He said, “Hey, why don’t you come with us and visit this guy Murray Rothbard?” So we went into New York to his place, and it was fascinating to listen to him. He did have some stories about Miss Rand and [Rand lieutenant] Nathaniel Branden that I wish I hadn’t heard, but he knew what was going on. Even then I was beginning to realize that Rand is a good read and does say some true things, but, oh, doesn’t—didn’t share some of the values I have.
reason: You don’t like it when people say that Craigslist has killed newspapers, which used to rely heavily on classified ads for revenue.
Newmark: The news industry, I think, is doing pretty well. Big newspapers, national ones, are doing well. Very local ones are doing well. The ones in the middle, not so well, but a lot of that has to do with the cost of using paper, which is expensive to buy, print, and deliver. Meanwhile, the Net is becoming a better and better medium for news. I do think the big challenges for news operations will be to remember what their strengths are and to see what happens as new forms of media merge with traditional media.
The biggest strength of traditional media, when they do it, is fact checking. The biggest strength of new media is speaking truth to power. I think news organizations of all sorts need to do really good fact checking, improve quality, and speak truth to power. For example, when a politician is telling you a lie and you know it’s a lie, say so. When you want to have people give you opinions on a story, if the only person who can express their side of the story is known to be a professional in the art of deception, don’t give that person a voice if you know they’re going to lie to you. That’s why I think the most trusted newsmen in America, the best news team, are Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
reason: Usually when you hear that more people under the age of 30 get their news from Jon Stewart than anywhere else, that statistic is said to reflect poorly on the state of media. But maybe you think that’s a good thing?
Newmark: Well, the guys running those 15 TiVos at The Daily Show, they catch people saying things that we don’t see otherwise. They did a great piece showing the passing of John McCain from senator into candidate, saying one thing 2006 or before and then saying a different thing thereafter. They do good work.
reason: Are you pro-sex, drugs, and/or rock ’n’ roll?
Newmark: I really don’t remember sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll. These days, I would prefer to complain about the kids with their loud rock music and yell at them to get off my lawn.
reason: Somebody once called you the country’s biggest pimp.
Newmark: (Laughs.) They were misinformed, but that just points out the need for more fact checking.
reason: You’ve said that you try to live your life by nerd values, which you’ve described as making a comfortable living and then doing something good.
Newmark: In high school, I really did wear a plastic pocket protector. I really did wear thick black glasses taped together. And I had the social skills to go with all this. Hopefully, I’ve grown out of most of that. Some years ago I read about programmers expressing their surprise at how much money we might make. We get paid for doing something we think is fun. We don’t mind, but reading that kind of thing made me realize that when you make enough money to live comfortably and provide for your future, then it’s more satisfying to change things.
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|12.12.08 @ 12:16PM|#
I would like to thank Mr. Newmark for two things: One, all of the fantastic furniture I've found on Craigslist on the super-cheap, and Two: the "best of Craigslist" section of the site, which as far as I'm concerned is the funniest part of the internet.
So thanks! Pretty good interview, too.
|12.12.08 @ 12:36PM|#
Where else can you shop for used furniture, sell computer equipment, find a part-time job, bitch about politics, and find a midnight booty-call all on one site?
I've been trying on Hit&Run for years, but have yet to manage all of them at once
|12.12.08 @ 12:43PM|#
A couple hundred years ago the founders of this country invented representative democracy
They did?
|12.12.08 @ 12:49PM|#
Huh? How is holding a gun to the heads of networks and coercing them into adopting your geek preferences in any way libertarian? Net neutrality is price controls, pure and simple. They're demanding that one byte of pipe-clogging streaming video be priced identically to one byte is plain text email. Or charging the same bridge toll for eighteen wheeler as for a bicycle.
I remember when libertarians used to talk about auctioning off the airwaves, now they're using airwaves as an excuse to regulate.
squarooticus|12.12.08 @ 1:02PM|#
QFT.
Um|12.12.08 @ 1:07PM|#
Um. Brandybuck doesn't understand what a byte is.
"That's like charging the same for a 10-ton rig as a 10-ton bicycle to cross a bridge."
I suppose so.
Where did you get the 10-ton bicycle from?
And who pays by the byte downloaded? Isn't everyone on monthly plans now? Not relevant to net neutrality, amigo.
ed|12.12.08 @ 1:12PM|#
Newmark: "The market has failed to provide good health care for people."
What? Free enterprise has not failed anyone who can afford to see a doctor. Perhaps he meant to say that a mixed economy has failed to provide rationed, means-tested, politicized health care for all the people, regardless of their ability to pay? I suppose that is what is meant by "[T]heir [libertarian] politics...always with multiple caveats."
Smitty|12.12.08 @ 1:54PM|#
Newmark is as much a libertarian as W is a conservative.
ed|12.12.08 @ 1:58PM|#
Or Nancy Pelosi is a human.
T|12.12.08 @ 2:16PM|#
Or Nancy Pelosi is a human.
Look, botox and plastic surgery don't disqualify you until the combined total of the two exceeds half your body weight.
Pepe|12.12.08 @ 2:26PM|#
"If you're an American urbanite under the age of 30, Craig Newmark has probably helped you or someone you know get a job, get a sofa, or get laid."
Under 30? It's been around for 13 years.
Egosumabbas|12.12.08 @ 2:58PM|#
As far as advancing the cause of market anarchy (c.f. agorism), I have Craig Newmark to thank for helping in that regard.
When it comes to libertarian philosophy he's near a dud (as people have already pointed out). At most he's a market-friendly liberal.
|12.12.08 @ 6:05PM|#
"The market has failed to provide good health care for people"
Perhaps he meant "the highly regulated market (that remains despite 50% of health care dollars being paid by government)".
Regulations help to tie health insurance to your employer, make insurance more expensive because of legal coverage requirements, HIPAA, not to mention the tremendous amount of regulation on drugs and medical devices. And the trillion dollars a year subsidized by the government pushes private costs up as well...
Bob|12.12.08 @ 7:53PM|#
Hey, Mr. Newmark, want to see what Ralph Fucetola's doing these days? http://lifespirit.org (name changed from Libertarian Congregational Church when IRS objected that "Libertarian" was the name of a political party) and http://vitaminlawyer.com .
Ralph Fucetola JD|12.12.08 @ 10:28PM|#
Newmark said, "...connected with a guy named Ralph Fucetola. I don't know what's happened to him..."
As my my friend Bob noted above, I'm still here... and still making trouble when I can... and missing those extraordinary discussions in Muarry Rothbard's book-lined living room in NYC... Nice to know that some of the participants went on to such interesting things!
In addition to the web pages Bob posted, I'm also maintaining a blog at:
http://vitaminlawyerhealthfreedom.blogspot.com
And I work with my co-trustees Gen. Bert Stubblebine and Dr. Rima Laibow through Natural Solutions Foundation: www.globalhealthfreedom.org
JGR|12.15.08 @ 12:07AM|#
I use Craigslist all the time (actually, I use Crazedlist, which polls a number of different Craigslist sites on shared searches), but I can't consider it to be in the least "libertarian" when there is an absolute prohibition on listing guns, gun parts, etc.
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