info@theodorewillis.com
Feb. 7, 2022
The Public Execution Of My Counter-Culture Heroes
It would appear that many cultural icons of the sixties, particularly those whos main claim to fame was being 'anti-establishment', are today having difficulty identifying their old nemesis, as their words and actions of late make me question the sincerity of their convictions
I refer to those musicians who, by very publicly turning against Mr. Joe Rogan on the streaming platform SPOTIFY, have decided to promote censorship and further the loss of the freedom of expression; things they (supposedly) fought against in their music, words and actions so long ago
Who are these heroes of old trying to stay relevant, you ask?
Sadly, to begin with there is Graham Nash, David Crosby and Stephen Stills (Crosby-Stills-Nash-Young) Top Image (LINK),
These men have always seemed to me the quintessential rebels, so it is disappointing to see that they are siding with government and the 'status-quo'. Apparently Graham's (and probably the others as well) decision to leave was made after reading a Rolling Stone Magazine's open letter to SPOTIFY written by “270 Medical Professionals” saying that Joe Rogan is a 'menace to public health' and demanding his removal from the platform (LINK)
Neil is to me the biggest disappointment of all, not because of his decision to leave but because of the reason given. Publicly he uses Mr. Rogan as the reason but Mr. Young has always been more concerned with sound quality from the platform than what happens in podcasts and he confirmed this when he wrote the following after his Rogan tirade;
“Amazon, Apple Music, and Qobuz deliver up to 100 percent of the music [quality] today and it sounds a lot better [than] the shitty degraded and neutered sound of SPOTIFY...If you support SPOTIFY, you are destroying an art form.” (LINK)
I cannot fully express my remorse with the positions my heroes are taking on the censorship of Joe Rogan. I am beginning to question the very foundations of the culture they helped to create; I am experiencing the first phases of cognitive dissonance! (LINK)
It is time to start questioning the narrative...
Why are these aged performers suddenly rushing to distance themselves from a guy who hosts an internet talk show? Or, more to the point; Why has this story become big news?
Other than old people (like me), who else gives a rats ass what these musicians are doing, or why?
From where I sit, the target audience for this latest media storm appears to be those people who support the current COVID narrative (which Mr. Rogan does not), while having a vague idea of who the performers are and what SPOTIFY is. Most will not have heard of Joe Rogan before this but if they have, the news has come through the media as 'Joe Rogan bad'.
This all makes him an easy mark for the media while providing the audience with a warm, fuzzy feeling because they, in their 'woke', hive minds have found a new 'baby killer' to hate.
It is the same audience who promote freedom of speech, so long as it “agrees with what they believe, and respects their personal values”... Or so say India Arie (singer, song-writer) and Bizene Brown (author), two other 'personalities' leaving SPOTIFY and using Joe Rogan as their excuse (LINK)
In fact there are a host of 'woke' internet and public personalities on the way out of SPOTIFY and they have all realized it beneficial to bask in the media spot-light on Mr. Rogan during their departure. Or in the case of President Obama and 70's rocker Peter Frampton, as they make public their plans to depart the platform.
In the end it is difficult to tell exactly who is using who, but it would appear that my heroes have become willing pawns in the big narrative. Will they benefit from all of this? Be sure that they would not be involved unless there was some benefit to them.
Do they believe what they are saying about Joe Rogan? Only they can be sure of what they believe but the fact remains that they have said what they have said; they have taken the side of their purported nemesis 'the establishment', all the while hoping those fans who still listen and support them don't really remember the 60's or what the message used to be.
Find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down
Crosby-Stills-Nash-Young
Video (LINK)