And Then There's This Asshole ...
The lonely libertarian has been enjoying Season Three of Penn and Teller's Bullshit! and I thought I would check out the internet to see if I could find any criticism of the show.
This is what I found, from a group called Logical Science, criticizing a first season episode of Bullshit! where Penn and Teller debunk global warming.
Episode 13, season 1 of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! was about "Environmental Hysteria". In short, they try to prove global warming is a fraud. We would just like to point out that Penn Jillette is a research fellow of the ExxonMobil and Industry funded CATO institute which has strong minarchist leanings. This gives Penn Jillete a conflict of interest when it comes to any topic that might require government regulation. During the show he puts Tobacco and Oil funded lobbyists against hippie college protesters. Well funded professional lobbyists vs. kids who probably just graduated from highschool isn't exactly a fair match. For a fair match he should put those lawyers up against any of the scientists on this massive list.
I just love this- because they're libertarians, they have a conflict of interest when it comes to any topic that might require government regulation. Or in other words, if you're a libertarian, don't bother on protesting government regulation, as you're conflicted because of your political leanings. I wonder if they'd make the same argument about liberals who tend to favor government regulation- are such liberal groups similarly conflicted when it comes to issues that might require government regulation? I doubt it, which is why this critique smells a bit like Bullshit!
This critique goes on to make the scientific case for global warming, which is sort of beyond the point of the episode. As this critique noted, the title of this episode was "environmental hysteria," and as such it was meant to debunk, well, environmental hysteria. If hippie college protesters are out trying to "save the environment" and they have no clue what they're talking about, that would certainly be directly related to the notion of "environmental hysteria." Again, the point of the episode was not to showcase a scientific debate, but to show that there are alternative views out there when it comes to global warming and to show how clueless most people are when it comes to these issues.
This is what I found, from a group called Logical Science, criticizing a first season episode of Bullshit! where Penn and Teller debunk global warming.
Episode 13, season 1 of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! was about "Environmental Hysteria". In short, they try to prove global warming is a fraud. We would just like to point out that Penn Jillette is a research fellow of the ExxonMobil and Industry funded CATO institute which has strong minarchist leanings. This gives Penn Jillete a conflict of interest when it comes to any topic that might require government regulation. During the show he puts Tobacco and Oil funded lobbyists against hippie college protesters. Well funded professional lobbyists vs. kids who probably just graduated from highschool isn't exactly a fair match. For a fair match he should put those lawyers up against any of the scientists on this massive list.
I just love this- because they're libertarians, they have a conflict of interest when it comes to any topic that might require government regulation. Or in other words, if you're a libertarian, don't bother on protesting government regulation, as you're conflicted because of your political leanings. I wonder if they'd make the same argument about liberals who tend to favor government regulation- are such liberal groups similarly conflicted when it comes to issues that might require government regulation? I doubt it, which is why this critique smells a bit like Bullshit!
This critique goes on to make the scientific case for global warming, which is sort of beyond the point of the episode. As this critique noted, the title of this episode was "environmental hysteria," and as such it was meant to debunk, well, environmental hysteria. If hippie college protesters are out trying to "save the environment" and they have no clue what they're talking about, that would certainly be directly related to the notion of "environmental hysteria." Again, the point of the episode was not to showcase a scientific debate, but to show that there are alternative views out there when it comes to global warming and to show how clueless most people are when it comes to these issues.
posted by lonely libertarian at 9:51 PM
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