Joe Rogan is warning Americans not to get too comfortable. In an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” he said the United States is more fragile than people think and used Los Angeles as an example of how quickly things can unravel.
“It’s a different world out there, but it could go this way here,” Rogan told his guest and fellow comedian Joey Diaz. “Just how Los Angeles fell apart, the United States could fall apart too.”
It Can Happen Anywhere
Rogan compared today’s U.S. to pre-revolution Iran. He referenced photographs from the 1970s, showing Iranian women in miniskirts and men shirtless on the street.
“Everyone’s smiling. It looks like Europe,” he said. “Now it’s a religious country run by a dictatorship. You criticize the government, they execute you.”
He recalled the story of an Olympic gold medalist wrestler who was executed in Iran after allegedly criticizing the government.
Rogan noted that in such environments, even being accused is enough.
“You don’t even have to have really spoken against the government. You just have to be accused,” he said.
The Threat of Surveillance
To show how easily things can go wrong, Rogan shared a story about a friend whose Twitter account was hacked.
“Someone could easily get your account… start posting stuff for you against the government, then let’s go round them up,” he said.
“Then, if you don’t have any due process, that’s the kind of sh*t that dictators do—they just round you up.”
He emphasized how complacency can set in when life is good.
“While people are hanging out in Austin eating barbecue, it could go that way here too, just like it went that way in Iran,” Rogan said.
Automation Is Coming
Later in the conversation, Rogan brought up automation and its impact on jobs. He referenced a past discussion with former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who warned about robots taking over entire industries.
“There’s ports in China now where it’s 100% controlled by robots,” Rogan said. “They’re going to have electric trucks that drive themselves.”
Diaz said longshoremen are already feeling the pressure. “They know it. They don’t have much time left,” Diaz said.
Bringing Jobs Back Home
Diaz also spoke about touring the U.S. as a comedian and seeing firsthand how cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and Buffalo have deteriorated.
“Now, half the stuff is closed down,” he said.
Both agreed that restoring American manufacturing is essential. “If you’re going to bring this country back, it’s got to start with that,” Diaz said.
“We’ve got to get this country hopping again.”
They criticized companies that moved jobs overseas to save money. Rogan praised Ross Perot, the 1990s presidential candidate who opposed NAFTA and warned about the “giant sucking sound” of jobs leaving America.
Rogan called him “a real American” and claimed he left politics after receiving threats against his family.
The overall message: don’t assume things will stay the way they are.
According to Rogan, the U.S. is just as vulnerable as any other country that thought it was too stable to fall apart, until it did.