RE: Book Review: 12 Rules For Life, Jordan Peterson
I havent read Jordan Peterson's book or listened to him much but I think he's a problematic figure. His rise is a symptom of the schizoid attempt of the right wing under Trump to try and define its values within some cultural credibility, girdered by academic names and philosophies. Sure many of his touchstones and ethical guidelines are perfectly fine but he has also cast himself as a champion and warrior of patriarchy and "tradition". His videos about alpha/beta male relations and "what women want" are puerile adolescent fantasy which ensnares numbers of lost teen males online, and his interviews with Stephan Molyneux about IQ and the bell curve are dog whistle racist at best. He presents himself as a reasonable figure but his fan base is telling of his leanings and he doesnt disavow them. The man makes something like $66,000 a month on Patreon .. not bad for a Jungian professor. A psychology professor who refers to Skinner without moving any deeper is accepting certain power relationships as given, and that is troubling. But perhaps the worst is his equation of femininity with chaos, and even using the Bible to support this retrograde anti-feminist position. He doesnt understand women so he labels them as chaotic .. who is he to give advice on how to live? He warns about the danger of a feminizing culture, but to cling to patriarchy requires sacrifices I'm surprised he's willing to make. He seems not to understand that women are a civilizing force. Like most authoritarians he imagines he'll be in the inner circle. He's elitist in a bad sense and I hope his 15 minutes of fame are basically over.