Neil Young Waves White Flag, Returns to Spotify ** UPDATED
Rocker's anti-free speech stance fails while podcaster Joe Rogan's reach expands
UC Berkeley, the former home of the ’60s free speech movement, now lets fascist mobs run wild on campus.
The ACLU, once the go-to group against speech suppression, looks the other way when the Biden administration censors social media users.
And Neil Young, the rocker who headlined the Freedom of Speech Tour in 2006, no longer cherishes dissent.
Young proved it in 2022 when he declared war on comic podcaster Joe Rogan for his contrarian views on COVID-19. He tried to rally fellow singers to push Rogan off the streaming platform. He snagged a few compatriots, but his mission failed.
The extent of his failure came to light this week.
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The 78-year-old musician announced his music is returning to Spotify two years after he yanked it off the platform to protest Rogan’s content.
Why?
Rogan recently signed a new Spotify deal that allows “The Joe Rogan Experience” to be found on YouTube, iTunes and other podcast platforms.
In short, Rogan grew too big to be silenced.
“I cannot just leave Apple and Amazon, like I did Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers at all, so I have returned to Spotify.”
And what was the “life-threatening misinformation” that Rogan spread, according to Young? The “Fear Factor” alum shared why young, healthy people likely don’t need the COVID-19 vaccine. That proved more accurate than much of the information peddled by the mainstream media.
The vaccines didn’t live up to the hype.
Young fell for the media narratives surrounding the pandemic, including the notion that the vaccines would prevent people from getting or spreading the virus. He also forgot why free speech is so important in Western culture.
The American people are entitled to hear all opinions, not just those shared by the government and the press.
Debate matters. So does the ability to question authority, share alternative points of view and press public officials for the truth.
Young ignored his inner hippie and tried to curry favor with The Man. His failure may have taken a while to come to fruition, but his return to Spotify makes it complete.
UPDATE: Rogan addressed Young’s return to Spotify on the March 14th episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
The comic podcaster, chatting with “Reformers” author and academic James Lindsay, noted the rocker’s return.
“Congratulations, Neil!” Rogan cracked. “His excuse was, he said that because all of the platforms are now allowing my ‘disinformation’ so he should just go back on Spotify, too.
“Great to know you’ve got some ethics,” Rogan added with a smile.
Young became The Establishment, the very thing the free – love druggie hippies were against in the 60s. He’s proving it by letting money run his life now.