Love Trumps Hate, Love Conquers All
If we’re going to reject everybody that fails a “purity test”, we aren’t accepting the possibility of change from individuals that may need it the most.
Ever since stand-up comedian and popular podcast host Joe Rogan “endorsed” Bernie Sanders earlier last week on his show The Joe Rogan Experience, critics have pointed to Rogan’s problematic past with sexist, racist and transphobic comments, and allowing hate-mongers on his program. Instead of allowing the endorsement to exist in the world, the Sanders campaign made a conscious choice to amplify the endorsement. I had no idea who Joe Rogan was prior to the August 6th, 2019 episode featuring Bernie. He hosted Fear Factor from 2001 to 2006, a show I barely remember existing. Avid listeners of Rogan will be the first to tell you he strives to understand everybody’s viewpoint, even if he ultimately disagrees with it.
Before I go any further, I think Rogan’s conversation with Bernie is one of the most in-depth, intimate conversations with the esteemed Senator to date. An excerpt from the August 6th conversation below:
Rogan: Is this [Medicare for All] something that can really be implemented inside of four years?
Bernie: Yeah, surely.
Rogan: It seems like it’s an enormous endeavor.
Bernie: Well, I want you to think back. Think back, Joe .In 1965 you had Lyndon Johnson as President. This idea of national healthcare, this has been talked about literally since Teddy Roosevelt. It’s not a new concept. Healthcare is a human right. That’s what Teddy Roosevelt was talking about, that’s what Franklin Delano Roosevelt was talking about. Harry Truman was talking about it. Kennedy was talking about it. And their idea was, according to people in their administration, “We’ll start with the elderly who are most impacted by healthcare costs and sickness.” And they did. In 1965 without the technology we have today, they implemented Medicare, 19 million people, elderly people, signed up in the first year. So, if you could start a brand new program and have 19 million people sign up with the technology that is way, way behind where we are today, why can’t we over a four-year period simply expand that program?
Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has since been on the program, but no other 2020 candidate. It must be noted that while critics are swinging hard on Bernie — as they do no matter what — Warren, Biden and Mayor Pete also requested time on the show. Rogan declined all three. The original episode featuring Bernie has since amassed 11 million views on YouTube, and Rogan has just over 7 million subscribers. Rogan himself has never voted Republican.
Bernie, unlike many stubborn or ill advised politicians, reaches across the aisle not with the mid-set to compromise or abandon beliefs, but to persuade others to join a movement based in compassion, empathy and love. As he says so frequently, “We are a common humanity.” It’s this very reason he has chosen to appear on town halls hosted by Fox News.
Bernie: I happen to believe — and I know not everybody agrees with me — that health care is a right of all people.
Bret Baier (Fox News): Excuse me, but where did that right come from in your mind?
Bernie: Being a human being. [audience cheers] And what I believe Bret, and you may disagree with me, I believe that if she is poor and you are rich, she is entitled to the same quality health care that you have because she is a human being.
Many of us will categorize Fox News viewers negatively in one way or another — including myself — but Bernie’s convinced that people aren’t inherently ignorant, hateful or selfish. It’s a learned hate, which means there’s an opportunity to grow away from it. As unlikely as it feels given the state of the union (and world), Bernie’s not wrong. Contained within Bernie is a hope for humanity we all must find in ourselves.
Nobody can defend sexism, racism or transphobia, and by goodness I cannot stress this enough, nobody should, yet if there’s an opportunity to reach out to and enlighten someone like Rogan — who can hopefully admit to awful mistakes — imagine how far that light will spread.
I make these comments as a cis white male who has not and likely never will experience particular situations or struggles, but empathizes more than you know. I do not intend to reduce opinions or first hand accounts by adding more noise to the debate. While the reaction to this situation has been strong, there’s hope when people of marginalized communities stand up and say, “I do not agree with Rogan, but I would rather change the minds of his listeners, have them with us, fighting for justice, than having them against us.”
Hate is contagious,
but so is love.
