[ExI] Piker

[spike at rainier66.com]

From: John Clark <johnkclark at gmail.com> 
Sent: Friday, 30 October, 2026 2:58 AM
To: spike at rainier66.com
Cc: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Subject: Re: [ExI] Piker

 

On Thu, Oct 29, 2026 at 4:49 PM <spike at rainier66.com <mailto:spike at rainier66.com> > wrote:

 

> If McEntee had been a Libertarian, I still wouldn’t know who it is.  How many internet followers does he have?  I am not one of them.  I will offer that Libertarians have personalities like that.  That’s why our conventions never go anywhere.

 

>…If, as you say, behavior similar to that of John McEntee is common among members of the Libertarian Party….

 

That isn’t what I said.  Read again please.

 

>… then why on earth would you want to be associated with such a bunch of sadistic creeps?

 

It isn’t a bunch.  It is a few.  They effectively prevent the party from unifying however, as Hasan Piker is doing now for the Democrat party.  Every Democrat candidate will be asked if they will offer an unambiguous full-throated condemnation, a complete repudiation of Hasan Piker.  Some will offer that.  John will you?

 

> Piker is relevant in that he has a huge following, and he is actively campaigning with candidates El Sayed and Cortez.

 

>…I admit that Cortez it's an embarrassment for the Democrats but every political party has a lunatic fringe except for the Republicans, because for them the lunatic fringe has become the mainstream, and according to you the same thing could be said about the Libertarian Party….

 

The Libertarian party has no mainstream or center that I can find.  It needs to split five ways.

 

>…As for El Sayed, he said “I am not somebody who is a socialist. I believe in capitalism, I just believe that capitalism has to be regulated”….

 

Capitalism is regulated already, heavily.

 

>… Abdul El-Sayed … Medicare for all….

 

Medicare for all is Medicare for none.  The working people cannot afford to pay for us.  It struggles to pay for the elderly.

 

>…and a wealth tax on billionaires, but like it or not there is a 100% chance that we will see both those things in less than three years…. John K Clark

 

John this is your chance to make money, bigtime.

 

If you believe the billionaire tax will pass at the national level in less than three years, you might reasonably believe the notion will sell in the far left state of California, where the voters embrace every proposed tax.

 



 

I didn’t bet on this one because I am reluctant to bet against California’s urge to tax itself.  But my reasoning goes thus: if this doesn’t sell in California, it has nearly zero chance of selling at the national level, particularly considering it requires a constitutional amendment, as did the income tax.  

 

Text of 16th amendment:

 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States> , from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

 

That doesn’t say a word about net worth.  Conclusion: a wealth tax at the federal level is unconstitutional (cue Hasan Piker rant about the constitution.)

 

spike

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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