JOHN McAFEE: On the campaign trail

John McAfee

John McAfee is running for US president as a member of the Libertarian Party. This is an op-ed he wrote and gave us permission to run.

Liberty comes into being when our bodies and our minds belong to ourselves and liberty is lost when when a government decides what is right or wrong regarding what we do with ourselves.

Every law attempting to limit liberty throughout history has ultimately failed, because our genetically-designed urge for individual freedom is overwhelming.

Nations have, from time to time, criminalized prostitution and homosexuality. They have criminalized or legislated the ideas that we may teach our children; criminalized the consumption of alcohol, or the use of other drugs. But what are the results?

Our current war on drugs has not diminished the consumption of illegal drugs. It has merely filled our prisons with non-violent citizens and created the most powerful and brutal drug cartel in the world.

Prohibition in the 1930’s did not in any way reduce the consumption of alcohol. It in fact created an all-time high for the per capita use of alcohol. It also created widespread suffering through punishments, and it gave rise to organized crime.

In countries that have criminalized prostitution, the laws of supply and demand have created the exact same ratio of prostitutes per population as in countries where prostitution is legal. With criminalization, however, prostitutes are forced to pair up with a pimp for protection, since the police provide none, and the woman becomes a virtual slave as a result; brutalized in both body and mind.

And ideas, like evolution, may offend some, but they have a life of their own, and cannot be extinguished.

Liberty - which is personal freedom - cannot be restrained through laws, it can only be punished as it is expressed, causing widespread suffering in a society.

We, in our very bones, are all Libertarians. If you consider this, even briefly, you will see the value of liberty in all things; that it's existence is dependent on privacy, and that it is necessary as the foundation of a sane and prosperous society.

I am running for the office of President under the Libertarian Party banner. This is my first political campaign. At the age of 70, it is a grueling experience.

Here are some photos of me on the campaign trail...

JOHN McAFEE: On the campaign trail

John McAfee

The media demands, by far, the most time and energy. I have sat, waiting for snatches of 10 minutes of air time, in front of hundreds of background screens, which, oddly, all seem to look the same.

JOHN McAFEE: On the campaign trail

John McAfee

Requests for interviews come fast and furious, and finding available studios in obscure cities can be challenging. In Opelika, Alabama, there was no sit-down space for an interview with Greta Van Susteren, so I was forced to stand.

JOHN McAFEE: On the campaign trail

John McAfee

Cocktail party fundraisers, which have never been high on my list, are mandatory attendance, and my campaign manager enforces a strict attendance policy.

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