Thread by @docrussjackson

Few people enjoy being called racist. Steve Bannon is an exception. However, "Jordan is The Angry Guru, The Pissed-Off Yogi, The Totally Untogether Psychiatrist. A fragile authority who spends his time dishing it out but just can’t take it" - Nesrine Malik
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson/status/1460775878598836227

"A brittle ego who exhorts his fans to find peace by accepting that life is tough, while losing it completely every time he steps barefoot on a metaphorical piece of Lego. A tragic physician who cannot heal himself."

“Like being shouted at by a rugby coach in a sarong”.

#bbcqt

"His regular pearl-clutching, skirt-gathering episodes of the vapours signify that he is a far more simple creature... Being exposed by someone who is so obviously smarter than him & is therefore immune to his pseudo-intellectual schtick is Jordan Peterson’s Room 101."

"It re-erects the prison walls of his mediocrity & unoriginality. This is why he is forever posting items on how much he has sold, how many views his YouTube videos have had. The void must be fed constantly."

"Rather than promoting blatant bigotry, like the far right, he claims that concepts fundamental to social-justice movements, such as the existence of patriarchy & other forms of structural oppression, are treacherous illusions, & that he can prove this..." theguardian.com/science/2018/f…

Hence: “The idea that women were oppressed throughout history is an appalling theory.” Islamophobia is “a word created by fascists & used by cowards to manipulate morons”. White privilege is “a Marxist lie”.

"In many ways, Peterson is an old-fashioned conservative who mourns the decline of religious faith and the traditional family, but he uses of-the-moment tactics."

"His YouTube gospel resonates with young white men who feel alienated by the jargon of social-justice discourse and crave an empowering theory of the world in which they are not the designated oppressors."

"Such intense adoration can turn nasty. His more extreme supporters have abused, harassed & doxxed several of his critics. One person who has crossed swords with Peterson declined my request for an interview, having experienced floods of hatemail, including physical threats."

"While Peterson does not endorse such attacks, his intellectual machismo does not exactly deter them. He calls ideas he disagrees with silly, ridiculous, absurd, insane. He describes debate as “combat” on the “battleground” of ideas and hints at physical violence, too."

“If you’re talking to a man who wouldn’t fight with you under any circumstances whatsoever, then you’re talking to someone for whom you have absolutely no respect,” he told Paglia last year, adding that it is harder to deal with “crazy women” because he cannot hit them.

“How does one effectively debate a man who seems obsessed with telling his adoring followers that there is a secret cabal of postmodern neo-Marxists hellbent on destroying western civilisation and that their campus LGBTQ group is part of it?”

Peterson’s constellation of beliefs attracts a heterogeneous audience that includes Christian conservatives, atheist libertarians, centrist pundits & neo-Nazis. This anti-authoritarian also has a striking habit of demonising the left while downplaying dangers from the right."

'Peterson’s commitment to unfettered free speech is questionable. Once you believe in a powerful & malign conspiracy, you justify extreme measures... he planned to launch a website that would help students & parents identify & avoid “corrupt” courses with “postmodern content”.'

"Within five years, he hoped, this would starve “postmodern neo-Marxist cult classes” into oblivion. Peterson shelved the plan after a backlash.. Who could have predicted that blacklisting fellow professors might exacerbate polarisation?"

"The key to Peterson’s appeal is also his greatest weakness. He wants to be the man who knows everything & can explain everything... But his arguments are riddled with conspiracy theories and crude distortions of subjects, that lie outside his field of expertise."

Personally, I don't mind him too much. I've engaged with some of his stuff & he's not the 'evil right-winger' he's often painted as. I even agree with some of what he says. The charismatic maverick will often attract attention while quieter, more insightful voices are overlooked.