and Dave Smith's episode on a libertarian objection to voting Trump. Hear the whole thing below. Enjoy. -P

Hey, this is Pen up at the front here. I have a few introductory thoughts that should help set the forthcoming in good order. This is a response to Dave Smith and Tom Woods talking about why someone might have felt inclined to vote Trump, including themselves. Their conversation covers a lot of important stuff, so it merits some response, and a few really important points (maybe) went unaddressed, so I'm going to respond and contribute to the conversation, for whatever it’s worth. Election day has now passed, but I think that make this a better time to do this because it gives people less to get worked up about. “You’re going to talk people into not voting for-” That objection has passed. So there's that.

I want to say up front that I do appreciate these gents. I am criticizing their take, not them. I've been a fan of Dave Smith since seeing him on youtube videos of the insult comedy stuff at the Stand in New York. I can't remember if I'd heard of him liberty-wise before that or- that was my early memories of Dave-Smithery. Tom Woods is my gateway drug into libertarianism, so I very much appreciate his work. And really, who says it like Tom? And, mostly I agree with him on stuff. So having said all that, I want to get started with the disagreement, and there is one particular consideration I want to highlight up here at the front. I think it helps bring all of this into focus. It may sound trite at first, but just hold on. Hear me out. Here it is:

Opposing Harris did not require voting Trump. A candidate can be shown to be horrible (and Tom and Dave do a great job of that in their episode) and that, showing them horrible, that helps drive their success down to the point where they don't get elected. One can bring a candidate's success down somewhat, at least a single vote's worth. (That’s a low bar right?) They can bring the [opposing] candidate down a vote's worth instead of voting. How much does a single vote do, especially in a non-swing state? Maybe nothing . . .

Penjammin grew up in a labyrinthine cavern. Later he ran with the wolves and lived every moment marinated in the sweet scent of his game, until pirates landed and… (see “About”). Get his eletter at penjams.com/subscribe.