Why Joe Rogan matters
Spotify continues to suffer reputational and financial damage by supporting its star podcaster Joe Rogan. More artists are coming out in support of Neil Young and removing their music from the platform, not wanting to be associated with a racist, a conspiracist, and a purveyor of misinformation.
Some, like Josh Marshall, have written that we shouldn't focus on the likes of Rogan. That it just gives his followers the culture war that they wanted. That you can't force people to not be misinformed who willingly seek out misinformation.
Hogwash.
Joe Rogan matters because his podcast litters the discourse with lies and half-truths. He says he just wants to "talk to people". However, the people he chooses to highlight, like the vile racist and misogynist Jordan Petersen, are indicative of his beliefs. He doesn't have them on his show to push back on them, but to whole-heartedly agree with them. He is a virus of disinformation, infecting his listeners, who then go on to infect others.
Every single one of our problems currently can be traced back to the "post-truth" culture people like Rogan and Donald Trump are promoting. Everyone's opinion is equally valid. One's "research" on Facebook counts as much as a subject expert's lifetime of study.
And this post-truth culture is weaponized by our enemies, specifically Russia. They've seen the Achilles' heel of the West's openness and dedication to free expression, and have exploited it to spread lies and fear. Rogan is no harmless podcaster. He's a willing participant in this endeavor. He is no different than the propagandists on Russian state television, or those on Fox News and OANN. He trades in deceit and "I'm only asking a question." Except he's not "asking questions" out of a genuine curiosity. He knows what the answer is, or should be, and he pushes it. And the answers are a web of conspiracies.
But this is the culture in which we live. And this denigration of the truth isn't limited to the right. You can find much of the same on the left. The idea that there is no real truth is a mainstay of postmodern discourse. There is no object, only subject. The only reality which exists is that which we perceive. So who is to say what is right and wrong?
We are a culture which elevated a conman TV host to the presidency. We will be recovering from that for decades. And the sickness in which he trawled isn't cured. It's going stronger than ever, aided and abetted by a political party which has given itself over to nihilism.
What Neil Young and his peers are doing in reaction to Rogan is essential. It is the first grumbling of people being fed up with the decadence into which our society has fallen. Usually, talk of "decadence" is something which gets the right riled up. But we are in a decadent phase of our civilization. We honor people of no import, who contribute nothing to society except entertainment. Rogan was paid $100m by Spotify for exclusive rights to his podcast. People compete on Love Island, or Survivor, and become rich and famous. But we can't pay nurses or teachers what they're worth, what the jobs they do actually merit for the contributions they make to society. We value showmanship over seriousness. We value frivolity over important things. We value lies which reify our already-held views over hard truths which make us reconsider all that we've been led to believe by our social bubble. In no healthy society would Rogan be regarded as equal to Dr. Anthony Fauci. But for many of our fellow citizens, this is where they are. And people like Rogan keep feeding them the idea that they know as much as any "expert". In fact, they know more, because they know the "truth".
Lies can't be ignored. They can't be swept under the rug. The lies permeating our culture are destroying it. This is why Joe Rogan matters.