Commentary
Well, is he? According to a “coalition of scientists, medical professionals, professors, and science communicators spanning a wide range of fields such as microbiology, immunology, epidemiology, and neuroscience,” the answer is most definitely yes.
The group, consisting of 270 individuals, recently penned an
open letter to Spotify, home to “The Joe Rogan Experience,” one of the biggest podcasts on the planet.
Why?
They want Spotify executives “to take action against the mass-misinformation events which continue to occur on its platform.” According to the experts, “Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”
The strongly worded letter is heavy on moral outrage, accusing Rogan of damaging “public trust in scientific research” and sowing doubt in the credibility of “data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals.”
In reality, it's a lot easier to point the finger at Mr. Rogan than it is to point the finger at one of their own—like Dr. Anthony Fauci, for example. Let me ask you the following: who has done more to harm the public’s trust in scientific research, Rogan or Fauci, a man who appears to have
lied under oath?
This is not to say that Rogan is a saint. He’s not. None of us are. But the 54 year old pushes in the direction of truth. Sometimes he falls short. When he does,
he apologizes. That’s more that can be said for the mainstream media—Rogan’s main rivals.
Right now, there's a concerted effort to take down the influential comedian, podcaster, and UFC commentator. But Rogan has been here before. He is resilient. He has overcome bigger obstacles than a harshly worded letter signed by members of the scientific community. In the past, he has been labeled "racist" and "misogynistic." As I have shown in a previous essay,
he is neither.
He is, in fact, a decent man, and a brave one at that. Make no mistake, Rogan is brave. To take on the mainstream media and to call out members of the U.S. government on a regular basis—including the aforementioned Fauci as well as the president—requires a great degree of bravery.
To some, Rogan is just a podcaster with a penchant for controversy. However, he's so much more. A defender of free speech. Rogan believes that the only way to defeat a bad idea is with a better one. Cancel culture, he has argued in the past, is detrimental to society.
He's right.
For a society to function properly, healthy debates are necessary. This is what Rogan strives for. Alas, his opponents are not interested in debate. Instead, they are interested in silencing Rogan. They are interested in pressuring Spotify into canceling his show. Thankfully, the streaming giant looks unlikely to cave.
In truth, Rogan is not a menace to public health. He is a menace to the mainstream narrative—especially the narrative around COVID-19 and the threat it poses to society at large.
Rogan has been called an "anti-vaxxer"—a term used by the MSM to discredit critics. Contrary to popular belief, he is anything but. In fact, if the people criticizing him actually took the time to listen to his podcast, they would see that he's a proponent of informed consent, just like Dr. Robert Malone, a man who he recently had on his show.
Informed consent involves notifying people of the risks, as well as the benefits, provided by vaccines. Rogan, like Malone, is not an unreasonable man. He believes people should get vaccinated—but only if they want to. Vaccines, he argues, should not be mandated. He believes that people should wear masks, Again, though, only if they want to. Masks, like vaccines, shouldn’t be made mandatory. Rogan, a father of young girls, has questioned the idea of vaccinating children, and
for good reason.
On closer inspection, the real menace to society are the peddlers of fact-free information and fear. The latter, a known suppressor of the immune system, has been weaponized to keep the masses compliant and largely housebound. The same, of course, could be said for the former. One can respect what Rogan stands for without being a fan of his podcast.
He stands for the very things that billions of people around the world so desperately desire: truth and freedom. He is a menace to no one but to those who fear a disruption to the status quo. They already defenestrated one good man,
Dr. Robert Malone. Now they are trying to do the same to Joe Rogan.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
