The Passion of Jordan Peterson | Finally! An insightful and unbiased profile of Peterson and the ways in which his work is helping men.

Vwar · 2018-05-02T04:30:09+00:00

sprawling red-pilled netherworld of men’s-rights activism, scientific racism, and revanchist white ethnonationalism. But Peterson sees himself as a kind of Catcher in the Rye, rescuing alienated young men from such dangerous temptations.

So there's the poison pill in an otherwise fair (perhaps even overly generous) treatment of Peterson. Still a refreshing contrast to the usual, lazy, dishonest feminist hit pieces about the Canadian professor.

Peterson is not an exemplar of the "alt-right" and is probably better described as liberal rather than conservative. He supports universal health care (fucking socialist), he supports a social safety net, he has never shown any interest in compelled religious studies or the banning of pornography or prostitution, he acknowledges the profound dangers of too much economic inequality, he is not as gynocentric as most tradcons and so on.

I fully support Peterson in his efforts to combat SJWism and some feminist myths. I'm pleased that an articulate, obviously courageous and honorable man has been embraced by so many people, and is generating important debate about eg the biological differences between the sexes and the dangers of nanny-state authoritarianism.

Peterson's most interesting commentary has centered around the idea of a growing "female totalitarianism", as well as the abysmal failure of women to "control their crazy sisters." I especially liked his analogy of the mother bear: loving compassion by the mother toward the cub is of course a wonderful and necessary thing, but it can also sublimate into extreme aggression if some poor sap has the misfortune of wandering into their path. This is essentially what's happening at the macro political level: we are seeing the curtailment of civil liberties, the reversal of due process rights, and vicious attacks against individuals who buck the party line -- all in the name of protecting the feelings of "marginalized" groups (some of whom are no longer marginalized at all). The maternal instinct -- so beautiful and necessary in some respects, can also become something exceedingly ugly ("the devouring mother").

Another, related suggestion by Peterson is that some feminists women are attempting to "mother" all of society -- often, I suspect, because they never had children or spent too little time with their children, causing that instinctual need to go unfulfilled.

Having said all that, Peterson is a bit of a mess when it comes to history, political science, anthropology and other fields. If he were to debate someone like Noam Chomsky, for example, or anyone with a PHD in anthropology, he would be utterly savaged.

Peterson's blind spots:

(1) Men's Rights.

Peterson has acknowledged that the family courts are heavily stacked against men/fathers. He did so after receiving considerable blowback for his rant against MGTOW's, during which he basically characterized them as a bunch of pathetic losers. /u/girlwriteswhat, a big fan of Peterson, offered an eloquent response to said diatribe, without attacking Peterson as an individual.

Peterson's mea culpa didn't really clarify his views, however, as Paul Elam noted. Should men submit themselves to the meat grinder of marriage while living in a profoundly misandric/gynocentric society? If so, why?

Peterson stresses the importance of rational thought, but seems to embrace romantic ideals about sexual partnerships and procreation. This will ultimately harm rather than help men (and ironically, women). And if we're looking at society through the prism of power differentials, isn't the withdrawal of labor (refusing to get married) a sensible, non-violent solution? -- Akin to early labor unions who simply withdrew their labor because they were dying like flies? Aren't the MGTOW folks right?

We need changes on a structural level, not platitudes about doing your duty. It is noble and just to sacrifice oneself for a worthy cause, but what if you're fighting for an unworthy cause? Is that still honorable? Peterson hasn't addressed this.

Men should clean their rooms, women are free to live like pigs. Peterson has gone so far as to claim that women are "forced to mature faster and take more responsibility" than men due to the "threat" of pregnancy. This is indeed true -- if we were living in the 14th century. Women are now fully in control of reproduction and increasingly entire governments. Feminists make zero attempts to equalize responsibility on this or any other matter.

I've always had romantic ideas about doing the right thing simply because it's the right thing to do. I'm a huge fan of Cervantes' Don Quixote. "Virtue is its own reward," as the saying goes. But I'm failing to see what the virtue is here, let alone the tangible benefits for men. Feminists expect men to perform all of their traditional duties, while also being labeled as degenerate, violent, oppressors. That duck don't hunt.

I have never once heard the term "men's rights" from Jordan Peterson's lips. To his credit he has condemned the idea of "patriarchy", drawn attention to biological differences between the sexes, cried over the appalling tendency to characterize young men as rapists, and posited inflammatory ideas about female power.

But he seldom if ever discusses the need for changes in law vis a vis men's rights; unfortunately, I suspect that the more popular he gets the less likely he will be to discuss men's rights or even criticize feminism (the more power you obtain, the more you have to lose); and like tradcons and feminists he essentially places the burden of responsibility on the male. Yes, men should take responsibility -- but here's a radical idea -- so should women! It is highly unlikely that we will get rid of Feminist/SJW bullshit unless a substantial number of women organize into effective lobby groups. It's much easier to urge people to "man up" than it is to urge women to "woman up".

thrway_1000 · 2018-05-02T18:55:33+00:00

Esquire, for when being a douchey hipster isn't enough.

Archive -- https://web.archive.org/web/20180502105845/https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a19834137/jordan-peterson-interview/

Title	The Passion of Jordan Peterson \| Finally! An insightful and unbiased profile of Peterson and the ways in which his work is helping men.
Author	EricAllonde
Upvotes	28
Comments	7
Date	May 2, 2018 1:58 AM UTC (8 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/8gdv0k/the_passion_of_jordan_peterson_finally_an/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/the-passion-of-jordan-peterson-finally-an.1178095 https://theredarchive.com/post/1178095

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