This is why I pay you, Justin. It's like your job is to go into the nuclear reactor and make the adjustments, so that I can just read the report at my desk the next day.
I'm very, very weary of seeing that man's name all the time, but the National Post does have valuable stories sometimes, so I have to keep looking at that front page.
When Anne Coulter started raging at liberals, I dutifully paid attention, because so many right-wingers were lionizing her (this is about 2004) and I figure you have to not be in a silo. Then she called one candidate a "fag" and excused it as "shouting insults on the playground". I was so relieved. If she was just shouting insults on a playground, then I did not, in fact, have to pay any attention to her.
Coulter is one of five people that were tagged as responsible for 80% of University lecture cancellations - her, Shapiro, Yiannopoulos, Peterson, etc - and its a business model. Justin is just reporting facts he can see, here, correctly - but when you look at Peterson changing from shrink with some opinions, to the millionaire guru he is now, it's clear he spotted the business model and is riding it.
Since Petersen isn't entirely on politics, and since he has prior cred as a shrink and professor, he couldn't be dismissed as easily as Coulter. But, I quite believe Justin about how hapless Peterson is on anything practical about economy, governance, justice - I can continue ignoring him completely. A relief.
I really think we risk worsening our polarization problem by pretending like he's rotten to the core and incapable of an earnest thought.
Broken clocks and whatnot.
Conservatives, e.g., do themselves no favors by pretending that socialism is a dirty concept with no merit. You can't oppose something unless you understand its appeal. That's true for Coulter, too.
I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out JBP some time around 2017. The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories drew me in at the time. I am an atheist, the bible is a knowledgeable gap for me, it had its appeal. It did not take me too long to see that his shtick is using a lot of words to say what could be passed as plain truths, but at the same time never really saying anything.
I stopped paying attention by the time his 12 rules book came out, and out side have a few conversations with some friends and co worker about him I kind of figured his gimmick would be a passing fad. I get the appeal to people who feel they are loosing their place in the hierarchy of society or going through some difficult patch of life, but I am always surprised that people keep talking about him like he is one of the great thinkers of our time. His area of expertise is very narrow. Bible story’s. Words matter. Boot straps. It’s pretty simple stuff really.
thanks for the article. I am glad some one is paying attention to the people who are paying attention to the likes of JBP.
I feel like I just watched a horror/zombie movie. Thanks for being there so I didn’t have to be. As a person with a family member who is trans I worry so much about this kind of rhetoric, which is really barely rhetoric as it’s barely comprehensible. And to couch it in some aberrant form of Christianity is…..I can’t even articulate what.
Hate to tell you, but that's a really standard thing for Christians to do. The KKK burned a cross on your lawn to let you know the Christians were making a Christian statement.
Thanks for the coverage Justin; I too have noticed this guy who struck me as pale, anxious and generally unwell; I felt sorry for him since he seemed on the verge of tears. You don't mention what he and his family were so ill with, but it wouldn't be the first time serious illness caused someone to buy into the god idea, which would also fit in with the current right wing. But you say he's "on again off again" with them? That fits with being the prophet guy, anomalous and beyond the fray, something his impressive academic and intellectual credentials also contribute to. "Meat-addled doofus" was kind of hilarious; he's clearly a purist/extremist who never cheats on that extreme keto diet. He probably eats beef raw....
The bottom line is that both him and Elon Musk come off as men in the middle of some sort of breakdown that reflects where many men seem to generally be at this point, so the blind leading the blind but much less benign. And although it's typically liberal and open-minded to attempt mitigation of our polarization by trying to understand guys like this, they're both simply dangerous, as dangerous as the bunch they're "leading."
I've never seen him detail what, exactly, afflicted his wife and daughter — but I can only assume that they were genuine health problems, and no doubt that's hard on any family.
But worth noting that Peterson's heel turn began long before any of that happened. He decided to crusade against trans people before any of that personal turmoil. So it may be a contributing factor to the intensity of his current dogma, but it doesn't explain it.
I began reading his first book, and can confirm he's been a kooky traditionalist for a long time.
That's true with the pronoun thing; I did hear that but his fervor does seem to have increased, no doubt along with his surprising popularity, which has to have transformed him at various levels. The thing with guys like this is always that they often hit a nerve that resonates but is politically incorrect like the pronoun thing. That had to have made conservatives (or traditionalists) positively apoplectic. but it also struck the rest of us as a bit much too if we're being honest. I think this whole snowflake/ woke/ virtue signalling thing with the left kind of started with coining the term "Islamophobia" after 911. Firstly it's not an irrational fear, more of a straight-up aversion to religion, period, but particularly the doctrines of Islam. And everyone has rushed in to call that entirely reasonable aversion "racism," conflating religion with immutable race, which is also untrue. So when liberals stole the "holier than thou" page from the conservative playbook, our credibility as the honest ones started waning, just as they devolved further in that department to become outright "cons." If we want the truth on our side. we have to become more critical of what deserves to be criticized, period, which certainly includes the god idea.
I keep waiting for SOMEONE to start actively pushing back on religion, the elephant in almost every room at this point.....
Great article and once again thanks for the coverage. I heard a great saying at a town hall once, “It’s not that people are afraid of change, it’s they are afraid it will change them”. That resonates with me in regards to the people that are attracted to someone like JBP. They may feel that if they accept anything different that the way they live they are somehow becoming it.
It's quite an insightful axiom. What JBP does so well is to frame opposition to social change as progressive, instead of conservative — i.e. by stopping the woke mobs, we'll enable greater social progress. It's not necessarily, like Christian fundamentalists argue, an appeal to a simpler time.
Wow. Kind of glad I missed this event but thanks so much for covering it. There were a flurry of articles about non-fans protesting his coming appearance, or trying to prevent it, but then I could not find any reviews of what he actually said. Peterson is a very interesting combination of contradictions, and I think many young or lost people like to embody a Messiah figure with having the answer to all of their problems or questions. But the occasional pearl of real wisdom does cross his lips. Much of his advice to lonely young men who cannot seems to connect with women is sound. Clean up your own act, buddy, the women can't all be wrong. No one ever tells them that and it is helpful. They are part of a generation that was given a trophy for just showing up and it hasn't taught them that life is tough and people are going to reject you. Peterson shows them how to stand up and take responsibility for themselves and I think that is overall a good approach. Of course he spews a lot of nonsense too, but hey, at least he stands for something and we are all free to take it or leave it.
This is why I pay you, Justin. It's like your job is to go into the nuclear reactor and make the adjustments, so that I can just read the report at my desk the next day.
I'm very, very weary of seeing that man's name all the time, but the National Post does have valuable stories sometimes, so I have to keep looking at that front page.
When Anne Coulter started raging at liberals, I dutifully paid attention, because so many right-wingers were lionizing her (this is about 2004) and I figure you have to not be in a silo. Then she called one candidate a "fag" and excused it as "shouting insults on the playground". I was so relieved. If she was just shouting insults on a playground, then I did not, in fact, have to pay any attention to her.
Coulter is one of five people that were tagged as responsible for 80% of University lecture cancellations - her, Shapiro, Yiannopoulos, Peterson, etc - and its a business model. Justin is just reporting facts he can see, here, correctly - but when you look at Peterson changing from shrink with some opinions, to the millionaire guru he is now, it's clear he spotted the business model and is riding it.
Since Petersen isn't entirely on politics, and since he has prior cred as a shrink and professor, he couldn't be dismissed as easily as Coulter. But, I quite believe Justin about how hapless Peterson is on anything practical about economy, governance, justice - I can continue ignoring him completely. A relief.
I really think we risk worsening our polarization problem by pretending like he's rotten to the core and incapable of an earnest thought.
Broken clocks and whatnot.
Conservatives, e.g., do themselves no favors by pretending that socialism is a dirty concept with no merit. You can't oppose something unless you understand its appeal. That's true for Coulter, too.
Thou shalt continue this wonderful writing.
I went down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out JBP some time around 2017. The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories drew me in at the time. I am an atheist, the bible is a knowledgeable gap for me, it had its appeal. It did not take me too long to see that his shtick is using a lot of words to say what could be passed as plain truths, but at the same time never really saying anything.
I stopped paying attention by the time his 12 rules book came out, and out side have a few conversations with some friends and co worker about him I kind of figured his gimmick would be a passing fad. I get the appeal to people who feel they are loosing their place in the hierarchy of society or going through some difficult patch of life, but I am always surprised that people keep talking about him like he is one of the great thinkers of our time. His area of expertise is very narrow. Bible story’s. Words matter. Boot straps. It’s pretty simple stuff really.
thanks for the article. I am glad some one is paying attention to the people who are paying attention to the likes of JBP.
You nailed it RN. It’s a shtick.
I feel like I just watched a horror/zombie movie. Thanks for being there so I didn’t have to be. As a person with a family member who is trans I worry so much about this kind of rhetoric, which is really barely rhetoric as it’s barely comprehensible. And to couch it in some aberrant form of Christianity is…..I can’t even articulate what.
Hate to tell you, but that's a really standard thing for Christians to do. The KKK burned a cross on your lawn to let you know the Christians were making a Christian statement.
I do know that. All very sad. What would Jesus say? Not JP’s message.
Nocked it outta the park Justin. Thanks much.
Thanks for the coverage Justin; I too have noticed this guy who struck me as pale, anxious and generally unwell; I felt sorry for him since he seemed on the verge of tears. You don't mention what he and his family were so ill with, but it wouldn't be the first time serious illness caused someone to buy into the god idea, which would also fit in with the current right wing. But you say he's "on again off again" with them? That fits with being the prophet guy, anomalous and beyond the fray, something his impressive academic and intellectual credentials also contribute to. "Meat-addled doofus" was kind of hilarious; he's clearly a purist/extremist who never cheats on that extreme keto diet. He probably eats beef raw....
The bottom line is that both him and Elon Musk come off as men in the middle of some sort of breakdown that reflects where many men seem to generally be at this point, so the blind leading the blind but much less benign. And although it's typically liberal and open-minded to attempt mitigation of our polarization by trying to understand guys like this, they're both simply dangerous, as dangerous as the bunch they're "leading."
I've never seen him detail what, exactly, afflicted his wife and daughter — but I can only assume that they were genuine health problems, and no doubt that's hard on any family.
But worth noting that Peterson's heel turn began long before any of that happened. He decided to crusade against trans people before any of that personal turmoil. So it may be a contributing factor to the intensity of his current dogma, but it doesn't explain it.
I began reading his first book, and can confirm he's been a kooky traditionalist for a long time.
That's true with the pronoun thing; I did hear that but his fervor does seem to have increased, no doubt along with his surprising popularity, which has to have transformed him at various levels. The thing with guys like this is always that they often hit a nerve that resonates but is politically incorrect like the pronoun thing. That had to have made conservatives (or traditionalists) positively apoplectic. but it also struck the rest of us as a bit much too if we're being honest. I think this whole snowflake/ woke/ virtue signalling thing with the left kind of started with coining the term "Islamophobia" after 911. Firstly it's not an irrational fear, more of a straight-up aversion to religion, period, but particularly the doctrines of Islam. And everyone has rushed in to call that entirely reasonable aversion "racism," conflating religion with immutable race, which is also untrue. So when liberals stole the "holier than thou" page from the conservative playbook, our credibility as the honest ones started waning, just as they devolved further in that department to become outright "cons." If we want the truth on our side. we have to become more critical of what deserves to be criticized, period, which certainly includes the god idea.
I keep waiting for SOMEONE to start actively pushing back on religion, the elephant in almost every room at this point.....
Great article and once again thanks for the coverage. I heard a great saying at a town hall once, “It’s not that people are afraid of change, it’s they are afraid it will change them”. That resonates with me in regards to the people that are attracted to someone like JBP. They may feel that if they accept anything different that the way they live they are somehow becoming it.
It's quite an insightful axiom. What JBP does so well is to frame opposition to social change as progressive, instead of conservative — i.e. by stopping the woke mobs, we'll enable greater social progress. It's not necessarily, like Christian fundamentalists argue, an appeal to a simpler time.
Wow. Kind of glad I missed this event but thanks so much for covering it. There were a flurry of articles about non-fans protesting his coming appearance, or trying to prevent it, but then I could not find any reviews of what he actually said. Peterson is a very interesting combination of contradictions, and I think many young or lost people like to embody a Messiah figure with having the answer to all of their problems or questions. But the occasional pearl of real wisdom does cross his lips. Much of his advice to lonely young men who cannot seems to connect with women is sound. Clean up your own act, buddy, the women can't all be wrong. No one ever tells them that and it is helpful. They are part of a generation that was given a trophy for just showing up and it hasn't taught them that life is tough and people are going to reject you. Peterson shows them how to stand up and take responsibility for themselves and I think that is overall a good approach. Of course he spews a lot of nonsense too, but hey, at least he stands for something and we are all free to take it or leave it.
Top of the pinching order. LOL.