Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, spoke in Phillips Auditorium on April 2 as part of the Reboot! Campaign of Our America Initiative. A self-made businessman, Johnson ran for president in 2012 as the Libertarian Party candidate. He continues to advocate for the freedom movement and has hopes for the continued advancement of liberty. Johnson is also an avid athlete who skis, mountain climbs, and runs marathons.
How do you define libertarianism as opposed to conservatism?
Libertarians are fiscally responsible, socially accepting. We are the best of Democrats, who are socially accepting and tolerant, and the Republicans, whose basis is fiscal responsibility.
Who do you consider your intellectual influences?
I don’t know if I have them. I’ve been disenchanted with our heroes. These people that I see do not have the compass that I thought they had. Let me use as an example: Lance Armstrong. Time and time again, we find that our heroes aren’t who they are supposed to be.
When did you become a libertarian?
I think it started for me in high school. The first time I smoked pot when I was 17. I found out that everything I had heard about this substance was a lie. So, what else was a lie? Was everything a lie? And I remember in civics class when I was a senior, an undercover detective came to class and lit up a marijuana smell-alike substance. Just prior to coming to class, I had read that there were 10 million regular users of marijuana in the country. He says, “You smoke this stuff, we will catch you and put you in jail.” So I said, “There are 10 million regular smokers in the country. Are you going to put every one of them in jail?” I’ll never forget what he said: “I don’t know about the 10 million, but if you do, you will be behind bars.” Everyone got my point, but him: This is crazy. And that was 1971. Who would have thought if would have been worse today?
So then, do you think that all drugs should be legal, including meth?
The methamphetamine is the boogie man drug. People who use meth do crazy things. It’s not a good drug at all. But it’s the best example of a prohibition drug. It’s cheap, it’s easy to make and so the consequences of methamphetamines fall despairingly on the poor. But if cocaine were legal, these people wouldn’t have ever used methamphetamine, and maybe they would have used cocaine without the negative behavioral impact. I believe that 90 percent of the drug problem is prohibition-related, not use-related – not to discount the problems with use and abuse. I also believe that there should be a decriminalization of drugs. Look, if a person has a drug problem, they shouldn’t be thrown in jail.
What do you think of same-sex marriage?
I see it as a constitutional issue, with a basis in law. The main reason that gays want marriage equality has to do with the fact that there are 1,100 laws on the books that give an advantage to married couples. I advocate abolishing the income tax, the corporate tax, abolishing the IRS, replacing all of it with a national consumption tax. I think that virtually all of the issues that surround gay marriage go away with the passage of that.
Will you run for president again?
I want to give voice to these issues, which have a basis in reality and the truth. Let’s stop military interventions; let’s balance the budget. If it ends up that I run for president, it would mean that I am the only person who is in that category.
What do you think about Rand Paul as a potential candidate for president?
That’s a positive. It’s positive that the libertarian message is being heard. The fact that he filibusters the Senate with regard to drone strikes, that’s a good thing because it raises awareness of an issue that is really very, very serious.
Do you think that President Barack Obama has advanced the cause for maintaining individual freedoms?
I can’t find anything wrong with what he is saying. But his actions do not match up with the rhetoric. At all. Drone strikes, military intervention, drug policy – he’s flown in the face of all of that.
So you are a marathon runner and a mountain climber? Why?
It’s been my passion for my entire life. I have a goal to climb the highest mountain on each continent. I have two more to go: Carstensz Pyramid in Oceania and Vinson in Antarctica. I ski, which is one of my passions. Six weeks ago, they had a competition in Taos, N.M., where I live, of how many times you can ski Al’s Run, Taos’s signature slope, in four hours. The winner was 21 runs and I was sixth place with 20 runs. From an age standpoint, I don’t think that anybody was over 30 in the top four, and then you have me at 60. I’m hardcore.