I wouldn't want Kanye West to be president, but I'll follow him into the world he's engineering.
Celebrities are annually mocked for the political and cultural statements they make during award-acceptance speeches. It's said that they don't have the expertise to make comments on issues outside of Hollywood. But there's little anyone can do, apart from living under a rock, to avoid hearing what celebrities have to say, whether it's at award shows, in advertising, or on their social media accounts.
Celebrities are no more enlightened to understand the world than their fans. Money and fame give certain advantages, but it doesn't enhance nor discount someone's convictions.
To disparage a testimony before hearing it is to commit the logical fallacy of poisoning the wells. This is discrediting the source before hearing the information. I believe this is what happened with Kanye West.
Truly, all I had known about him was his insensitive action in grabbing the microphone from Taylor Swift during the 2009 MTV awards speech claiming the trophy should go to Beyonce. I also knew he was a rapper and married to a Kardashian. He also announced his candidacy for the 2020 Presidential Election.
I started paying attention to Kanye West when he announced his conversion to Christianity.
From all I have heard, I believe Kanye is a Christian, and I can only pray that he surrounds himself with fellow Bible-believers. It seems the celebrity world is thorny soil Jesus talks about in Matthew 13.
"Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them...As for
what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the
cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves
unfruitful."
With a belief in Kanye's true faith and wanting to hear from him personally, I listened to his three-hour interview on The Joe Rogan Experience. Kanye (self-referred to as Ye) is a man with big dreams, a youthful excitement to see them through, and a lot of money and connections to make it happen.
His trains of thought (he calls them symphonies and riffs) are fast-moving. His areas of interest are so diverse that his thoughts aren't always fully formed and often never thoroughly verbalized.
He can err on naivete at times. In my mind, this is a sweet innocence. Over time, with obvious sincerity and earnestness, I believe what is currently open-ended for him will be closed.
To save you three hours of your time, I've summarized some highlights of the interview with my commentary. The italics are paraphrases or quotes, distinguished by quotation marks. (Timestamps are from the version of the interview on the Apple Podcasts app.)
11:57-15:28: "My calling is to be the leader of the free world."
West explains now is the time for "a visionary" to take this position. Though this title is synonymous with the POTUS, Ye clarifies he is referring to general leadership, as an influencer or inspirer. He sees the Constitution as innovative for its time. This seems to be how he envisions himself - as an innovating visionary into a utopia.
25:04-26:40: "I asked a rhetorical question, but the dumbest question I ever asked myself and said, 'How much does the Earth cost?'"
He recognizes money is man-made and believes we can simply make more. He knows that wouldn't solve the problem though it's unclear whether he knows why not. His theory is that the world runs on keeping the poor people poor and the rich people rich.
31:07-31:57: "One of my pastors...the way he preaches is called expository...it's like one-to-one by the word...but there's some type of preachers, they get up, they have the Bible in their hand, and then they close the Bible and they just talk for two hours...but the expository preachers go line-for-line...I need the Word to be solid food that I can understand exactly what God was saying to me...through whatever version."
This is how the Word of God is to be preached. Topical preaching will skip around the Bible and form to fit what the congregation wants to hear. We need to know the Bible in its context to understand its application today.
50:50-53:33: Marvel's Black Panther and the Harriet Tubman film were made for black people by white companies. Blacks don't know their bloodline, but the assumption is that they came from slaves. "We're given Black History Month, and we take that like it's some gift to us. No, it's a programming to us. Racism doesn't end until we get to a point where we stop having to put the word 'black' in front of it because it's like we're putting the rim a little bit lower for ourselves."...I'm the second wealthiest black man in America. No, it should be "I'm the 78th wealthiest man in America..."..."What they show in Black History Month is us getting hosed down, reminding us that we were slaves. Like, what if we had Remember-When-I-Cheated-On-You Month?... That makes you feel depleted and defeated."
Here, he's getting at the heart of identity politics. In trying to fight racism, the proponents reinforce the stereotypes and neither forgive nor forget.
1:09:57-1:13:53: "The greatest advocates for [abortion] are men from the ages 31 to 37."..."Decouple the conversation of Planned Parenthood and women's choice."..."More black children have died [by abortion] since February than people have died of COVID. And everyone wears a mask."
Any added perspective on the reality of what abortion is is a necessary one.
1:36:50-1:39:36: People are overdesigning in industries where they can make more money instead of considering 'How do we free everyone and create happiness?' There are only a billion people on the Internet; there are 7-8 billion on the planet...We are in a relay race of humanity, always moving forward, and the interns are developing what their instructors set up. It's no good for me to be jealous of these innovators. Instead, I set them up for success.
This was a common symphony of Ye's throughout the interview. In his presidency (which he repeatedly phrased as an inevitability), he will surround himself with experts to better humanity. He knows he can't do it himself, and he doesn't have all the answers, but he knows who does.
2:12:21-2:20:45: As president, we'd start with working on the budget. Money is just a tool. I've come from a place of bankruptcy and also managing multiple industries and hundreds of millions of dollars. I've been raised, as a black person, to look down on the penny. But people who manage money well respect the penny...I've been prepared for this role throughout my life...Regarding foreign policy, I've traveled more than any other president and empathize with leaders. I don't go in there to buy up their land or do business. I go in there to share information... "These ideas I have...aren't based on industry...they're based on serving God and serving families."..."America's greatest export is influence and culture."
2:25:02: "The superpower is in removing the fear."
At one point, he specifically mentions that the phrase "paradigm shift" is a favorite of his. Ye has the impression that we will build a better tomorrow by challenging and restructuring how we do things. He believes that fear, complacency, and the rich serving themselves are the obstacles to a better world.
2:25:16-2:43:55: I'm confident I can get the USA out of debt. "I never make the wrong decision when I'm given all the information. That's my skill set." "I can only give you my perspective as a civilian."...Those that urge to get out the vote are Democrats...Regarding health care, there are preventative measures to help us from getting sick...Connecting holistic medicines with nature and science and physics and God...The solutions for a utopia are here, but fear is holding people back.
From a policy standpoint, Ye doesn't specifically address Rogan's questions about what Ye would do as president with foreign policy, health care, or student loans. Ye recognizes these circumstances' urgency and reality but doesn't go into details because he can only speak as a civilian. This wouldn't fly in a presidential debate, but I think there's wisdom in what he's saying. He does tell us that once he is in the Oval Office, he will have access to the world's experts in whatever issue and therefore be able to make the correct decision.
Ye's skirting the answer reminded me that in asking then presidential-candidate Joe Biden what he would do or would have done in the early stages of the pandemic, it was ignored that that is an impossible answer to provide because the future and the what-ifs are unknown. Again, it was honest for Ye to say this but won't win him any votes.
2:47:54-2:48:48: Rogan gives a great summary of Kanye's vision for his presidency and the world.
2:49:10-2:50:48: "People love to look at Christians that are the least Christlike to judge Christianity as a whole."...People talk about abortion and go to rape as a justification but don't do the math.
Ye points out a common fallacy people commit in going to the extremes to establish a general rule.
3:02:24-3:03:49: Rogan has another good summation of what Kanye is about.
Kanye West will never be president. He has great potential to affect change in the world. He shouldn't be written off as useless as he is genuine and has relationships with influential people. Kanye is new to his Christian faith but has the right grounding in understanding the Bible and recognizing God's place in his life to get him into the richer meat of the faith spoken of in Hebrews 5:13-14 and 1 Corinthians 11:13. He is like a 20 something, just out of college who hasn't yet realized that he can't change the world single-handedly.