If America was a person they would be an overly tanned forty-something year old white man with steroid-tinged build and a carefree demeanor borne of circumstance and privilege. He would be a marginal celebrity, living on the razor’s edge between fame and laughingstock, working the circuit of television programming that pits him against other marginal celebrities in absurd situations – faux corporate environs, dance recitals, traditional game shows, and any other cringe inducing spectacle. He would live his entire life in the public eye and display utter confidence in everything he says. He would read two or three books a year, regularly weigh in on every topic under the sun with uninformed opinions, and never waiver in the face of actual evidence. He would drive a giant pickup truck that he doesn’t practically need. He would eat meat he hunted himself, not because he likes the taste, but instead for what it signals to his peers and the security it provides to his conception of manhood.
If America was a person they would be Joe Rogan. I admit that I don’t know much about his biography other than the larger bullet points of his “career,” basically whatever can be found on Wikipedia. And I’ve never listened to his show but have seen snippets here and there on youtube. I don’t know exactly where he stands on political and social issues, nevertheless the everyman schtick I have gleaned from what I’ve seen is the perfect depiction of what I think an outsider would see as the personification of America – unearned confidence, anti-intellectualism, fame as self-evident, fame as an end in itself, impulsiveness as a badge of honor.
GLAZ 