Lines have been drawn, sides have been chosen, stones have been cast, and yet, we’re no closer to any form of civility. The country hasn’t been as divisive as its current state since the height of the Vietnam War. Factors like politics and social justice in the age of social media has only inflamed tensions. Buzz words, phrases and labels are used to destroy the opposition. But now, a new form of public executions has been created, and even more telling, it’s come at the demand of an undefined public. We’ve seen and known many famous names that have been cast into the great void of the ‘Alt Right’ label, and it’s not working. It’s a label that has lost all meaning.
On a recent episode of Joe Rogan’s JRE podcast, Alex Jones returned for another ground-shattering appearance, where he and Joe Rogan made nice and put aside their feud. It was a nearly 5 hour podcast that is close to garnering 9 million views.
“This is the Alex I wanted everyone to see,” Rogan said repeatedly, as he and Eddie Bravo laughed and entertained themselves with ridiculous conspiracy theories. And it was clear during the episode, Jones’ rantings and ravings were, simply put, fun and entertaining.
It takes a certain maturity to appreciate the irrational ramblings of a man who would make for an entertaining snake-oil salesman in another life. Watching Alex Jones is a lot like drinking. If you’re someone who’s too young, immature, or already struggling to put your own life in order, you’re going to have a bad time. Alex Jones, and men of his ilk, don’t need to be silenced to understand that we as a society can learn to differentiate that from real news. If anything, Alex Jones makes a remarkable teaching point that is necessary to reference in our lives.
In recent years the Joe Rogan Experience podcast has become a beacon of light for centrists and moderates who don’t identify to either ‘Alt’ group. Rogan is keen to interview members of all sides to garner an all encompassing view, leaving his viewers to make their own decisions — something mainstream news platforms have drifted from since the age of social media.
Even those who have been accurately labeled as either ‘Alt’ group, and effectively had their reputations ruined due to public outcry, need a way to be integrated back into society. If we as a society leave these growing groups of people out of public discourse and demonize them or treat them as sub-humans, it will only create further friction and violence.
And so, if we exile the Alex Joneses of the world from social media, new forms of social discourse will sprout with less regulations and tolerance for one another. Debate and difficult discourse is important to a healthy society. Ideas must be passed through the public sphere rather than linger in the shadows of Alt message boards. Anyone who actually watched ‘Alex Jones Returns’ will quickly realize he is not someone to take seriously or fear, rather he is a satirist like a Stephen Colbert or Hunter S. Thompson (with a Andy Kaufman edge to him).
When you de-platform someone, this gives way for other platforms with less restrictions that gives way for an Us-versus-Them mentality. If anything, I am pleased to find sources by form of podcasts and YouTube channels that are focused on tackling issues of social conflict and political difference in a way that doesn’t demonize or belittle either side. And astonishing enough, it took a comedian and UFC commentator to do just that.
