This whole Joe Rogan debacle of recent note got started because some suggested that his show was spreading medical (Covid) misinformation. It rests on the untested premise that the 1st amendment right to free speech can be limited in cases of medical misinformation. This has YET to be ruled on, it is not law.
Freedom of speech means freedom for those who you despise, and freedom to express the most despicable views. It also means that the government cannot pick and choose which expressions to authorize and which to prevent.
- Alan Derschowitz (I hate this man but I’ll defend his right to say this, even print it!)
Now the rest of the free speech and Rogan debate has to do with what kind of limits we should put on speech in society. In a word, where on the sliding scale of censorship you stand. The issue is censorship.
“For the average American freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.” - Gore Vidal
To start, we must admit that “misinformation” is a code word for “my information”. The government and powers that be, deciding on what is “good” and what is “bad” information for you to hear. You can put a name on what that is. The “true” isn’t decided like this - it is decided through public debate, conversation and ultimately general consensus. Also, the problem with the censors, fact checkers is that it is a broad sweep. No pointing out exactly what was “misinformation”. No. It is just a sweep of the hand, a casting out. That’s a large, insidious part of what’s wrong with these kinds of limitations of freedom of speech.
Who exactly deems what is correct and not? Should this not be for the public to decide? If not, why aren’t we putting warnings on all those commercials promoting fat-laced, sugar-saturated foods, for example? Further, I think we can all admit that cancel culture is just going too, too far. Disagree ok, but it is just ridiculous to clean the whole public plate of things you don’t want to hear. Let’s all grow a thicker skin and let’s all learn to protect the minority - be it their voice, skin color, beliefs. That’s the true strength of a society, the true virtue test of any society.
I can’t say I like or watch Rogan much. I’m not one for this kind of guy’s club, chummychummy, lockerroom banter. I’m not characterizing his podcast as just that - it is more than this. However, this characteristic flows through all his episodes. It does make intellectual topics accessible to a wider, mostly male audience. Rogan also is an accessible thought machine generator. He makes people wonder - that’s invaluable.
That said, I DO maintain his right to discuss and debate all kinds of topics in an open forum. Uncensored. I reject censorship of all kinds, either softly, the insidious self-censoring way or in the overt, “shut him down”, enforced by the powers that be, way. Unless you can show me that what Joe Rogan and his guests say has caused harm, real harm - you got nothing.
And when it comes to Covid, that “harm” argument has no legs to stand on. I don’t need to go through the litany of how the narrative of “vaccine, lockdown, booster, mask” is now defunct, the data is in, they don’t work. So NO, Joe is not harming anyone by debating the existing approaches towards public health in relation to the pastdemic.
So I’m with Joe being allowed to have who he wants on his show and being able to discuss whatever he wants on his show. And he does it well. He challenges people, he questions and poses alternative hypotheses. He does what we all do well at the pub, with friends at a dinner table - hashing things out respectfully. I do wish traditional media did so and would return to when they always had alternative views and guests - this now seems out the window. They just get on message and megaphone their agenda as “news”.
One of the smartest men I know is Larry Lessig. Here he is arguing for public information to be released about cellphones. An issue which he describes as about “the public’s right to ALL information, so they can make an informed choice.” This essentially is what we are arguing vis a vis Rogan and “misinformation”. Let the public have the information so they can make their own choice. Period. Read Larry’s seminal, Harvard Law School essay on what things limit free speech (in the US).
It is frightening how free speech is being limited more and more … Censorship, virtue signaling, the crowd mentalese, the conformity syndrome of society, the media purity and control, govt surveillance of our speech, anonymous erasing fact-checkers, public shaming culture …. how all these things are thriving. It’s not the world we should be building. And I’ll note, the limiting of free speech is going hand in hand with the limiting of all individual rights - the basis of Western democracies - in favor of the rights of the group. And that’s batshit scary (a phrase I picked up from Rogan!).
Essentially, free speech comes down to allowing people to be authentic. To learn to have their mouths speak what is in their heart. To not just say things, they want other people to hear. Essentially, it comes down to allowing debate in society. Tolerance. We all know that soil not churned won’t grow anything but weeds.
Joe Rogan is a comedian. But I don’t think he’s laughing now. He and so many of us, are realizing that we’ve lost a lot of freedom - for without the freedom of speech, all our other freedoms will fall.
I for one don’t think we can wait around until our governments once again start protecting our rights to say what the fuck we want. I think we do have to get off our asses and change things.
Joe, gonna join us?
For me, it's all and only about freedom. For me, without freedom, there is no point in anything.
So, take away all the numbers, all the statistics, all the models and predictions.
All the promises and threats, all the steel hand in velvet glove coercion, take all of that away.
For me, it all boils down to something simple.
I declare that I am a free man. - Neil Oliver