22 Nov Here There be Dragons
So…the other day, the brilliant and beautiful Joy Behar, star of stage and screen and co-host of “The View,” attacked Joe Rogan, the actor, comedian, UFC commentator, and podcaster, for believing in dragons. That’s right. Dragons. In a segment about media, “misinformation, and the sources from which people get their “news,” Behar patted herself on the back, as she took her dig at Rogan: “I think that that’s why people like our show, because they know that we are checked by ABC News. We went from Walter Cronkite, to this guy, Joe Rogan, who believes in dragons.”
Now, there are several ways I could play this story. I could, for example, mock Behar and her equally lovely and talented cohosts for thinking that they constitute “reliable” information. I could mock the idea that being affiliated with ABC News – an operation owned by Disney and whose most famous “journalist” is a former Clinton Administration hack – somehow credentials them as truth-tellers. I could mock the enduring myth that Walter Cronkite was an unbiased, reliable source of information. I could even delve into the details of the “dragon” business and explain why Behar’s characterization of Rogan was false and, therefore, should be construed as “misinformation” or whatever. Really, the options here are nearly endless.
As luck would have it, though, I have actually had a conversation about the subject of dragons and their theoretical existence with someone who is not Joe Rogan, but who is probably as famous and is inarguably a far more successful comedian. And so, instead of any of the above, I want to address him, his theories, and their relevance.
I won’t name any names here, but an industrious person who knows where I live could probably make an educated guess after about 30 seconds of Googling. Anyway, once upon a time, I was in a very small group of people – four guys, if I recall correctly – smoking cigars and just shooting the caca. The famous person, who is used to being the center of attention, was more or less holding court and telling the other three of us about how the world works. Among the topics on which he pontificated was that of dragons. Like Rogan, he noted that dragons and their lore are a part of countless unconnected civilizations, around the globe, throughout history. From the ancient Orient to the Philippines, from Central America and Mexico to Wales, from Scandinavia to England, dragons have, historically, been a part of a surprising number of cultures.
Like Rogan, our famous orator speculated that “dragons” lived at the same time as men (thereby giving rise to the pervasiveness of the legends) but also acknowledged that the beasts were almost certainly not like the “dragons” we generally think of. They were, he conceded, likely just large and especially menacing legged-reptiles whose reputations were wildly exaggerated. Or, as Rogan put it, “There was probably like more a kind of really dangerous reptile that they called dragons. Like Komodo dragons.”
Despite all of these seemingly rational rationalizations, I walked away from conversation thinking that my famous acquaintance was completely nuts. I believe the exact phrase I used when describing him and our conversation to my wife was “crazy as a hoot owl.” I was honesty kinda flabbergasted by the whole episode. “That,” I thought to myself, “was probably the weirdest thing that I’ve ever witnessed in person.”
And you know what? It doesn’t matter, not one bit.
I often prattle on in these pages about the differences between “values” and “virtues.” In extremely (and overly) brief detail: values are what one believes, and virtues are how one behaves. Values are important, of course, but virtues are more so, and one of the chief flaws of the Enlightenment was its emphasis on values over virtues and its concomitant effect in converting the West to a values-based morality.
In any case, I don’t share all of the values of this famous person – even not considering the dragon bit. I won’t go into details, but we simply do not see eye-to-eye on everything.
Nevertheless, I can tell you that he is, objectively, one of the best people I have ever met. He is friendly. He is kind. He is a solid family man. He is gracious. He is appreciative of his blessings. And perhaps most notably, he is exceptionally generous with the fruits of those blessings. He has given and given and given to more than one community, doing his utmost to ensure that he does as much as he can with what he has. And to be clear, both he and his wife give of their time and talents, as well as their treasure.
I can also tell you that he is almost certainly not the “sort” of celebrity with whom the gals at “The View” would want to socialize. He’s not their kind of people. He’s a deplorable, one might say. Heck, he probably even voted for Trump. <<gasp!>> His values and theirs almost certainly do not align.
Nevertheless, his generosity is sincere. He doesn’t set up charitable foundations to use specifically to advance public policy that aligns with his values. He doesn’t call himself a “philanthropist” as he uses the tax code to promote his own interests and beliefs. He is a good man who uses his blessings to do good things.
And he also believes in dragons. So what?
That may make him a bit of a kook, but it doesn’t define him as a person.
Likewise, it doesn’t define Joe Rogan.
Joy Behar may think she’s a better person or a more reliable source of information than Rogan or my acquaintance, but I tend not to agree. More to the point, most Americans seem not to agree, at least based on their recent votes. And that, to me, is incredibly heartening.
