We've Got to Spread Love and Justice By Example | Joe Rogan and Dr. Cornel West

That you bring in the fact that we're living in such a grim moment, what I'd call, you know, the American empire in decline. And we all need to call for its regeneration, its democratic revitalization and regeneration. How do we do that? Only by example, man, because there's a difference between what the great Roberto Unger calls biographical time and historical time. All of us are born in circumstances, not of our own choosing. We're only here for so long. We all have insecurities, anxieties and fears, knowing that our bodies will undergo extinction one day very soon. And therefore, to deal with those insecurities and fears and anxieties, you have to have certain structures of feeling and value that give you some sense of worth-whileness as you move through time, from mother's womb to tomb, right? And it's only in biographical time, because we only got one life this side of Jordan. And there's no person who's a messiah. Now people will tell you they are, but you say, okay, just call it it. Be self-deceived and drink your cotton, and you can keep moving. Because there's no messiahs out there. There's no saviors out there. There's no messiahs in groups. There's no messiahs in collectivities. There's only lives to be lived. We back to check off again. Lives to be lived, acknowledging things were in place before we arrived. So therefore, we ought to have gratitude for the love that we received. That's how I begin my whole life. I am who I am, because somebody loves me. It's mom, it's dad, it's my brothers, my sisters, it's my friends, right? And I don't deserve it. And I have to somehow follow in Ashford and Simpson, they say, send it like a puff of smoke, you got to let it go. Spread whatever love justice by example. Examples are the gold card of justice. That's a wonderful line in Conscretica, pure reason. Examples are the gold card of judgment. The judgments we make are predicated on the examples that we have. And we must have examples of greatness. If you're going to be a classical composer, you better study some Ludwig Beethoven. You're going to be a serious artist of musical theater. You better study a genius who's still alive named Stephen Sondheim from West Side Story to Company to Sunday in the Park with George to Passion to Sweeney Todd across the board. Not to imitate, but just to know what greatness is in your genre. If you're in hip hop, you better study some rock hymn. Oh, you better study some. Follow the leader. That's two-pock, that's right. You better study the folk world great. It's the same way you know, you study prior and Bruce, Lenny Bruce and the others, and Roseanne Barr and the others.