Joe Rogan Says Americans Don't Have to Work—'Free Money'

Joe Rogan has envisioned a future where Americans no longer have to work for money after robots and advanced technology have taken over jobs.

Speaking on Tuesday’s edition of his eponymous podcast with Billy Carson, the founder of the media company 4BiddenKnowledge Inc. and the aerospace enterprise First Class Space Agency, Rogan touched on the rapid rate at which recent technology has changed.

After Rogan said 10 years “in most time periods is not that big of a deal technologically,” Carson said, “I mean, in 100 years we went from a horse buggy and carriage all the way to putting remote-control cars on Mars, so we’re moving at an extremely fast pace right now.”

“They just released this ChatGPT and other robotics on humanity, which is great—it’s going to do a lot of good for us,” Carson continued. “But at the same time, if you’re going to replace somebody’s job, you have to then take away their financial responsibilities. You can’t expect them to still have the financial responsibilities and take away the job, so that’s going to be the conundrum. I’m waiting to see how that’s going to pan out.”

Rogan said in response that “there’s enough money in this country” for “whatever controls that industry” in which jobs are replaced to “give a certain percentage to ensure not just like a living wage, but a good wage—where people live well, and they don’t have to think about it.”

He added that it would be necessary to “give people a purpose because you can’t just have them laying around getting free money.” Rogan suggested that free wages could give people the freedom to explore their true passions—whether that’s in the arts, other areas of creativity or continuing to work.

“Just imagine the entire country just gets a free $200,000 a year [per person], you’re never going to have to worry about food. You’re never going to have to worry about a place to live. You’re good,” Rogan said. “You’ve got $200,000 a year because everything’s automated and everything’s done by the government, then you’re going to have to find something. You’re going to have to find a purpose.”

“Wouldn’t that be better than work?” Rogan said. “Because for most people, there’s a great satisfaction working and accomplishing a hard day’s work. You get your paycheck, and you feel like you’ve accomplished something.”

He continued: “But wouldn’t it be better if all of your needs were met, and we put an emphasis in our culture on creating and doing things that interest you, whether it’s competition or whatever it is? But this will be financed essentially by this ability that you just get free money because robots control everything. No more jobs.”

A composite image of Joe Rogan in Houston on February 7, 2020, against a background of $100 bills. Rogan has discussed a future where Americans wouldn’t have to work for money, allowing them to pursue…

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images;/iStock Unreleased/Getty Images

Carson said the heads of future industries wouldn’t “have to pay a salary to these robots, only repair costs and management costs.”

“And the $200,000 that everybody gets, they’re getting it anyway because they we’re going to buy stuff from them,” Rogan added. “It would be a wild change and shift in how human beings interacted. And if there was a way for us to channel that in a positive manner, it could ultimately be beneficial, and we could be looking back on these days where people worked at Wendy’s and go, ‘What the f*** was that about?'”

Carson said, “Most people are working in jobs that are not—they are not passionate about these jobs, and it’s evident in their work, you know, their effort and their work ethics.”

“It’s also evident in their success, right, and their happiness,” Rogan added. “Like a guy like you who likes to do—you do what you like. You enjoy this. You pursue this. You talk about this. You’re very good at it. This is a great way to live, and other people can find other similar things or different things that similarly excite them.”