Political rhetoric is always crucial to communicating ideology to the population of the United States of America. People align with the party or movement that they think symbolizes their beliefs. Though it does lead to societal change as much as many on the left would have hoped, basic progressive ideals are becoming mainstream. This has led to dangerous alt right rhetoric being conveyed to people through various forms of media.
More and more adults are opposed to imperialism, and state sanctioned oppression . The LGBTQ community has received far more representation and support from the media and public than ever before. Along with that it is also common for ideas that are rooted in facsism or alt-right beliefs to be denounced by the majority of the public. Rejection of ultra conservative ideas are a tremendous boost for society as these ideologies are seamless transitions into the white supremacist mentality that has dictated so much of American ideology. This has led to alt right ideals being expressed under the guise of “telling both sides of the argument”.
A key example of this would be someone like Joe Rogan. A popular podcast host and UFC commentator Rogan identifies as socially liberal but altogether pretty apolitical. He claims to be strongly against cancel culture and the suppression of right wing ideas by mainstream media and Hollywood. Rogan has invited people such as Alex Jones, Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson on to his podcast to discuss their asinin rhetoric and attempt to indoctrinate listeners, most of whom are impressionable youth.
I don’t have the time or patience to discuss why Alex Jones should not have any kind of platform. Jones does not even deserve to be discussed in great detail on my blog. Peterson is a Canadian professor who has advocated for the defunding of Women’s studies and critical race theory in universities. As well as claiming that the “masculine spirit” is under assault. Shapiro is an American political commentator whose career sprouted from obscene privilege. Shapiro has made a career of spreading fake information and statistics about Muslim people while being rude to Women and transgender people on the internet. Shapiro once claimed that “One American soldier is worth far more than an Afghan civilian”. As well as supporting the ethnic cleansing of Muslim people in several other instances. That is pretty much as facist as it can get.
I am not saying that Joe Rogan is a facist. I am just using his popular platform as an example. Allowing people to come on your show that many impressionable and undereducated young people listen to is extremely detrimental. Men like Peterson and Shapiro come on to platforms such as Rogans and spread misinformation that is based purely on their own bias and emotions. Not only that but their rhetoric is extremely consistent with that of fascism and white male supremacy. Rhetoric that promotes these ideologies should not be protected as free speech because it puts people at risk.
Opinions by Oscar 