Professor Jordan Peterson – Post Modernism’s Worst Enemy
Phillip Schneider, Staff Writer
Waking Times
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson has spent his life attempting to discover the true meaning of freedom. Before he hit the limelight last year he has been busy writing papers, giving lectures, and doing research into psychology as a professor at the University of Toronto in Canada with a book published in the late nineties called Maps of Meaning. With a very high IQ, he excelled in school and started working in his field of psychology, particularly personality psychology, after switching degrees from political science and English literature at Grande Prairie Regional College. He received a B.A. in psychology in 1984 and later his Ph.D in clinical psychology in 1991.
His book, published in 1999, takes a look at interpretations of religious and mythical stories as well as a hard look at the psychology of social conflict with an intense focus on atrocities such as the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. Attempting to explore the meaning and origins of evil, he believes that he has uncovered “what it is that makes a tyrant.” The best guard against tyranny, he says, is always saying what you believe to be true.
Resisting Post-Modernism in Academia
Peterson is possibly the most outspoken foe of the blossoming post-modernist movement. In short, post-modernism is the attribution of racial and gender oppression to virtually every problem in society. Whether it’s regarding competition for jobs, placement in university, or even social status, it’s typical today to hear people putting the blame on inequality for virtually every problem that arises in their lives.
The danger in all of this is also the logic that holds this theory together, being that claiming victimhood is a form of justification for the use of force. If you’re a victim of someone else’s intentions then you must have the right to self-defense as well. When applied to groups of races, genders, gender expressions, etc. it grants certain privileges for groups over the rights of individuals, which has manifested itself in the curtailment of free speech, divide-and-conquer style division, and a larger role for government as government in its entirety is based on the use of force.
“It’s this sort of post-modern formula that’s taught to University students everywhere now. Attribute everything to racial disparity and oppression victimization…It’s a re-casting of Marxism I would say. With the Marxist theory it was rich against poor, Bourgeoisie against Proletariat, and that was re-cast in the 1970’s as oppression due to group identity.” – Jordan B. Peterson
The onset of post-modernism in colleges throughout the last decade is predictable when you look at the rate at which professors have identified as being liberal-leaning. During the 1960’s it was around 1 liberal for every 2 conservatives; then in 2005 it became roughly 1 in 4, and now as of 2016, liberal professors outnumber conservatives by nearly 12 to 1. Much of what is taught in the liberal arts has devolved into a post-modern indoctrination of students who are taught victim mentality over critical thinking skills.
Taking a Stand
Dr. Peterson has not only pointed this out, but is taking action against the post-modernization of schools by beginning the creation of his own online University as a tool to reduce enrollment in post-modern courses “by 75 percent across the west.” His idea is to use the internet, which anyone can use for a very low cost, to teach subjects from a more western perspective, starting with a “greatest books of western civilization” program.
“They [the Universities] have abandoned their mission to students. Their mission should be to teach students to speak, to think, and to read, and to become familiar with the best of the world so they can hone their cognitive skills and operate effectively in the world and I don’t believe they’re doing that at all.” – Jordan Peterson
Peterson’s Perspective on Bill C-16
Possibly the most highly publicized events for Dr. Peterson is his opposition to Bill C-16 in Canada, which makes it law that one must always use another’s preferred pronouns or else face fines or even jailtime. Essentially, to be insisted upon by force that you must call someone “she” who you believe to be a “he,” or to use a new imaginary gender pronoun called “zhe,” is not only a curtailment of free speech, but also a type of mandatory lying as making somebody say something they don’t believe is very different from making them not say something they do believe.
In order to avoid true oppression, we must not only be able to say what we believe, but more importantly, we need the freedom to refrain from saying what we don’t believe. This perspective opened up a lot of people’s minds and took Jordan Peterson from being the 21st Century’s most interesting psychologist to an international champion for free speech, not to mention post-modernism’s public enemy #1.
“There are only three states of being. There is slavery, tyranny, those are both forms of conflict, or negotiation. Negotiation depends on freedom of speech and you have to be able to talk to people if you are not going to fight with them or capitulate to them. It’s as simple as that.” – Jordan Peterson
The following interview with Jordan Peterson on the The Joe Rogan Experience has been viewed millions of times:
http://youtu.be/USg3NR76XpQ
Read more articles from Phillip Schneider.
About the Author
Phillip Schneider is a student and a staff writer for Waking Times.
This article (Professor Jordan Peterson – Post Modernism’s Worst Enemy) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Phillip Schneider and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.