John McAfee: I Might Be a Political Hot Shot but I'm No Charlie Sheen

As you may or may not know, I am running for president of the United States under the Libertarian Party banner. The first step in this process is winning the Libertarian nomination. Since I am the only nationally known candidate in this nomination process I naturally assumed the wise ones within the party would assure my nomination. So, I focused my attention entirely on the two major political party nominees that seem certain to win their party's support—Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

This is my first foray into politics and I have had the political education of a lifetime crammed into a seven month period. My first rude awakening was that the Libertarian Party is composed of a wide field of sometimes opposing opinions. A long held opinion among the old guard is that one of my competitive contenders, Gary Johnson, who ran for president in 2012 and received less than one percent of the vote, is the party's best chance to win this year.

I like Gary. He is a nice man. Sincerely. But I invite anyone to watch a single video of him, of which there are many on the web, and ask yourself how he would do in a debate with, for example, Donald Trump. Or whether anyone could ever consider him, with his unique personality so entirely devoid of charisma, could ever get more than one percent of the popular vote. He is the most uncomfortable person in his own skin I have ever met. Watch and make your own decision.

But the above was an aside. I wanted to talk about the astonishing education I have received in my first entry into the political arena. I am familiar with businesses, having started 17 in my life, almost all successful, and one of them now worth more than a billion dollars. The fourth company I founded—McAfee Inc.—was sold to Intel for more than $7 billion a few years ago. I have started many companies now worth more than $100 million dollars. So I know a little about business.

Corporate competition is fierce, and as it is viewed by many as economic warfare, all is fair. But politics…now, this is something unique.

The most astonishing thing about politics, is that it's participants, at least on the campaign trail, seem oblivious to the realities of the modern world.

According to organization charts, manifold legislations, government enforcement agencies, etc., the U.S. government is an independent entity with its own power.

Dwight Eisenhower warned American citizens at the end of his presidency about the implications of the military-industrial complex and its influence over government. We have now gone well beyond any of the wildest imaginations that could have entered Eisenhower's mind.

The recent mini-war between the FBI and Apple over the former's quest to unlock the iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino shooters, into which I inserted myself to no small degree, should at least give a clue, to those of you those with the right kind of perceptions, where true power lies in this modern world.

Money used to be the standard commodity of exchange and the source of all power. Anyone who can add two and two can now look at the millions of applications downloaded onto smartphones around the world, which are absolutely free, in terms of money—many of which cost tens of millions of dollars to develop—and perceive the absolute truth that information is becoming the new commodity of exchange. These "free" applications ask for permission to read your emails, your text messages, listen to your phone calls, record video from your phone. Why else would someone spend millions developing an application which they then give away. Kind heart maybe? Get real. What price can you possibly put on this information that these apps are gathering ?

Well, if you have ever done anything truly wrong in your life, then this information might be worth all that you own. If you are squeaky clean, then at least the app knows your life preferences and it will be easier to sell you something.

So, believe me, information is the new power in this world. Which brings me back to the political process.

The one thing more powerful than information is disinformation. It has won wars, sold newspapers, destroyed careers and frequently entertained us.

This is where politics shines.

Recently, I had the opportunity to experience mud slinging—a form of disinformation—from an opponent—mild in comparison to what I will surely receive from the more experienced opponents from the Republican and Democratic parties, but comical and entertaining nevertheless.

On one of my opponent's social media outlets I am being compared to Charlie Sheen in unflattering ways.

Mind you, I admire Charlie Sheen as an actor, and I thought his performances in Platoon and Wall Street were Oscar worthy. I also have no judgement against his reported use of drugs or his alleged proclivity for prostitutes—both qualities of which I have also been accused of. I am a Libertarian after all and Libertarians believe that one should live one's life as they please, providing it harms no one else.

But I would like to add my own perceptions.

It is true that I have taken more drugs in my life than would fill an average living room from floor to ceiling, However, I have taken no drugs at all since I was 38 years old. I am now 70. Admittedly I drink occasionally, so perhaps I can be faulted for that.

As for a proclivity for prostitutes, it is true that I am married to an ex-prostitute. She was forced into prostitution at the age of 20. She was brutally beaten every day for 10 years. She was isolated from friends and family. She was threatened with death. She was treated as a slave.

I rescued her three and a half years ago and married her.

As to Mr. Sheen's alleged craziness, I do not know him personally. As for me, I have written over 100 articles over the past three years for International Business Times, Business Insider, Digital Trends, Silicon Angle, Forbes and Newsweek. If any of them sound crazy, then perhaps I am.