Joe Rogan Experience #970 — Bret Weinstein Transcript

Transcript

0:00 All right, we're live. Essentially, you were being asked to step away from your college for a day. But it's just for people that have no idea what's going on. And the play portrays events in a fictional town where the black population decides not to show up one day in order to emphasize their roles in the town that the white population is unaware of.

1:51 And then this year, it was announced by the organizing committee that the situation would be reversed. between a population deciding to absent themselves from a shared space in order to highlight their role, were plenty of people who agreed with my letter, but publicly speaking, there was condemnation of the letter. But the event itself, Day of Absence, was mostly uneventful. I did go to campus, as I

4:03 It's very distracting. That was going to go on. and neither of our racial backgrounds is primary in our relationship. What was the argument against that like when when you said that and I read your letter and your letter didn't sound racist at all. It sounded very well thought out. It's it made a very good point. But the response, the inflammatory response to your letter was so disturbing and shocking.

6:23 me. Now, when you say public and private, are the same people making contradictory statements in public are united. It's not at all like that. But part of the hidden story here is that in order to advance certain policy proposals, it has to appear that the community is united behind them and that anybody who stands against them is standing against them for illegitimate reasons.

7:57 I kept trying to tell them that they should really check the concept that I'm a racist. that's instantly recognizable, Right. It's like being called a rapist almost. Well, there's also a really disturbing idea that's being bounced around lately And this is a fairly recent thing. I mean, this very bizarre way that's supposed to be unchallenged. And then when it gets out to the rest of the world, as we're seeing with your case at Evergreen, the rest of the world is like, what is going on over here?

11:03 So I'm watching the traffic inside of my college and I'm able to compare it to the huge flood of stuff that I'm seeing from the outside world as they get wind of what's going on at Evergreen. Hopefully someday. And you also have room to teach individually to students because our students take one program I watched the, is it the president of the school who gave the speech addressing all these issues?

14:16 danger and their their minds are in danger it's just so there's so much grandstanding it's so Don't do that. But it's very important that we get it. It's very easy to dismiss it because it's so strange. But it's very important that we get it right. Just trying to talk with emotion. Right. So I do think there's a there's a translation, which is this can be portrayed enough control over him that he gestured. They didn't like it. They told him not to. And he capitulated, which he's

16:11 He's old enough. You're a non-racist who's been accused of being a racist. We're not at Kent State. for that. That was a good move. If he was well-intentioned, he would have done that. that I don't think there's another college in the country that runs that way. Whatever his reason, it was a terrible error. And we don't need another. if you did challenge it, then you were anti-equity.

20:09 The president empowered, he chose people to be on what's called the Equity Council. of the people on our campus have not read it. Most of the people in the faculty have not read it. In every single hire would have to be justified on the basis that it was equity enhancing, Beyond that. Yes, I think so. So that freedom is a marvelous thing if you have a particular appetite for figuring out how teaching should be done,

24:02 Right. So anyway, I found the proposal, as did as did other people Yes. Did you air quote when you said the problem? of those who are deciding what these seminars look like, that they actually, I don't know, context, that's too many people. In order to utilize these structures to feed a certain set of populations. You can't very well have all women included.

26:46 the male feminists are supposed to be allies to women. with ally. And in fact, this is the thing that is most troubling to me about my personal situation you have the real equity movement, which are people who wish to end oppression. And then you That's not so unlike a black person, a black man, let's say, being told that he's not allowed to look a white woman in the eye. Right. It's that kind of thing having been reversed. This is people of color telling the president of our college how to move his hands.

29:44 I mean, just put yourself in the shoes of a person of color they always want to escalate it's it's very weird it's it's a a strange reaction that that human in very respectful and intelligent manner. not capitulating is just a prerequisite to getting anywhere. But don't you think that that's what happens? They just start screaming? but I thought it was not durable at all because as soon as the event was over,

33:30 What was it the professor was it a professor or who was the put the guy they were screaming at that was internal to our distribution list asking the college why they were not protecting So in defending you, then they're being attacked. this is where this person lives, let's find them. And I should say, just in terms of putting the context here, as the college was pretending that nothing serious was going on, the police called me up on the Wednesday just after the Tuesday in which I had been challenged in my class and asked me, are you on campus?

36:14 Despite their sense that they very much needed to be actively protecting people outside of the police station, the police were left with no choice but to barricade themselves in the police station because they answered to the college administration, which told them not to act, Let's say that it was me that they were looking for, I don't know if they had a backup plan, and it worries me that one of the things that unfolded on the campus was that people who had a very clear idea of how things should go were, they were literally, I mean, they were barricaded in the president's office with the president and a bunch of faculty members and staff.

37:57 literally kidnapping. Had you been pulled into some sort of a hostage situation where they were trying to tell you yes, it's literal kidnapping. The students, however, I believe have become tools of something militant belief structure. And I do think based on what we've seen on our campus, it is emanating from a subset of the black population. Okay, so I'm not saying that this is black people doing

40:31 So I would imagine that your listeners, having heard me just say what I said, You can't sit down. Like, we should oppress now. Is that what's going to happen 300 years? It's racist. beta males and just running to go grab a white power adapter and give it to this person of these postmodern disciplines, which basically argue that the tools that the sciences claim are about figuring out what's true are actually tools of oppression themselves.

44:56 They will be most powerful in the world. I understand to be the evolutionary context of racism. And they did not want the lecture. They It's not happening really in high schools very much. Well, I mean, there is something about college. That said, it is very hard to attack the private prison complex, for example. the systemic racism, places like Baltimore, and what we're finding out about places where they

48:44 Misdirected. That this wasn't the case 20 years ago. been operationalized or activated so that it is now, it is now, it forms the core of a vision that college students are trying to bring about. If you give in to the bully, the bully comes back stronger. between the way men and women, I don't mean every man and every woman, but the difference on average, I think, played a decisive and very positive role when Louis Leakey empowered three women to go

52:25 On the other hand, Jane Goodall took the scientific toolkit and threw out the rules that had been be. I hate those words. our programs. So, you know, we have people in our community who are empowered on before you figure out how you feel about it and whether something ought to be done. somebody's taking responsibility. But in this case, he also absolutely must step down because this is his

56:43 wrongly portrayed our police force, Stacey Brown, who they have been attempting. She is a utterly professional, And what was the logic behind it? something like a police community review board. I'm not sure exactly what it's called, the chief of police was, is our grievance officer. Our grievance officer, Andy Siebert, to people who have been assaulted. In all three cases, not only are these things wrong,

1:01:01 hunting innocent people. without a real don't know i'm not an expert on what happens when mobs ultimately do something you know like i think That's a different world and different... So I don't think that anyone intends that, but I'm not sure that they ever do. It's terrifying. Well, you're absolutely capable of. So we have to guard against these things at all costs if we really you know never again is a very

1:04:57 Because their body switches on a drowning program that basically looks for anything that can be pushed down so you can get up to where the air all the horrific things that have taken place in the past. about how we would bond together if we were one facet of it, but it's the system that set climate change in motion, which has also given us nuclear reactors that are unstable and difficult to control.

1:09:16 Which is one of the more disturbing things about Trump pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, political lines, it's that question. What do we do about the things that jeopardize us all together? Very dark. And, you know, and ironic, too, because I mean, we're now behind the eight ball, because we've put this off for so long, we should have started doing this 25 or 30 years ago. But

1:11:38 proper solution making. It's not that solution making isn't possible. It's that solution making is not someplace we can go from here because of mundane reasons in our system that are ultimately going to kill us if we're not careful. Well, what would we do? system to restructure on its own, if for no other reason than the fact that we've got more than 400

1:14:08 So in essence, if you think forward, what is the world going to look like 20 years from now? that's the project that system itself to the point where the current system the way it works just And in fact, the world could be a very exciting place to transform. typically be used to dismiss us ought not be. We're not looking to be the head of some system that enriches us.

1:17:59 And it seems to have a central principle behind it, Which is why we saw the DNC conspire against Bernie Sanders. And that does happen sometimes. without knowing what it's doing. I understand. based on ideals that are not the same ones to buy something with Bitcoin. He pays his rent in Bitcoin. of, let's say, fears is that those nuclear reactors are so dangerous by virtue of what it is that keeps them stable day in and day out,

1:24:06 And my argument to that has always been, we've only had it for 60 years, and look how many Yeah, the number of places on Earth you can just simply no longer go is growing. Not true and not true. Right. We have no idea how you would warn them off. Nor are these things stable. I mean, there is one thing we can do with it that's better but at least it doesn't require some system

1:27:41 we not only would be able to power civilization without warming the climate, All right. Well, that's an interesting question. I have become fascinated. I didn't start out studying people, but the longer I proceed in evolutionary biology, the more interested I am in people. And relatively commonplace to hear that Hitler was insane. And something about that didn't

1:30:46 homosexuals and Jehovah's Witnesses, but the military plan. The future of Germany lies in But understanding that even though the Darwinism It means that just because something is true doesn't mean it's good, that it ought to be true. And you would say that even by enacting that plan, you would be insane in terms of how you think of Well, the first thing, if you're going to go into evolutionary biology, especially if you're going to get anywhere near human beings, you have to really put aside the idea of taboo in intellectual space.

1:34:45 the evolutionary products we want to honor and preserve and which of them we wish to the mechanisms behind human behavior. I mean, I really, I mean, I'm not, I'm not a good dancer, so I can't, but, um, but I could teach How do you get back to work at your school, though? I don't think they can fire me because I haven't done anything wrong. So that means I can go back to work in the fall and I don't have another plan. On the other hand...

1:37:37 We met in the park again. People who begged to get into the program, and I couldn't turn them away. And, you know, I'm not a big worrier on that front. It's like they're so embroiled in this ideology. So what I'm saying should be understood. So, yes, I think that. at Evergreen is not utopian in nature. But I do think Evergreen, as you described earlier,

1:41:56 find a new common ground with these students that are screaming in the streets? Hey, Hey, It's very difficult for people to admit that and reconcile and step back and maybe just self-assess. When you realize you've been engaged in a witch hunt, that's the moment at which you can discover there's something fundamental that's wrong in my program somewhere that allowed that to happen.

1:44:37 the thing that is i think hard to appreciate from the outside a little bit is that because I know that there's nothing to the accusation, Like, what are they trying to do? that's beyond that. That's even more interesting. This is describing what's in the letter. Oh, God. him, they were actually, they were given awards. not to use the misguided language of the current student

1:48:25 loud and emphatic. There is a difference And now they're saying that At the same, I mean, like the professor? And management bargaining teams holding each other accountable when we act in racist ways This is racism. Oh, you're an alt-righter. So we have to break this down like it's code. You are now. community members. Oh, aren't you an individual making them targets of white supremacist backlash by promulgating misinformation in public emails,

1:52:06 But see, the problem with that statement is someone can just read that now and use that as a quote and just start saying that as if it's fact. I've been fighting this for a year, trying to point out to my colleagues that they were making terrible errors. This is all the result of reforms put in motion by President Bridges. So they are now blaming me. And I should say, I do think there is jeopardy on the campus. We had a threat yesterday from somebody, have no idea how serious it was. But I do believe that there's jeopardy to people on our campus.

1:53:27 What it said was that they were coming Let's hear it. You have that? Right. But nonetheless, the point is... Well, that's horrific. When they accuse you of misinformation, they should be very specific. As far as to say that you are somehow or another summoning the alt-right and making misinformation public on mass media. or a presentation of some kind. That is really racist.

1:56:58 what's going on, I think, because they finally understood that the world doesn't get what they Several people, in fact, many people have now started to refer to what's going on in and this is how you distort them, and then disseminate them to the rest of these like-minded attacking itself now it's like it's it's there's no one who's progressive enough. No one. Like every single thing you do is a microaggression.

1:59:43 Give them to black people. when someone writes something like that specifically about another person like you and just equity proposals as being part of a racist backlash. And she was clearly talking about me But I said, where is the place? And then the faculty member who had made the accusations said, you should not expect there to be a venue in which to defend yourself.

2:02:20 The person said that you should just accept these untrue accusations yes um yeah what was your Wow. So what does this person teach? Since we are a public college, you can request the emails of faculty and staff if you want them. God. from her, I bet they'd be wonderful. And what does he do? just there's there's certain hot topics that you just got to leave alone when someone levels an

2:06:17 as someone says, you're a racist, but you can't defend yourself. Well, then we don't have equality disciplines and, dare I say, the actual disciplines. They just want to achieve all black professors and all white people on their knees as slaves. It is a tragedy. That's pretty interesting. When you hear about Jonestown, you're like, hey, man, don't drink the fucking Kool-Aid.

2:11:20 I mean, that to me is one of the weirder aspects of it. And one of the things that scares people a lot is the idea that these people are going to live in these insulated environments. are baffled and for the first time enraged. Well, I think what you just described is exactly Or A. Yeah, mental discipline is a good way to describe it, too. and i think uh i don't know if it's three or four angry emails and two of them come from inside the

2:14:54 Do you... So your whole life, essentially. in college, and I've had battles inside of my field. And so what I would say is that when one has deep principles and one acts based on those lines? Right. Something like that. Well, the thing is, none of this makes any sense because let's say this. Let's say that all white people pick up racism from their environment developmentally. They can't help it. So we know you're a racist.

2:18:43 live well in a beautiful setting, but it doesn't pay well. And obviously your heart, your mind is in the right place. I just feel like the whole idea your life. Hopefully. Yeah. From your mouth to God's ear. You know? Yeah. Okay. Well, say the staff it's whoever the administration and yeah some faculty It's also, I think it's just worth pointing out, kind of funny.

2:21:35 where are they? Yeah, Tucker Carlson As long as they keep that guy as president, you should definitely contact an attorney. No, I mean, it's clearly it's clearly justified and they won't listen to anything else. I've tried everything else We'd like people to be educated in these unique facets of the world and have a platform where you could teach evolutionary biology unhindered and unshackled by this fucking nonsense that you're dealing with.

2:23:49 amount of time left in this system where it's just, it's so caked up that maybe the only way Right. that's locked in some classroom somewhere That's a good question. I know that what I'm doing makes sense, even if my colleagues don't understand and I'm sure there's been a lot of people alright