Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Jordan Peterson: Conspiracy Theorist

 

Well, at least the start of one.

Peterson has so-often pooh-poohed so-called conspiracy theorists and their so-called conspiracies.  He seems to be coming to find that no other method of analyzing our world is possible when trying to understand what the truth might be when what we are being told is so obviously a lie.

He just released a conversation with Rex Murphy.  The two of them had a conversation about eight months ago as well, which I commented on, briefly, here.  The current conversation was recorded on February 19, in the aftermath of Justin Trudeau’s emergency orders that released the jackboots on the truckers and those who support them.

The discussion begins slowly.  First, underlying the discussion – and this point was never challenged (which is why I say “at least the start of one”) – covid is real, the steps initially taken by governments were rational, the vaccine isn’t questioned, etc.  Also, as is obvious to any thinking human, covid (or…the common cold) has morphed into something far less dangerous and far more mild.

But Peterson’s search in the first part of the discussion was pretty simplistic.  Basically, Justin Trudeau has daddy issues – he wants to live up to his father.

Rex Murphy is having little to do with that.  He is much more advanced in his thinking.  He sees that there are real snakes in the grass, purposely doing evil as opposed to just being incompetent.  He states clearly and unequivocally that what is happening in Canada and with the press is just a furtherance of how Trump was pounded and demonized for a totally fabricated Russian collusion story.

Statements about which Peterson does not display a bit of surprise.  So, this all seems to start to warm Peterson up, perhaps making him more comfortable to openly say things that he has only recently began to consider. 

It is at this point in the discussion, where Peterson is speculating on why the suspension of the Canadian Parliament.  To what is parliament an impediment? 

He then goes there: the World Economic Forum and Trudeau’s association with this; the global leaders’ program of Schwab, of which Trudeau is a graduate (if that’s the right word); there is a globalist agenda (“this sounds like right-wing propaganda, I suppose,” Peterson says while rolling his eyes – but it isn’t clear of which side he is being dismissive, until he gets to the next point – which he says with conviction):

There is a globalist elite agenda that is aimed at severely modifying the manner in which our fundamental institutions operate under the impetus of another crisis which is the hypothetical climate crisis.

He said “hypothetical”!  But he connects that the covid tyranny is just a test and a conditioning effort for the next thing.

Peterson then admirably points to Bjørn Lomborg, a climate scientist who is skeptical of the climate narrative and the actions being demanded to counteract the so-called crisis.  Peterson defies anyone on the climate-catastrophe side to show evidence and a methodology more sophisticated than that of Lomborg… “of analyzing an actual pathway forward that isn’t merely apocalyptic neuroticism and the desire for totalitarian control.”

Now I have to say, for someone who constantly mocks conspiracy theorists, Peterson is finally becoming a half-decent conspiracy theorist (really, these are now demonstrably conspiracy facts at this point).

Peterson continues: from his work at the United Nations, he came to the conclusion that the faster we could get cheap energy to the poverty-stricken parts of the world – cheap energy means fossil (his words, not mine) fuels – the faster we will move to cleaner energy and the more sustainable environment we can have in the future.

Now, I am not a fan of any of the central-planning, think-tank stuff here, but working to reduce poverty in the poorer parts of the world is certainly better for the climate than working to force poverty onto the wealthier parts.

You say you are on the side of the oppressed and on the side of poor people.  Well, you’re not, if you’re not for cheap energy for these people.

Bingo.  And, as he was saying this, the cracking, emotional voice came out – but also a real look of anger. 

All of their moralistic posturing is enough to drive you to distraction.

Or drive you to try to understand the conspiracy.

Then Murphy dives deeper:

Here’s one for you.  Maybe the emergency they declared this week [Trudeau against the truckers] was their way of forestalling the knowledge that they have gutted, after two years of economic disaster, the one source of wealth that we have [Canadian oil and gas] – they closed it down.

Peterson then summarizes his conclusions:

Here is what Canadians are being told to believe: they are being asked to decide whether these truckers are a reprehensible bunch of foreign-funded Nazi insurrectionists, or whether the entire governing structure in Canada and the press that reports on it has become corrupted in a…what would you say…historically unmatched manner.

So, that’s a tough choice, Canadians, but the first part of that isn’t true, and the second part, unfortunately, is.  

A tough choice, yes – but only tough for those who have not already confronted this issue given the overwhelming preponderance of evidence.  But an easy answer.

Then again, I think Canadians have been more trusting (and perhaps have not had as many reasons to be distrusting) of their government than have their neighbors south of the border.

And you can tell that, not least, in the fact that parliament has been essentially abrogated over the last two years and more particularly on Friday [when Trudeau declared the emergency].  And that we now have retroactive crime in this country, and the seizure of bank accounts.

A fairly good summary…until what came next.

And this is all occurring not only when the pandemic is coming to a halt on technical grounds, but when many countries around the world are lifting mandates….

Now, Jordan.  Parliament was closed down for two years, not one week.  Globally, the reaction to covid was almost identical – police state actions everywhere, in almost every country.  Almost as if this was a coordinated global plan.  The data is clear, and was from the beginning: this was no pandemic catastrophe.  It was a pretext for a takedown, for the furtherance of a police state and tyranny.

Peterson again commented on the globalist utopian agenda.  But, Jordan, you cannot see the covid reactions by government and the press – the same government and press that you now abhor because of the treatment of the truckers – as noble in the case of covid and corrupt in the current case.

And, not leaving well enough alone…regarding the destruction of his country, Canada, he sees this as due to Trudeau’s incompetence.

No, Jordan.  He is completely competent in that which he has been assigned to achieve.

Conclusion

Peterson then offers that he cannot see how Trudeau’s government can survive the next month.  To which Murphy replies: “Oh, I am much more pessimistic than you.”

As am I.  We are nowhere near the darkest before the dawn.  The sun has barely even gone down for the evening.

Peterson, as polished as he is and as involved in the highest levels of academia, seems to remember well his roots of growing up in rural Western Canada among people who actually had to produce something of real value in order to live.  This issue of Trudeau and the truckers is hitting close to home for him (as does the issue of oil and gas). 

Just not yet quite close enough.

Epilogue

A few days earlier, Peterson published a video from a spokesman for the truckers – what it is they want, and what they don’t want.  A more rational statement you will not find.  This was recorded before the declaration of a wartime emergency by Trudeau.

This was followed up with a video of a short song, Wake Up.  It was written by Peterson and described by him as follows: “Dedicated, under the current unfortunate conditions, to the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honorable Justin Trudeau.”

Well, I will just say that the conditions aren’t simply “unfortunate.”  And the only way “Right Honorable” fits with Trudeau is in a mocking manner – which is clearly the way it is intended when you hear the song.

5 comments:

  1. Good news is that Trudeau lifted the emergency powers today, for some unknown reason. It's a head scratcher but welcome. Now do away with all covid restrictions.

    In terms of climate change, I recommend several other important voices: Michael Shellenberger, Patrick Moore, Steve Koonin, and most importantly Alex Epstein.

    On Peterson, he is coming around but boy is he stubborn.

    https://thecrosssectionrmb.blogspot.com/

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    1. Trudeau and the lifting of emergency powers...I suspect we will discover why he did this in the near enough future. If he continues the authoritarian actions without the emergency declaration, then it could just be the way of installing tyranny without having to declare it.

      As to Peterson, the man is pulled in a dozen different ways: coming from academia, he still wants to be considered part of "respectable" society; being a modern liberal, government is seen as a force for good; having been beaten up beginning a few years ago, he remains cautious; having been ill to the point of death, he is rightly concerned about the relationship of controversial positions and his health.

      But he is stuck. He is (honestly, in my opinion) searching for truths. But he has all of these things weighing on him. I suspect that it is, at times, more than he can handle.

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    2. Peterson, in my opinion, if I may psychologize the psychoanalyst, is trying to reconcile the good of traditional male patriarchy and meritocratic, hierarchical, authority with the horrors of totalitarian statism. He doesn't properly distinguish between society and the state in his thinking. He still regards the state as a natural and necessary outgrowth of society instead of as a life threatening cancerous tumor where natural authority used to be. Because of this lack of separation, and philosophical distinction, he internalizes too much of the harm states have committed in the past as he is building his worldview. Like a good Jungian, he must reconcile this 'shadow' into his person somehow, and this is doing real damage to him. I think he's got a bit of a Neo-complex, thinking he must understand, feel and resolve the suffering of all those around him.

      But I think you are right. I think he is more honestly searching for truth than I've given him credit for in the past. Mea culpa!

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    3. "He still regards the state as a natural and necessary outgrowth of society..."

      This is a great point. Peterson, who speaks of proper hierarchies as naturally formed (determined by the values of a given society and therefore freely chosen), doesn't recognize that the state (as opposed to governance or even proper government) is not natural (freely chosen) at all to a free people.

      Why the bad get on top. It is something Peterson could study regarding state-monopoly power.

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  2. I absolutely loathe and despise the word 'unfortunately.'
    In 99% of the contexts that word is used, 'fortune' has nothing to do with it. 99% of the time the issue being described as 'unfortunate' is directly due to human ignorance, stupidity, arrogance and mental pathology.

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