Stop Making Idols...
Stop Making Idols...
I used to be a huge fan of Joe Rogan. I first knew him from NewsRadio, which was a popular show when I was in elementary school, and of course, I also saw him on Fear Factor (though that wasnât really my thing). But when Rogan started his YouTube videos, he brought on some fascinating guests and talked about conspiracy theories that werenât the wild, outlandish stuff we see today.
Fast forward to the past 6-8 years, though, and things started changing. Rogan began bringing on guests who pushed seriously questionable conspiracy theoriesâmany of which were easy to debunk. We had long since moved past what I consider the more âtrueâ conspiracies, like the JFK assassination, 9/11 truth, and the Gulf of Tonkin incident. (Quick aside: Whether or not you believe the official stories of JFK and 9/11, the Gulf of Tonkin incidentâwhich for years was seen as a âfringe theoryââwas actually proven true when the classified documents were declassified. So sometimes, even what starts as a âconspiracy theoryâ turns out to be fact.)
Around the same time I started diving into Roganâs content in high school, I stumbled upon a little news network called TYT (The Young Turks). They were doing something differentâoffering a progressive perspective in a sea of corporate mainstream media. Sure, there were a few brave souls on MSNBC back then, like Phil Donahue, Ed Schultz, Melissa Harris-Perry, and Keith Olbermann, but overall, there werenât many voices challenging the power structure. Ironically, Cenk Uygur from TYT eventually moved to MSNBC, only to be fired for ruffling corporate feathers.
But then something shifted. In the last 4-6 years, TYTâparticularly Cenk and Anaâbegan to drift away from their progressive roots. They started flirting with more conservative takes, and this trend only seemed to ramp up in the past year. At this point, it feels like weâre only a few weeks away from seeing a full-blown situation like the one with Dave Rubin, happen with Ana, and maybe even Cenk.
There are other examples, like Ethan Klein, that I could mention, but these twoâRogan and TYTâreally highlight what Iâm getting at. I once idolized these figures because they spoke to the things that resonated with me. But then they changed, and I know Iâm not the only one who noticed.
This experience has taught me something important: True idols are few and far between. The people I still admireâGeorge Carlin, Cher, and Jesse Venturaâare the ones who have remained consistent. Their messaging hasnât shifted based on ratings or audience demands. Theyâve been solid rocks. But Iâm realizing that these kinds of figures are becoming rarer.
Ultimately, the biggest lesson Iâve learned from all of this is not to place my faith in fallible people. We all have flaws, and peopleâeven those we admireâare no exception. Itâs better to look for consistency and integrity over time than to put anyone on a pedestal.