Oh my, all the crocodile tears over free speech and the comparisons to the Soviet Union some 50 years ago. The author assures us that he is not saying America in 2022 is just as repressive as the Soviet Union used to be but he starts out reminding us of how artists suffered under Soviet repression and then goes on to lament the fate of p…
Oh my, all the crocodile tears over free speech and the comparisons to the Soviet Union some 50 years ago. The author assures us that he is not saying America in 2022 is just as repressive as the Soviet Union used to be but he starts out reminding us of how artists suffered under Soviet repression and then goes on to lament the fate of poor Joe Rogan who is being "persecuted" by some aging folk musicians. Joe Rogan is not an artist. He is a brutal businessman who figured out that if 1000 experts calmly explain something and one crackpot contrarian screams the opposite from the rooftops, the mouse clicks, downloads and profits will increase if he invites the contrarian on his "Joe Rogan Experience". Neil Young, Joni Mitchel et. al. are not proposing sending Rogan to the Gulag but are just making some noise that will hopefully put a dent in the popularity of this know-nothing loudmouth who got rich beyond his wildest dreams and now wields his popularity like a toddler who found his dad's loaded gun. In the unlikely case that Neil Young succeeds, Rogan may have to go back to commenting on Mixed Martial Arts fights - his real passion, according to his own website - and make only 10 million a year instead of 100 million. Poor baby. This is not about free speech - the media landscape has changed dramatically over the last 2 decades, let alone since the days of Soviet repression - this is just about unfettered capitalism in an age when outrage sells, and truth and decency does not. I have listened to many of Rogan's podcasts and granted, he is a skilled interviewer and his phony modesty ("I am just a dumbass") and his "average Joe" demeanor are at times endearing but he is nothing more than the typical arrogant "nouveau rich" who is full of himself and his unexpected wealth. This is the man who invited conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to his show and calmed him down after the latter went on his signature rants saying, "I love you Alex". What about the bereaved parents of the murdered Sandy Hook children who endured harassment and death threats thanks to Jones' claims that they were just actors in some conspiracy, their children not really murdered? Why would Rogan care? He is a businessman and having a well-known scumbag like Jones on his podcast produces results: clicks, downloads and profits. Free speech will not suffer a bit if characters like Rogan are pushed off the pedestal of a "truth teller". If his audience shrinks and Spotify finds Rogan no longer profitable and dumps him, what exactly would we lose? Oh yeah, I remember, something like Soviet Union taking over again. Get real, live in the present, not the past.
Oh my, all the crocodile tears over free speech and the comparisons to the Soviet Union some 50 years ago. The author assures us that he is not saying America in 2022 is just as repressive as the Soviet Union used to be but he starts out reminding us of how artists suffered under Soviet repression and then goes on to lament the fate of poor Joe Rogan who is being "persecuted" by some aging folk musicians. Joe Rogan is not an artist. He is a brutal businessman who figured out that if 1000 experts calmly explain something and one crackpot contrarian screams the opposite from the rooftops, the mouse clicks, downloads and profits will increase if he invites the contrarian on his "Joe Rogan Experience". Neil Young, Joni Mitchel et. al. are not proposing sending Rogan to the Gulag but are just making some noise that will hopefully put a dent in the popularity of this know-nothing loudmouth who got rich beyond his wildest dreams and now wields his popularity like a toddler who found his dad's loaded gun. In the unlikely case that Neil Young succeeds, Rogan may have to go back to commenting on Mixed Martial Arts fights - his real passion, according to his own website - and make only 10 million a year instead of 100 million. Poor baby. This is not about free speech - the media landscape has changed dramatically over the last 2 decades, let alone since the days of Soviet repression - this is just about unfettered capitalism in an age when outrage sells, and truth and decency does not. I have listened to many of Rogan's podcasts and granted, he is a skilled interviewer and his phony modesty ("I am just a dumbass") and his "average Joe" demeanor are at times endearing but he is nothing more than the typical arrogant "nouveau rich" who is full of himself and his unexpected wealth. This is the man who invited conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to his show and calmed him down after the latter went on his signature rants saying, "I love you Alex". What about the bereaved parents of the murdered Sandy Hook children who endured harassment and death threats thanks to Jones' claims that they were just actors in some conspiracy, their children not really murdered? Why would Rogan care? He is a businessman and having a well-known scumbag like Jones on his podcast produces results: clicks, downloads and profits. Free speech will not suffer a bit if characters like Rogan are pushed off the pedestal of a "truth teller". If his audience shrinks and Spotify finds Rogan no longer profitable and dumps him, what exactly would we lose? Oh yeah, I remember, something like Soviet Union taking over again. Get real, live in the present, not the past.