Jordan Peterson on leftists: “Well, think again, Sunshine!”
I’d never even heard of Jordan Peterson until about two weeks ago, but since then I’ve developed a mild addiction to his videos. Some are short and some are long, but they all feature the workings of a powerful mind harnessed to a tremendous emotional intensity coupled with an impressive ability to express himself clearly and forcefully.
Peterson speaks with energy and passion, but he doesn’t often rant (well, not exactly, anyway). However, I think the following short excerpt might qualify as a very fine rant indeed. Does the guy ever even pause to take a breath?
I was looking at comments to this particular video on YouTube and saw that some people (who admire him) were comparing his voice to that of Kermit the Frog. That had never occurred to me for even a moment, because Kermit’s content and general presentation is, shall we say, a bit different. But once I read the comparison to Kermit in terms of voice tone, I realized there was something to it.
I find Peterson quite fascinating, Kermit voice and all. And yes, I know he’s happily married (both Peterson and Kermit—Peterson to his childhood sweetheart, and Kermit to Miss Piggy).
Speaking of comments at YouTube, most of the time the caliber of the comments there is dreck. If they’re not obscene, they’re offensive in some other way, or just plain mean. I’ve read a sampling of the comments at a sampling of videos on Peterson’s YouTube channel, and for the most part they seem different. A significant numbe of them are thoughtful, helpful, and seemingly sincere; and people seem to respond to each other more respectfully than usual. Peterson apparently sets a different tone that carries over into the comments, for the most part.
My reaction: “preach it brother, preach it!”
Peterson preaches here with old timey righteous indignation at the Left’s arrogant certainty that willfully ignores their 100 million plus murdered in but a century. Just what the doctor ordered, mercilessly expose their hypocrisy for they are incapable of humility or self-reflection as long as they cling to their illusion of moral superiority.
I too just discovered Peterson in the video he and Paglia did 16 days ago – already with a half-million+ views. I too marvelled at the calibre of the comments. I too liked this one in particular and watched it three times, not on purpose but as I was finding its URL to send to this or that intelligent friend; it would start playing again and be just as good as the first time – or better, like a symphony. I was so excited to hear him with Paglia, it made me listen to a whole bunch of hers too. I do not recall being so excited since the nights when, say, a new Beatles album came out in the olden days. Peterson’s book is available as a free pdf download – but I’m busy reading Eric Neumann’s “On the Origins and History of Consciousness” as well as his “The Great Mother” since Paglia and Peterson both mentioned the former as a critical read. Neumann has opened my eyes in a much deeper way to Jung than anything before – including, even, Jung.
Welcome to the dawn of Post Post Modernism: PoPoMo.
Paglia and Peterson have injected us with a new courage and hunger for truth.
I love the undisguised disgust for the Marxists. This is how it should be.
His podcasts are available on Soundcloud too, good to run with.
Pingback:Jordan Peterson on leftists: “Well, think again, Sunshine!†- American Digest
Looks like fun.
I am so glad you have discovered Jordan Peterson. He’s quite wonderful.
CW Says:
October 18th, 2017 at 6:01 pm
I love the undisguised disgust for the Marxists. This is how it should be.
* * *
This is how it should have been since the day after the publication of Das Kapital.
And certainly after the Leninists took over Russia.
And after Stalin, there was no longer any excuse for the Fellow Travelers and Useful Idiots (looking at you, NYT).
This is always how it should be.
If you get a chance listen to his talk on Trump’s intelligence at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EebRtIK4o7c
About Peterson’s voice. To me he sounds just like my maternal relations. They were of Scandinavian descent and residents of upper Minnesota. Jordan Peterson grew up in Alberta and is of Scandinavian descent. I hear the same accent as my relations whenever I am in Canada. It’s particularly audible in the word ‘no’.
Sorry, particularly ‘noticeable’.
Jordan Peterson’s middle name is Bernt – after his Norwegian great grandfather. My Norwegian great grandfather’s name was Gunder. My husband’s family tradition is to give the son the father’s name for a middle name. I like to remind my son he dodged a bullet there!
Wow, this!
Thank you for the introduction to Peterson, Neo. I’d never heard of him, but from the videos and his Wiki write up he appears to a man in the forefront of defending Western Civilization. He’s certainly got post-modernism down cold. (Can’t say I agree with his assessment of Trump, however.)
About Peterson’s voice. To me he sounds just like my maternal relations. They were of Scandinavian descent and residents of upper Minnesota.
Not knowing any Minnesota Scandinavians, I cannot compare, but I noticed his pronouncing “been” in the Canadian manner- as “bean.”
I have been aware of Peterson for a while, from Maggie’s Farm.
Hi discovered Peterson about two months ago and, like you, I’m now somewhat addicted 🙂 Who would have thought that I, a vague agnostic, could sit, rapt, through something like 25 hours of lectures on the psychological significance of the Bible? I think he is the most remarkable speaker I have ever seen, that his message is profoundly important and timely, and that he is probably the most interesting man in the world.
I think his Canadian-ness is a big part of his appeal, and I love the way that his fans have adopted his speech-mannerisms as catchphrases. Heaven knows what Dr Peterson makes of that, though!
Readers who like Peterson should follow his links onto Jonathan Pageau, and from there to Prof Rachel Fulton Brown – you won’t be disappointed!
Key phrase: “Coherence is not part of their agenda”.
Now I can’t unhear the “Kermitness”. Thanks a lot. 🙂
In the very lengthy exchange he had with Paglia, which was linked in an earlier post and which I ignored at the time since I’m not a Paglia fan, Petersen has a little fun with her by affecting the pose of a student who “can’t understand, and please help me” in regard to post-modernism’s link with neo-Marxism. He puts her in a corner which she wiggles out of with the explanation that since Foucault’s tribe is composed of nihilists, they aren’t really Marxists who she then gives credit to as followers of a legitimate ideology. To Paglia the post-modernists are nothing more than fakers. You can see why she remains a die-hard Democrat, since its base ideology, Marxism, is for the common man, blah, blah, blah.
Well into the exchange you catch Paglia stroking Peterson when she goes overboard praising men and masculinity as the glue that holds civilization together. The give away was her sly smile when she praised capitalism as the basis of western achievement. For a second I thought I was listening to Ayn Rand.
I doubt if Peterson was taken in by Paglia. Rather he must see her as an unlikely ally, and what the hell, any port in a storm.
Wow! I listened, nodding throughout several clips, then forwarded to my thinking contacts. At least one has already forwarded to his thinking contacts.
I will continue to follow what he puts out. He reminds me of Victor David Hanson in his insightful style. It would be fun to have both of them address a subject like Antifa.
I believe there was a passing reference to Stephen Hicks’ “Explaining Postmodernism” which has been brought up here before, and which is a great free resource: both as a book download as well as YouTube videos
The other Chuck— Paglia is not stroking Peterson. She is very conservative on most issues — patriotism, the screwing over of the working class, the importance of Western Civilization, the dumbing down of the educational system, the role of men. She once wrote, “If women were in charge, we’d still be living in grass huts.” She and Rush Limbaugh are great buddies. But she was born a Democrat and she’ll die a Democrat.
Corsair Says:
October 19th, 2017 at 7:27 am
Readers who like Peterson should follow his links onto Jonathan Pageau, and from there to Prof Rachel Fulton Brown — you won’t be disappointed!
* * *
I’ve been reading Fulton Brown since she danced, rapier in hand, into the fray surrounding Milo Yiannopoulis last year.
Her blog is very entertaining and insightful.
She, like Peterson, stands athwart the rising tide of insanity on the Left (and Right), yelling, “Hold, varlets!”
http://fencingbearatprayer.blogspot.com/
Richard Saunders:
I’ll agree that on the surface, and in particular on the issues you mentioned, Paglia appears conservative. I remember 20 years ago when she “sub’d” for Limbaugh during the Clinton impeachment period, and later when she defended Sarah Palin. But if you read Sexual Personae (which I lumbered through) you will find that she is anything but a conservative. She’s called herself a left wing libertarian. Libertine would be a more accurate word. At the least Paglia’s conflicted. And her taste in art is godawful. Jackson Pollack and Warhol? Please!
To me, the most interesting thing about Dr. Peterson is his Patreon subscription rate as of 10/19/17:
$66,500+/month.
Once that hits $70K/month, he and his colleagues plan to enter the humanities education accreditation market with a competing alternative to the current post-modernist institutional dominance, “. . .offering degree-equivalents with real psychometric value: best student in 10000; best in 1000; best in 100; best in 10; best in 5 (and no certification granted below that).”
Learn more at https://www.patreon.com/jordanbpeterson
After watching that video, I really wanted a cigarette.
…and I don’t smoke.
brilliant
So glad you have discovered Dr Peterson. I ran into him over the Canadian bill to require pronoun preferences and the interview with Joe Rogan. I became hooked. I have run through his “Maps of Meaning” course and many other videos and find him mesmerizing. Almost Cassandra-like in his warnings about totalitarianism. His Dostoyevsky fondness promptpted me to finally read Dostoyevsky. I completely agree with his assessment. I think this man is a modern hero. Fighting the good fight in the right way. Please watch one of his full courses – and follow the course readings, too. I promise that you will be enriched. It is worth the endeavor.
The full speech from which this is excerpted is well worth the time. It’s like a master symphony, building upon itself. The last 10 or 12 minutes are especially meaningful and profound. I think Dr Peterson is a great champion of Western Civilization and I’m grateful for his efforts.
My son introduced me to him several months ago. I now consider myself a success as a father.
Just saw him yesterday in person at Clemson. It’s not just that he is doing and speaking with such powerful meaning, it’s that he gives you the impression that you can take up your part of the cause and do it too. see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP2WlfTiohw or search for rubin report on youtube.
I’ve been following him for about a year now and spreading the word to my adult children and my family and friends. If you’ve been sampling his wares, then surely you’ve seen this one already…but just in case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0aA2dQqt08
it is a beautiful soul / mind at work.
His appearance on Joe Rogan’s show with Bret Weinstein is also quite good if long (I always crank up the speed to 1.5x on almost every YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G59zsjM2UI
Now, if only a conservative or libertarian alternative to YouTube would emerge.
Just what the doctor ordered, mercilessly expose their hypocrisy for they are incapable of humility or self-reflection as long as they cling to their illusion of moral superiority.
I find your reaction here to be rather a strange disassociation from your behavior around 2012. Back then when I talked about the evils of Demoncrats and Leftists, you defended them and made excuses for them, something on par with “you would fight to death to defend their liberties or something” as if you expected them to return the favor.
Well, you haven’t fought to the death, and they didn’t really ask you to either.
People only like things that “mercilessly expose” things that don’t touch their own personal lives or your own personal hobby horses.
Reading the comments, as well as adjudicating and trimming the analysis from the Paglia scenario context, Peterson has his own youtube cult of personality. Or perhaps it is now called an idol.
The atheists or the Marxists used the same format, Che, Chomsky, and the four horsemen of the apocalypse (atheists like Hitchens and Sam Harris).
For people that cannot or will not do the articulation and research, they need some kind of front man to organize things.
The problem is if or when people find out that their idols are corruptible or that the ideals are not as well baked as it was presented.