Jordan B. Peterson Is the Furthest Thing from the Alt-Right - Foundation for Economic Education - Dan Sanchez:
January 22, 2018 - "Psychologist and scholar Jordan B. Peterson recently had another surge in media attention.... His ideological critics have reacted defensively by, among other tactics, trying to cast Peterson as an 'alt-right' figure. Having listened to all of the lectures and interviews included in his 37-episode podcast, I can attest that that is a gross mischaracterization.
"For example, ... during the Q&A period following one of his lectures ... Peterson noted that: 'the identity politics that has been practiced so assiduously and so devastatingly by the left has been co-opted by the right'.... Specifically, he warned against reacting to the identity politics of the left by descending into a white racial identity politics of the right ... 'where we’re making your group identity the most important thing about you. I think that’s reprehensible. I think it’s devastating. I think it’s genocidal in its ultimate expression. I think it will bring down our civilization if we pursue it'.....
"Genocide is one of Peterson’s many scholarly interests.... He has made a deep study of the pathologies that result in genocidal states like the Nazi regime. And he is keen on stressing the much-neglected fact that the Soviet regime was quite as enslaving and murderous as the Nazis. As those regimes demonstrated, Peterson’s claim that identity politics is 'genocidal in its ultimate expression' is no exaggeration....
"Not only is Peterson adamantly opposed to identity politics, but his project is decidedly non-political in nature.... As Peterson said in his response: 'You know, I’ve thought for a long time about a political career, really forever.... And I’ve always decided against it, because it seemed to me that the proper level of analysis with regards to the solution of the problem that we’re facing isn’t political. And that’s why I think it’s a mistake when what I’m doing gets politicized either by me or others.'
"Instead, Dr. Peterson’s prescription for 'how to change the world properly,' as he says, is for each individual to focus on self-improvement: to concentrate, not on political crusades, but on his or her own Hero’s Journey. (Peterson is also an expert exponent of the Jungian psychological interpretation of heroic mythology.) As he put it: 'The way forward through the ideological mess … is to place the individual at the place of paramount importance'....
"Alt-right commenters have accused Peterson of being naive about this. Self-improvement is all well and good, they say, but how is cleaning your room supposed to fend off the leftist barbarians at the gates?
"Such critics don’t understand what Peterson is saying, because they are mired in the mindsets of politics and war. The way of politics and war is to confront an enemy horde by amassing your own horde: whether it be on the battlefield, in street demonstrations, or in voting booths. It is to fight tribal barbarism by tending toward the tribal and the barbaric yourself. But the way of the heroic, civilized individual is to lead by example and to lead by appealing to the interests of those whose behavior you want to influence.
"As opposed to purely political questions, with matters of what is necessary to personally thrive, individuals actually have skin in the game, and so are more open to challenging messages and less likely to cling rigidly to their dogmas.... Someone who embraces individualism, not merely as a political program, but as a way of life, can have tremendous power to persuade and inspire. When others see such model individuals sorting out their lives, living free of the life-debilitating resentments that haunt SJWs and alt-righters alike, and generally thriving, that is a much more powerful argument for individualism than a million sarcastic memes."
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/jordan-b-peterson-is-the-furthest-thing-from-the-alt-right/?utm_medium=related_widget
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January 22, 2018 - "Psychologist and scholar Jordan B. Peterson recently had another surge in media attention.... His ideological critics have reacted defensively by, among other tactics, trying to cast Peterson as an 'alt-right' figure. Having listened to all of the lectures and interviews included in his 37-episode podcast, I can attest that that is a gross mischaracterization.
"For example, ... during the Q&A period following one of his lectures ... Peterson noted that: 'the identity politics that has been practiced so assiduously and so devastatingly by the left has been co-opted by the right'.... Specifically, he warned against reacting to the identity politics of the left by descending into a white racial identity politics of the right ... 'where we’re making your group identity the most important thing about you. I think that’s reprehensible. I think it’s devastating. I think it’s genocidal in its ultimate expression. I think it will bring down our civilization if we pursue it'.....
"Genocide is one of Peterson’s many scholarly interests.... He has made a deep study of the pathologies that result in genocidal states like the Nazi regime. And he is keen on stressing the much-neglected fact that the Soviet regime was quite as enslaving and murderous as the Nazis. As those regimes demonstrated, Peterson’s claim that identity politics is 'genocidal in its ultimate expression' is no exaggeration....
"Not only is Peterson adamantly opposed to identity politics, but his project is decidedly non-political in nature.... As Peterson said in his response: 'You know, I’ve thought for a long time about a political career, really forever.... And I’ve always decided against it, because it seemed to me that the proper level of analysis with regards to the solution of the problem that we’re facing isn’t political. And that’s why I think it’s a mistake when what I’m doing gets politicized either by me or others.'
"Instead, Dr. Peterson’s prescription for 'how to change the world properly,' as he says, is for each individual to focus on self-improvement: to concentrate, not on political crusades, but on his or her own Hero’s Journey. (Peterson is also an expert exponent of the Jungian psychological interpretation of heroic mythology.) As he put it: 'The way forward through the ideological mess … is to place the individual at the place of paramount importance'....
"Alt-right commenters have accused Peterson of being naive about this. Self-improvement is all well and good, they say, but how is cleaning your room supposed to fend off the leftist barbarians at the gates?
"Such critics don’t understand what Peterson is saying, because they are mired in the mindsets of politics and war. The way of politics and war is to confront an enemy horde by amassing your own horde: whether it be on the battlefield, in street demonstrations, or in voting booths. It is to fight tribal barbarism by tending toward the tribal and the barbaric yourself. But the way of the heroic, civilized individual is to lead by example and to lead by appealing to the interests of those whose behavior you want to influence.
"As opposed to purely political questions, with matters of what is necessary to personally thrive, individuals actually have skin in the game, and so are more open to challenging messages and less likely to cling rigidly to their dogmas.... Someone who embraces individualism, not merely as a political program, but as a way of life, can have tremendous power to persuade and inspire. When others see such model individuals sorting out their lives, living free of the life-debilitating resentments that haunt SJWs and alt-righters alike, and generally thriving, that is a much more powerful argument for individualism than a million sarcastic memes."
Read more: https://fee.org/articles/jordan-b-peterson-is-the-furthest-thing-from-the-alt-right/?utm_medium=related_widget
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