Alex Jones testified to being a performance artist and hosts a talk show purely to hawk merchandise. Does that really fit the mold of a thought-provoking podcast like Rogan's?
I think Milo is a scumbag, personally, but where did he self-proclaim that he's a white supremacist?
>Alex Jones testified to being a performance artist
No, he didn't. His lawyer attempted to argue that he was during a lawsuit, as a defense against full culpability for his actions. Lawyers (understandably) try to pull out everything they can to help their client. There's no evidence Jones himself has ever said this or thinks this.
Although most of his non-watchers seem to think he's just a con artist, after watching a cumulative dozens of hours of him on camera over the years, I'm convinced it's not an act and that he genuinely believes pretty much everything he's saying (except for cases where he's attempting to do a comedy bit). Unfortunately, a lot of people in the US believe all of the things he believes - and not necessarily because they're hearing it from him. They all drink from the same watering holes. In my opinion, this is why it's actually a lot more frightening than con artistry or performance art.
Maybe this is a 1990s George Carlin thing to say, but so what if Milo offends people? Should we only be allowed to hear things that don’t offend us?
Absolutely not! That said, I also believe in intolerance of intolerance but don't have any good answers on how that is best played out.
I also like being able to justify intolerance towards anyone I want by labeling them "intolerant". Same as only caring about those I want to care about and only supporting free speech that I agree with. Makes everything much easier.
I'd be happy to debate this further if you were willing to do so in good faith rather than intentionally twisting my words. Otherwise, you can label me as "anti-free speech" and call it a day having won the war for freedom on the internet.
Also how do you know that either of those people are what others have told you they are? If you're unable to listen to them because they've been depersoned everywhere, you have no way of knowing if they're truly as represented or have been character assassinated. I'm not trying to convince you that either of them aren't who you think they are (from what I've seen, you're not far off) but rather have you see that you could be wrong about them (or others in the future) if you are not allowed to hear them first hand and only get views of them filtered through others.
(I don't consider it material that presumably Spotify required deleting them as part of the deal. Rogan agreed to those terms, so clearly the money was more important to him.)
Pretty sure he said that while married to a black dude, so unless you can come up with something specific I think its comedy/trolling.
'So and so is bad, I heard it from X' has never been good for any human society.
Pretending the episodes don't exist is rewriting history.
'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'
Personal point- if I saw Alex Jones personally I would not want to be him. He has, for his own enrichment, destroyed personal relationships, caused me endless arguments with friends/family and is a walking detrament to society. I hate with a passion the garbage he spews to sell some garbage fake pills. But I still believe he has a right to be heard.
We need to educate people not shelter them.
What do you expect to happen when the balance of power, majority opinion, etc inevitably shifts and we find ourselves on the other side?
If you want to play the pedant fine, he has a right to speak.
But if people like you would stop judging who gets to speak and where we wouldn't have to depend on Joe Rogan's megaphone, now would we?
This is a line I've read from texts dating back to at least 1973 by conservative authors, nearly verbatim.
I think cultural mores change and conservatives have a hard time adapting.
Alternatively, they've simply been dishonest with themselves since just after WWII -- start with the nonsense about FDR allowing Pearl Harbor to happen -- because they believe the ends justify the means.