4 ms·

I'm black, but not American. I find the idea that people can't even say a word in quotations or reference to be inane. Although I understand and respect why Ame

I'm black, but not American. I find the idea that people can't even say a word in quotations or reference to be inane. Although I understand and respect why American black people don't like it. What bothers me is that people can lose their jobs/livelihoods just from saying it.

roughly 5y ago
There's an interesting kind of inside-out thinking re: jobs in these kinds of matters - I thought it was on display in a pretty sharp way during the Kavanaugh hearings - Brett Kavanaugh was being vetted as a supreme court justice, one of 9 people in a lifetime appointment as some of the most influential individuals in the US government and consequently the world. By all measures, Kavanaugh did some dumb shit as a young adult - he displayed a sharp lack of judgement. Does that make him a bad person? Maybe, maybe not. It does, however, suggest that maybe he's not one of the 9 most qualified individuals in a country of 350M to serve a lifetime appointment exercising his judgement in arguably the most consequential institution in the country. Is Joe Rogan a bad guy? Who knows. Sounds like he was an idiot a decade or so ago, but maybe he's better now. Is he entitled in any vast cosmic sense to a platform with millions of listeners and an actual effect on politics and the real world? No, not really. He's got one, sure, but it's not like we as a society are in any way obligated to either agree that that should continue or not take steps to see it stopped if we feel it's doing harm. Should Joe Rogan be shot or thrown in jail? Absolutely not. Does he have an inalienable right to a mass influence on society? Also absolutely not. This sort of notion that we as society don't have some vested interest in the construction of the world we live in that doesn't trump some random person's ability to earn an obscene amount of money is just strange. Joe Rogan isn't going to be poor if he loses his show and he's not going without a meal if Spotify decides he can't say the N-word in a podcast.
- Karsteski 5y ago
  Idk from listening to other people who know him personally, and from listening to 100s of episodes of his podcast, he seems like a great person. Says a lot of stupid shit and has fuck ups, but who doesn't. I don't really think that anyone does or doesn't deserve to have an audience. Also I find the idea that someone "should not have a platform" whatever the fuck that means, because they say stupid shit, to be a very short-sighted approach to the problem of people believing stupid things. If I were a person who was vaccine-hesitant or straight up didn't want the COVID vaccine for whatever reason, all this talk would just make further entrenched in my beliefs. Which is clearly what is happening. I also am also very much against calling for people's jobs/livelihoods what have you. Regardless of if I agree/disagree with their positions. I do wish Rogan would have just stayed independent, especially because I listen to far fewer of his podcasts because Spotify is a shit platform. But honestly, who would turn down a multihundred million dollar deal. So whatever, I don't blame him. But clearly he is seeing the repercussions of that.

roughly 5y ago

There's an interesting kind of inside-out thinking re: jobs in these kinds of matters - I thought it was on display in a pretty sharp way during the Kavanaugh hearings - Brett Kavanaugh was being vetted as a supreme court justice, one of 9 people in a lifetime appointment as some of the most influential individuals in the US government and consequently the world. By all measures, Kavanaugh did some dumb shit as a young adult - he displayed a sharp lack of judgement. Does that make him a bad person? Maybe, maybe not. It does, however, suggest that maybe he's not one of the 9 most qualified individuals in a country of 350M to serve a lifetime appointment exercising his judgement in arguably the most consequential institution in the country. Is Joe Rogan a bad guy? Who knows. Sounds like he was an idiot a decade or so ago, but maybe he's better now. Is he entitled in any vast cosmic sense to a platform with millions of listeners and an actual effect on politics and the real world? No, not really. He's got one, sure, but it's not like we as a society are in any way obligated to either agree that that should continue or not take steps to see it stopped if we feel it's doing harm. Should Joe Rogan be shot or thrown in jail? Absolutely not. Does he have an inalienable right to a mass influence on society? Also absolutely not. This sort of notion that we as society don't have some vested interest in the construction of the world we live in that doesn't trump some random person's ability to earn an obscene amount of money is just strange. Joe Rogan isn't going to be poor if he loses his show and he's not going without a meal if Spotify decides he can't say the N-word in a podcast.

Karsteski 5y ago
Idk from listening to other people who know him personally, and from listening to 100s of episodes of his podcast, he seems like a great person. Says a lot of stupid shit and has fuck ups, but who doesn't. I don't really think that anyone does or doesn't deserve to have an audience. Also I find the idea that someone "should not have a platform" whatever the fuck that means, because they say stupid shit, to be a very short-sighted approach to the problem of people believing stupid things. If I were a person who was vaccine-hesitant or straight up didn't want the COVID vaccine for whatever reason, all this talk would just make further entrenched in my beliefs. Which is clearly what is happening. I also am also very much against calling for people's jobs/livelihoods what have you. Regardless of if I agree/disagree with their positions. I do wish Rogan would have just stayed independent, especially because I listen to far fewer of his podcasts because Spotify is a shit platform. But honestly, who would turn down a multihundred million dollar deal. So whatever, I don't blame him. But clearly he is seeing the repercussions of that.