Last week, we saw the beginning of a new season of South Park, arguably one of the most libertarian shows on television. Last year, I wrote a post on the Top 5 Libertarian Episodes of South Park. While the post is one of my most successful to date, some of you were unhappy because I didn’t pick your favorites. It’s fantastic that a show as popular as South Park consistently incorporates libertarian messages into plotlines, but that does make it difficult to limit a list of libertarian episodes to just five. The last season alone explored topics such as crowdfunding, trans-inclusive bathrooms, drones, and the regulation of ridesharing. Because the five episodes I picked last year left something to be desired, I decided to bring you another five, this time based on the comments on last year’s post.

Season 4, Episode 2: “Cartman’s Silly Hate Crime 2000”

When Cartman throws a rock at Token Black (yes that’s a real character’s name), he is up on hate crime charges. The overall point of the episode is that we should be treated equally in the eyes of the law, even when we’re victims. “All hate crime laws do is support the idea that blacks are different from whites,” Stan says in a presentation to the governor of Colorado. South Park reminds us infringing on the rights of others is wrong, and insisting that some reasons are more valid than others only demeans the individual.

Season 5, Episode 2: “Cripple Fight”

When the boys join the Scouts, Big Gay Al (once again, that’s a real character’s name) is their highly-qualified, well liked, scout leader. Problems arise however when the Mountain Scouts of America fire Big Gay Al due to his sexual orientation and replace him with a straight child molester. When Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny begin a campaign to have the Scouts change their policy, the Supreme Court ultimately rules against the Mountain Scouts. At this point, Big Gay Al gives a great speech on why persuasion must be favored over coercion: “Freedom is a two-way street. If I’m free to express myself, then the Scouts have to be free to express themselves.” The episode does a great job of condemning discrimination and homophobia while saying that government force is not the appropriate solution to these problems.

Season 8, Episode 8: “Douche and Turd”

Watch an episode from the list!

Originally airing the week before the 2004 presidential election, “Douche and Turd” points out the stupidity of the lesser-of-two-evils approach to voting better than any piece of media I’ve seen. When South Park Elementary has to change their mascot, Kyle and Cartman promote two joke mascots. Kyle champions Giant Douche while Eric leads Team Turd Sandwich. Stan seems to be the only character who has a problem with both potential mascots. “I think voting is great, but if I have to choose between a douche and a turd, I don’t really see the point,” says Stan, echoing a sentiment many libertarians have felt at some point. The entire town pressures Stan to vote and has no sympathy for his they-both-suck attitude. The episode also points out how sometimes efforts to increase voter turnout are intended to sway people in a certain direction. When Stan goes to vote for the Turd Sandwich, Kyle immediately says that he insisted Stan vote because he assumed Stan would vote for the Giant Douche. Anyone who’s felt disappointed by the major-party nominees can identify with Stan’s struggle in this episode.

Season 10, Episode 6: “Manbearpig”

There are few things as funny as a well-done Al Gore satire, and “Manbearpig” is one of the best out there. When Al Gore makes a speech at South Park Elementary, he warns the children about a mythical creature called Manbearpig, which is incredibly dangerous and must be stopped. When the boys are dragged into his quest to stop Manbearpig, they end up trapped in a cave and almost killed. Since Gore is known for his environmental activism, one can assume that Manbearpig was meant as an analogy for global warming, but it works for any threat th

at has been exaggerated by politicians, including terrorist threats, illegal immigration, drug use, and countless other issues. In the name of stopping Manbearpig, Gore causes more problems than there ever were before. After Gore determines that Manbearpig must be dead, he takes credit for it and wants to be hailed as a savior for solving a problem that never existed in the first place. That’s not to say that things like global warming, terrorism and illegal immigration aren’t legitimate problems, but oftentimes the solutions proposed by politicians are based on exaggerations of these threats and carry unintended consequences, much like Manbearpig.

Season 17, Episode 1: “Let Go, Let Gov”

One of the more recent episodes to explore libertarian ideas, “Let Go, Let Gov” discusses NSA spying. When Cartman infiltrates the NSA, he learns that they’re collecting data on all the citizens of the United States. His supervisor often interprets mundane conversations as threats. The NSA’s insistence on sifting through the data of every citizen inhibits their ability to determine who the real threats are (sound familiar?). I won’t spoil the means by which the NSA gather all this information, but many would agree it’s unethical. Like many South Park episodes, “Let Go, Let Gov” comes up with something ridiculous that makes us question how ridiculous our reality is. How willing are we to throw ethics aside in the name of security? Another wonderful question posed by the wonderfully irreverent South Park.

Even these five episodes as well the first five I wrote about only scratch the surface of libertarianism in South Park. Hopefully Season 19 will bring us even more episodes that we can refer to when arguing libertarianism with our South Park-loving fans. What are your favorites? What are other tv shows you love that promote libertarianism? We’d love to know!

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