Jason Riddle

I chatted with Jason Riddle.  

JR: I moved to Delaware. Even the libertarians there are conservative. Lol

John: What do you think of Delaware?

JR: I love it. No sales tax, open carry.

John: Many libertarians there in Delaware?

JR: Classic libs, not millennial douches

John: So what is the party doing there?

JR: Not much really, we’re in every race, my brother-in-law ran for governor last cycle, a friend of mine ran for Congress…

John: You have a local meeting you can go to?

JR: I do, but I’m relatively new to Delaware, I’ll get to it eventually. Traveling for work puts a damper on it though.

John: you travel for work?

JR: I do. Currently in the DC area. I love my job. The site I am working for this week is super busy. I deal with a lot of pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and chemical companies.

John: Wow! Can I ask how you became libertarian?

JR: Well, I was a Bernie supporter for a little while, but, someone close to me, gave me some research ideas, and I did just that. Poof, I became a libertarian.

John: What were the research ideas?

JR: Health insurance invention, Healthcare pricing, pharma pricing, and how they’ve changed as insurance grew.

John: So you saw how as government grew involved, prices went up?

JR:  I did. Also how the drug war and private prisons demanding to be filled caused many lives to be ruined over victimless crimes.

John: what do you think of the current protests?

JR: Well, the protests and the burning of police stations are justified. I believe most of the looters and vandals of businesses are opportunistic assholes taking advantage of a bad situation.

John: How can we as libertarians use this crisis to our advantage?

JR: By pointing out that Biden was a major factor in the current drug laws we have today and the disproportionate penalties for being convicted.

John: You have insight into the medical field you have done your research, what do you think needs to happen?

JR: Well, first, end the drug war. Then, demilitarize the police. Then, start treating addiction as a disease. Then, end private prisons. Then get rid of health insurance mandates. Make it completely optional. Make doctors compete for service. 

Then withdraw all troops from foreign countries. And only develop weapons for the defense of this country. That’s a start. After all that, a fair tax.

John: What is a fair tax?

JR: Well, I agree that taxation is theft. But in order to get rid of a lot of things, we will need to continue taxing for a while as we pay down the debt. So, I would say, each working individual above the age of 18 and below the age of 67, would pay 15% of their income. 

Corporations would pay 10% and smaller businesses 7%. Get rid of all other federal taxes.

John: How have you grown, since you became libertarian?

JR: I’ve grown in many ways. I believe in freedom for everyone. I believe that government is always the problem and never the solution.

John: What would you recommend to new libertarians, and the curious?

JR: Read anything by Thomas Sowell, “Economics in One Lesson” by Henry Hazlitt, Research Gary Johnson’s governorship, research all the things I did, and go to LP.org to read our planks.