The Best Free-Market Comedians
Friday, May 20, 2011 at 7:16PM As anyone who has been paying attention to world events knows, there is a lot of really crazy, serious-sounding things going on in the world. We write a lot about these issues here every day but I thought since today was Friday, let's talk about a lighter topic: comedians.
While comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock are great, the ones I really gravitate to and enjoy are the ones that have a decided anti-state/anti-government/anti-establishment or free market attitude. I've brought up a few of them with my free-market friends and they hadn't heard of some of them which made me realize that many people probably haven't heard of some of the best free-market comedians.
I actually hesitate at calling them comedians. To me they are just free market thinkers who just happen to be really funny. They may not even consider themselves to be "anti-government" per se... but if you listen to them, it is almost all very anarchist thinking. But they don't just criticize governments... they also take on other scourges in our society such as the mainstream media and organized religion. What this group of gentlemen are, are some of the best philosophers of our time.
The following list of comedians don't just tell your typical jokes, they look deeply at the unfree, statist human condition today and at all the "societal norms" that make no sense and expose them for what they really are.
Bill Hicks
A few people on this list are dead. Sadly, the good ones always seem to leave us far too soon. Bill Hicks himself had a bit on this topic in the early 90s. He stated, "Why is it the good guys always die young? Why is it always the good guys get murdered? John Lennon? Murdered. Martin Luther King? Murdered. Ghandi? Murdered. Jesus? Murdered. Ronald Reagan? Shot, wounded, cancer eight times, that f*#ker still walks!"
Bill was a true philosopher. His ideas went beyond the day-to-day and he regularly contemplated about what the life experience really is. In one of his most famous bits he asked why they never show good "drug" stories on the nightly newscast. They always show someone taking acid and then jumping off of a roof. Bill asked why we can't have a newscast that leads off like this:
"Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the weather."
One of his most deep and philosophical pieces is his, "It's just a ride" bit. Everyone in our stressed out world of today needs to watch this.
It's tough to pick one Bill Hicks video to feature. If you enjoy this one, you can spend the better part of a day looking up Bill Hicks on YouTube... I chose this one on "War and Freedom". The craziest part about this is that he did this bit nearly 20 years ago, talking about Bush and the Iraq War... yet, today, in 2011, it could have been performed yesterday... nothing has changed.
George Carlin
Another great, dead comedian. George Carlin is just, plain, a classic. Most people are aware of him so I won't expound to much. Some of my favorite pieces from him include, "Religion is Bullshit", "Saving the Planet" and his diatribe against voting.
It's tough to pick just one video from his huge catalog, but I chose this one entitled, "Who Really Controls America". He starts off by making very similar comments to the one we made in our blog post, Debtucation about the American education "system":
Doug Stanhope
Doug Stanhope is by far the "rawest" comedian on this list. He basically just gets up on stage, gets drunk and rants... but it's hilarious.
Some of his better bits include, "Maybe You Are On the Wrong Drugs", which is a statement about how so many people in the US are on pharmaceuticals. And, one that we agree with completely, "Democracy is a Flawed Theory". We wrote similar comments in our blog, "Democracy is Dangerous... and Stupid".
One of his best is his commentary on patriotism/nationalism:
Joe Rogan
You may know Joe Rogan from a few of his other jobs. He used to host the TV show Fear Factor and he is currently the "color" man for UFC Fights. But the thing he is the best at is being a comedian and a free market thinker. I've listened to many of his podcasts and I doubt he even considers himself to be an anarchist or libertarian or any of those things... but what he does is he questions the world around him. And that, in and of itself, almost always leads to free-market style thinking.
Joe is actually very close to being an anarchist but he is missing out on a few key concepts. As example, I recently heard him say, "Mexico is a disaster because there is no government". He's got that one all backwards. First, not having a government is a good thing. And second, Mexico isn't a disaster. I'm sitting here writing this from a Starbucks on La Costera just off the beach in Acapulco. It's fine here. The US is turning into a disaster, but Mexico for the most part is fine. The only problems here are actually caused by the US Government and their despicable "war on drugs" (aka War on Freedom). Get me on your podcast Joe and I'll help you understand.
However, Joe is SO close to figuring things like the state and democracy out that I am putting him on the list.
Joe regularly questions the military industrial complex and speaks out about all the questions surrounding 9/11 (a topic we have often covered, including in our blog post "Osama bin Laden and 9/11 - You Can't Handle the Truth") as he did in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl2JQfxnnHU&feature=player_embedded. Other great bits by Joe Rogan include this one on why suicide bombers blow themselves up and "Solving the War with Pot".
One of my most favorite bits by Joe Rogan is the following where he explains how the Pyramids got created and what happened to the technology afterwards!
So, enjoy your weekend and enjoy some of these videos - a little laughter goes a long way in today's world.
If you know of any similar comedians please post them to the comments section as we are always on the lookout for funny, insightful philosophers who see the world for what it really is and not the way we are told to see it.
Reader Comments (4)
Great list! I'd heard of them all except Joe Rogan! Going to sit down tonight and YouTube him... Bill Hicks is a GOD to me!
Great list! Lewis Black could be on this list... although he is a little leftist from time to time. But for the most part his thoughts are quite free-market
Thanks for the tips on the comedians !!
good taste in comedy.
Awesome! LOL Still laughing with Rogan's take on Egypt LOL!!!!