Joe Rogan Says China 'On Verge of Passing' US in 'Many Areas'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Podcaster Joe Rogan has said China is "on the verge of passing" the United States in "many areas" such as drones and electric cars.
Why It Matters
Rogan, one of the world's most-listened-to podcasters, was discussing global affairs with comedian Jimmy Carr in a Joe Rogan Experience episode uploaded on May 23.
His comments reflect a broader debate over the shifting global balance of power, as the U.S. and its allies navigate a world increasingly defined by competition with China.
On top of this, global dynamics are shifting under Donald Trump's presidency, with concerns about opportunities for Beijing to woo U.S. allies in the face of Trump's tariffs and rhetoric about places like Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Joe Rogan is seen during a weigh-in before UFC 211 on May 12, 2017, in Dallas.
Joe Rogan is seen during a weigh-in before UFC 211 on May 12, 2017, in Dallas.
AP
What To Know
Carr was talking about the American constitution, how it gives people agency and "the flourishing that's come out of it."
"Look at what it's achieved," he said. "Imagine if something like that happens in China—imagine—in our lifetime that they go with a different system."
He went on to compare China to a "covers band" saying it "has its own version of Facebook and its own version of Google."
"What is it about America that allows this entrepreneurial spirit, that allows Silicon Valley to happen?" Carr asked.
Rogan said: "Well they've got a very interesting approach because they still have a very entrepreneurial spirit as well. They've got a weird sort of merging of communism and capitalism. Like it's state-run capitalism."
"But they still have insane innovation," he continued. "Like China's technological innovation is probably greater than ours—in a lot of areas. In the areas of electrical vehicles for sure. In the areas of drones for sure."
Rogan went on to discuss China's "spectacular drone capabilities" and electric cars "you'd have no idea about...if you don't follow these obscure car review people online that review Chinese electric cars."
"Insane technology inside the vehicles, like spectacular-looking cars," Rogan said. "They're on the verge of passing us in many areas because there's a lot of regulation in regards to drone technology in particular in this country."
What People Are Saying
Donald Trump made similar comments about China and electric vehicles before the 2024 election: "China's eating our lunch right now," Trump said while criticizing what he considered a lack of tariffs imposed on China by former President Joe Biden.
"We're losing," he said later talking about electric vehicles. "They're all gonna be made in China," he added.
Robert D. Atkinson, founder of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a public policy think tank, wrote last September: "There may be no more important question for the West's competitive position in advanced industries than whether China is becoming a rival innovator. While the evidence suggests it hasn't yet taken the overall lead, it has pulled ahead in certain areas, and in many others Chinese firms will likely equal or surpass Western firms within a decade or so."
What Happens Next
The growing rivalry between the U.S. and China is likely to remain a central issue in global affairs, with potential flashpoints in trade, technology and geopolitics.
It remains to be seen how Trump's tariff war and his changes to regulations in the United States will play into this.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Lawmakers No Longer Understand the American Family
Imagine if our national economy, culture, and politics were rooted in the idea that the default American household is white and Christian. There would be no Spanish-language campaign ads and TV shows, no interracial families depicted in commercials, no fill-in-the-blank Heritage Day at ballparks. Workplaces would see no need to accommodate holiday schedules for Muslims or Jews. That was a good bet more than 50 years ago, when the country was 88 percent white and 90 percent Christian, and less than 5 percent of the population was foreign-born. Since then, politicians and business leaders have figured out they will lose out if they deny the existence of the new, far more diverse, face of America. They may be motivated more by votes and dollars than by principles, but they've broadened their pitches to reflect (at least in part) the modern American household. And yet, when it comes to the family structure itself, the system (public and private) is stuck in an earlier era, one which assumes a 'traditional' household made up of a married couple and their offspring. Lawmakers proudly brand themselves 'pro-family,' and vow to fight for 'working families.' There's Family Day at attractions and entertainment venues, and family discounts on everything from phone service to cars, retail and college tuition. The best value for consumables is the 'family-sized' version that will rot before a single person can finish it. Solo diners are shooed to the bar at restaurants, with tables reserved for couples or families. Single people subsidize family health insurance plans, pay higher tax rates for the same joint income of a married couple, and can't get Social Security death benefits awarded to a widowed spouse. Companies that brag about being 'family-friendly?' Ask a single person: That means they work nights and weekends. The fix has been in, for a long time, in favor of those who marry and have children. In times past, this was just a temporary irritant, since most people indeed ended up marrying (in their early 20s, back in 1970) and having a family. But that family prototype is no longer dominant—and all indications suggest we're not going back to the way things were. Why are policy-makers in denial about the country we have become? 'It's not that [leaders] don't understand that families have changed very much from what they used to be. It's that they don't want to confront the reasons why families have changed,' said Stephanie Coontz, author of five books on gender and marriage. It's not that people don't want to couple—most do, she added—but marriage is not necessary anymore, especially for women who no longer need a man for financial support and don't need to stay in an unhappy or abusive relationship. They want intimacy, but with equality, and 'women have the ability to say, if I don't get that, I'll hold out,' said Coontz, the director of research and public education for the Council on Contemporary Families and emeritus faculty of History and Family Studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. There's a misguided longing, especially among conservatives, to return to a storied American family that never really existed, Coontz argues in her book The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap. In reality, drug abuse, alcohol consumption, and sexually transmitted diseases were more prevalent in the 1950s, but economic conditions (in part because of government support for families) make the mid-20th century family look idyllic in retrospect, Coontz argues in the book. 'There's this ideology, it's really more of a worldview, that if you get married, you really will live happily ever after, and be healthier and morally superior' to unmarried people, said social scientist Bella DePaolo, author of Single at Heart: The Power, Freedom and Heart-Filling Joy of Single Life. But when it comes to how people actually behave and the choices they make, 'the place of marriage in our lives has been slipping,' she said. 'Fewer people are getting married—fewer people want to marry. That is threatening to people who want things to stay the same.' The statistics back her up: in 1970, 71 percent of households were made up of married couples; by 2022, that group became a minority, comprising just 47 percent of households. 'Non-family' households were an offbeat 19 percent of homes in 1970; the most recent Census Bureau statistics show that 36 percent of households now are 'non-family.' Married couples with children made up a solid plurality (40 percent) of 1970 homes. Now, such families comprise just 18 percent of households—strikingly, barely more than the category of women living alone, who make up 16 percent of American households, according to the Census Bureau. Even the current White House doesn't reflect the household ideal pushed by social conservatives. President Donald Trump is on his third marriage (with five kids from three wives); his wife Melania Trump is reportedly a part-time resident of the White House, and Trump hangs out with First Bro Elon Musk (who himself is reputed to have more than a dozen children from different mothers). There's been a steady trend towards later marriage, and even away from marriage entirely. The Pew Research Center, using data from the American Community Survey, points out that in 1970, 69 percent of Americans 18 and older were married, and 17 percent were never married. By 2010, just half of Americans over 18 were married, and a startling 31 percent had never been married. Those trends have caused agita among conservatives worried about the changing model (or the 'breaking down' of that model, as they characterize it) of the American family. Fiscal hawks rightfully worry, too, about demographic trends that indicate we will have an increasing number of old people drawing Social Security and Medicare, and not enough young people paying into the system. This is a legitimate concern; fertility rates in the United States reached an historic low in 2023. But the response to these phenomena has not been an examination of how public policy could be reoriented to the new reality of American households, but rather to try to force Americans back to an earlier, mythic demographic era. There's a deep, anti-social vein running through the strategies of those who'd force today's square-peg Americans back into the round hole of their nostalgic fantasies. There's the tactic of insulting or shaming unmarried women ('childless cat ladies,' as Vice President J.D. Vance called them). There's blaming feminism in general. 'We have this low birth rate in America … it just hit me right now because who's going to sleep with these ugly ass broke liberal women?' singer and Trump acolyte Kid Rock said on Fox News. Conservative essayist John Mac Ghlionn lays blame at the sparkly-booted feet of Taylor Swift, who—while being very successful and wealthy, he concedes in a column in Newsweek—is a terrible role model for young girls because 'at 34, Swift remains unmarried and childless.' Worse, the author screams in print, Swift has had a lot of famous boyfriends, and 'the glamorous portrayal of her romantic life can send rather objectionable messages.' The sneering message is clear: stop being so promiscuous or career-driven, and you'll attract a man who will give you what you want—marriage and children. Except that's not what women (necessarily) want. A 2024 Pew Research Center study found that just 45 percent of women 18-34 want to be parents someday. That's substantially less than the 57 percent of young men who feel that way. An earlier Pew study found that half of uncoupled men were looking for either a committed relationship or casual dating; 35 percent of single women said the same. And while women who were seeking relationships were more likely than men to say they wanted a committed union, instead of a casual arrangement, the survey results knock down the old trope of women being almost universally on the prowl for men who will offer them a ring and children. Bribing people to have children is another misguided approach, with the Trump administration mulling a laughably low 'baby bonus' of $5,000 to American women who have children. Yes, having kids is costly; the per-child cost can top $310,000, according to a Brookings Institution study. But it's not just a function of money. A growing percentage of adults under 50, in a 2024 Pew Research Center study, say they don't plan to have kids (47 percent are nixing the idea now, compared to 37 percent in 2018). The reason? 57 percent of those who aren't planning to have kids say they simply don't want to. 'I don't think you can solve what is ostensibly a cultural problem with financial incentives. That just doesn't work,' said Daniel Cox, director of the Survey Center on American Life at the American Enterprise Institute. 'I do think that the increasing costs of daily living, and the increase in housing costs, are all playing a role in (people) feeling more financially vulnerable and less secure,' he said. But structural issues—including women's fear of losing their autonomy or having their career advancement thwarted because of childcare demands—are leading to 'some real trepidation' towards marriage, he said. So, what is to be done? Instead of trying to make people want what they demonstrably don't want, government and business could instead adapt to the modern American household and the economy it has produced. There are about a thousand separate rights Americans acquire when they get married—everything from visitation rights at hospitals, to Social Security survivor benefits, to joint health insurance plans, said Gordon Morris, board chairman for the advocacy group Unmarried Equality. And that, he says, needs to change to reflect the fact that nearly half of U.S. adults are unmarried. Paying for Social Security and Medicare doesn't need to be fixed with a forced baby boom, either. One solution is to embrace immigrants, DePaolo said, since they (working legally) will contribute income and Social Security taxes. Another simpler fix, Morris said, is to remove the income cap for Social Security/Medicare contributions. 'It's a problem that's easy to solve, economically, Politically, it's very hard,' he acknowledged. But first and fundamentally, he argued, policymakers need to accept that the country is changing demographically—and that's not just about race or religion or national origin. Some of the most profound changes afoot in society revolve around the whens and whys Americans are getting married and having children. 'The problem is, there's an assumption that you're supposed to get married and you're supposed to have children. That assumption has got to change,' he said. The new reality, after all, has already arrived.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Severe floods threaten historic Romanian salt mine
Romanian authorities scrambled Friday to save a salt mine in the northern village of Praid from further damage after heavy rains worsened flooding at a site that provides the region's economic lifeblood. The floods in recent days have swollen a stream near the partially inundated salt mine, which has been shut down since 5 May. The mine is among the biggest tourist attractions in northern Romania, with almost half a million people visiting the site in 2024, and many locals have depended on tourism related to the mine for decades. "We have to save not just the salt mine there, but the entire community, with thousands of people in danger of not being able to put a loaf of bread on the table," Environment Minister Mircea Fechet told a local TV station Friday, saying "a real tragedy" was hitting the region. According to the National Salt Company, underground stockpiles of salt "have been compromised, including equipment and machinery that can no longer be recovered". Due to heavy rainfall in May, the Corund stream near the Praid mine recorded its highest flow rate in the last 30 years, official data this week showed. But there is no imminent risk of collapse at the mine, said Petres Sandor, an official in Harghita county where the mine is located, which is also home to the largest ethnic Hungarian population in Romania. "The biggest problem is to stop the possibility of water infiltration in order to start the underground work," he said. "A very big danger is related to the state of mind of the population. Unfortunately, it's a feeling of the end of the world," Sandor added, urging tourists not to cancel their reservations. Some locals protested in front of the mine's administrative headquarters on Thursday, voicing anger over preventive measures not having been taken in the past. Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban vowed "financial and practical assistance for the assessment of the damages and reconstruction of the mine" in a Facebook post on Wednesday. ani/kym/js
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Feds could eye Indiana's Camp Atterbury as potential site for ICE detainees amid capacity strain
Photo by Sgt. Joshua Syberg/Indiana National Guard Federal officials could be eying Indiana's Camp Atterbury as a temporary holding site for immigrant detainees as nationwide deportation efforts continue — and detention demands grow. While no official decision has been announced, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to the Indiana Capital Chronicle on Thursday that the agency is actively 'exploring all options' to meet current and future detention needs. The statement comes amid a push by President Donald Trump's administration to stage the 'largest deportation operation in American history,' vowing to deport millions of people. 'U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's enhanced enforcement operations and routine daily operations have resulted in a significant number of arrests of criminal aliens that require greater detention capacity in Indiana,' the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement. 'While we cannot confirm individual pre-decisional conversations, we can confirm that ICE is exploring all options to meet its current and future detention requirements.' So far, however, the Indiana National Guard 'has no tasking or request' from federal authorities, a spokesperson told the Capital Chronicle. The federally owned facility is licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard. It offers a variety of training ranges, live-fire venues, managed airspace with air-to-ground firing capabilities and an LVC simulation and exercise center. For now, DHS officials have declined to provide a timeline or identify specific sites under consideration. Camp Atterbury, located about 30 miles south of Indianapolis, has previously been used for large-scale federal operations. Most recently, in 2021, the facility temporarily housed thousands of Afghan refugees evacuated during the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Feds to wind down certain Indiana naturalization ceremonies, block on-site voter registration During Operation Allies Welcome, the base accommodated over 7,000 Afghan evacuees in 82 lodging buildings across six neighborhoods, complete with dining facilities and medical centers. The infrastructure includes dorm-style housing for families and open bay barracks for individuals, all equipped with heating, air conditioning and plumbing. Camp Atterbury wouldn't be the first military or state-owned site proposed to be repurposed by federal officials for immigration-related operations. Most recently, Fort Bliss in Texas was identified as a potential deportation hub, with plans to hold thousands of detainees in massive tents on the Army base. The site could serve as the model for a dozen other holding facilities on military bases nationwide. A lack of detention space could be a reason for ICE to tap Camp Atterbury and other locations. The newest data released last week by DHS showed a drop in the number of immigrants in detention across the country for the first time since January — from 49,184 on May 4 to 48,870 on May 18 — but the shift could be due to existing detention facilities reaching capacity. Congress allocated funds for 41,500 detention beds this year, almost 20% fewer than the current number of detainees. It's unclear exactly how many people are currently being held in Indiana. Numbers can fluctuate daily as detainees are released or moved, so specific data is difficult to track. Recent reporting by Mirror Indy revealed at least 400 ICE detainees being held at the Marion County Jail in Indianapolis. And the federal government is paying Marion County $75 per day for each person held. As of March 17, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University reflected an average daily population of eight detainees at the Marion County Jail; and an average of 238 detainees at the Clay County Jail in Brazil, which is operated by the Clay County Sheriff's Department and began housing ICE detainees in 2013 under contract with the federal government. CONTACT US Using Camp Atterbury instead of local jails could save the federal government money. There are an estimated 11 million immigrants who are not legally authorized to live in the United States, according to the Migration Policy Institute, an independent, nonpartisan think tank. A separate report released Thursday by the Center for Migration Studies found the nationwide population of people without permanent legal status to be closer to 12.2 million. Indiana's unauthorized immigrant population was estimated to be around 102,000 as of 2019. During the 2025 legislative session, state lawmakers passed multiple measures to boost immigration enforcement and ensure local compliance with federal directives. That included House Enrolled Act 1393, which requires local law enforcement to notify federal immigration authorities about undocumented immigrants in custody. After sharp debate, a separate and stricter immigration proposal failed to pass, though. House Bill 1531 would have required local law enforcement officers to comply with federal detainer requests for undocumented immigrants. The bill would have also banned employers from hiring unauthorized residents. Though the bill passed out of the House on a 64-26 vote, it never got a hearing in the Senate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
