Friday, March 22, 2019

Me and Joe Rogan, Part Deux: Is He Liberal and Open-minded?


There has been push back as to my assertion that Joe Rogan isn't as liberal as fans think he is. I still think he's maybe more liberal than his listeners, but definitely right of center on many things, though occasionally leaning left and mostly libertarian.

His anti-PC rants make it clear he's a privileged white guy and trivializes and diminishes anyone else's experience who sees the world as anything but how he sees it. PC is just about not being as asshole, yet he wants to retain his right to be an asshole and be considered nice and reasonable. But this isn't a right. You can say what you want! But don't be surprised when people call your sexism sexism.

In his 2016 show, which if you had any doubts about his leanings, is called Triggered. Out of the gate with the title he's belittling marginalized groups' daily discrimination and issues by kind of laughing them off. “Oh, why do you need safe spaces and trigger warnings, you oversensitive snowflakes!” He feels this way because he doesn't experience these hardships brought on by gender or race and has no desire to understand those who do. He even goes farther and says they are trying to censor and control him, which is absurd. Instead of trying to understand where people are coming from in his so-called inquisitive manner, he hand waves his obstinance saying “it's all good.” He puts up a wall of objection to much need introspection on his part and then “forgives” the marginalized groups for offending him in a way entirely manufactured by him not putting himself in their shoes. Is that gaslighting? It's something.

Quote form the Maxim review ofTriggered:
“If that title and Rogan’s history of criticizing political correctness has you expecting a 60 minute screed against safe spaces and microaggressions, you’re going to be disappointed. Rogan certainly takes his swipes—feminists, transgender people and Instagram models will find cause to take offense—but...”
--So basically, don't expect a horrible screed, it's just going to be good-natured trans and gay and feminist bashing! It's all good!

Look at his guests if you need further proof of his leanings – and I'll give alternative guest ideas as we go. (I also understand that it won't work if my guest suggestions don't want any part of Joe Rogan or if Rogan himself is completely uninterested in the topics or guests. That would be a further proof that he's not as open as he would have you believe.) He'd rather talk with incels, neo-Nazis, fake moon landing guy or quack pseudoscience when he gets high and “curious” rather than a wide range of people. He's applauded for this “learning” though never really pushes his actual intellectual or ideological boundaries. In order for me to see a leftist or someone liberal and curious about left leaning things, I'd see him asking: what is restorative justice? What does abolishing ICE or abolishing prisons mean? What would that world look like? But he instead wants to find a leftist hypocrisy between feminists wanting to see rapists in jail and leftist talk of closing prisons. And he doesn't really even want to explore that so much as make a declaration. His curiosity just does not extend in that leftward direction like everyone wants to say. He saves all the open-mindedness and curiosity for the right, alt-right and right wingnut part of the spectrum – if it is a spectrum at all, which I would debate.

Same with anything to do with women. He's not open to introspectively challenging his beliefs that feminists hate men or feminism is bad. He has zero curiosity except when he has "proof'" that actually women are the problem  - and then it isn't a feminist guest, but a link with a title he likes (though the article didn't say what he was asserting... ). 

A search for Joe Rogan and feminists will get you JRE #724 with Christina Sommers (and a long list of his problems with feminists and feminism, showing that he really doesn't get it). A quick search on Sommers will give you her connection to conservative think tank AmericanEnterprise Institute where she thinks about gender with Dick Cheneyand those like-minded freethinkers. 


Rogan likes guns. But not particularly women or trans people. But they could bond over guns, if not a belief in equality or the protection of their further existence on the planet.


Cristen and Caroline, hosts – very long list of references on gun owning groups, if interested!
Queer and Trans Gun Club - https://twitter.com/trigwarnatl

I don't like guns, so I can't really speak to all these groups, but maybe they'd be interesting or sparka liberal's curiosity.

https://www.triggerhappypanda.com/
Trigger Happy Firearm Instruction, LLC is dedicated to empowering women through safe firearms education! We aim to effectively educate 1 million women on firearms safety and fundamentals.

Or this? Socialist Rifle Association.
The Socialist Rifle Association's mission is to uphold the right of the working class to keep and bear arms and maintain the skills necessary for self and community defense.
They oppose assault weapons bans AND the US backed coup in Venezuela. How about that.
I don't know anything about that. Rogan is likely not curious. https://socialistra.org/




For UBI, universal basic income, he had Andrew Yang, Richard Spencer's favorite and not someone who could really explain the pros and cons.


Robert Reich may not come on there, but Dan Savage did in t#512 (2014, so maybe UBI, marginal tax rates and Medicare For All wasn't as popular then?). All people got from this appearance on Reddit was - did Joe Rogan “win” or “lose”. Facepalm. Savage isn't really all that liberal either - he's another with one of these privileged white boy libertarian streaks.



He could have antifa people on and talk about how the media portrays them. He could have democratic Socialists on and talk about how they are demonized as Stalinists. There's very little "inquisitiveness" with respect to leftist topics whereas he gives more of a frenemy vibe and wide latitude to a wide variety of right wing nuts.



Rogan has had Ben Shapiro on, but no one from anything like Current Affairs? https://www.currentaffairs.org/



I wonder how this show compares to Rogan? https://burnitalldownpod.com/
“What do you get when you put a Think Progress sports reporter, a Canadian sports activist and a Hofstra professor together on the same podcast? One capitalist-hating, Trump-hating, NFL protest-loving group of far Left women.” – NewsBusters
  • Brenda Elsey, Associate Professor of History at Hofstra in New York
  • Jessica Luther, freelance sportswriter and author in Austin, Texas
  • Shireen Ahmed, freelance writer and sports activist in Toronto
  • Lindsay Gibbs, sports reporter at ThinkProgress in Washington, DC
  • Amira Rose Davis, Assistant Professor of History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Penn State University
Any libertarians there?


Anyone from Can We All Be Feminists would be a good informative gues, but I think anyone in trans or fat activism he'd just laugh at with no curiosity to be found whatsoever. Not that they would be open to such a forum given his reputation...



Another author is Kendi. I can't see him coming on, but who knows.


I really can't see NPR types like these going on Joe Rogan, but that would be interesting.
John Biewen and Celeste Headlee, Scene On Radio


Josie and Clint do the Justice In America podcast. Would they come on? They could explain criminal justice if he wanted, though.
“Justice in America,” hosted byJosie Duffy Rice and Clint Smith III, is a podcast for everyone interested in criminal justice reform—from those new to the system to experts who want to know more.


Another author - not sure she'd come on, but I loved her book. She explained feminism well.
Soraya Chemaly, author Rage Becomes Her

-Vienna women's city mentioned in RBH --
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/oct/13/why-arent-we-designing-cities-that-work-for-women-not-just-men

-Brazil - the self defense class mentioned in RBH --


PrisonCulture to talk about Cyntoia Brown or others she's advocated for.


Jeremy Scahill on imperialism/warmongering – I feel like he could talk with Joe and not be too academic for him. I couldn't find if he's been on. I feel like he could appeal to the Abby Martin folks.


Maybe he could have someone on to talk about the ERA - he likely thinks it's not needed, but why not push himself to find out why people think it is?




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