Part 1: A Message to Millenials: How to Change the World — Properly.
Young people want, rightly, to change the world. But how might this be properly done? Dr Jonathan Haidt recently contrasted Truth University with Social Justice University. Social Justice U has as its advantage the call to social transformation. In this podcast, I outline why Truth is the proper route to societal improvement — and why that starts with the individual.
Part 2: A New Years Message to the World
A message for those who are looking forward to 2017. Thank you to all of those who have supported my efforts in the recent (and not so recent past).
Here is the text of the letter, on my blog
Link to Jonathan Haidt’s article on Truth U vs Social Justice U
Relevant Links
- 12 Rules for Life Live Tour: www.jordanbpeterson.com/events
- My new book: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos: jordanbpeterson.com/12-rules-for-life
- My first book: Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief: jordanbpeterson.com/maps-of-meaning
- Dr Jordan B Peterson Website: jordanbpeterson.com/
- Self Authoring Suite: selfauthoring.com/
- Understand Myself personality test: understandmyself.com/
- Blog: jordanbpeterson.com/blog/
- Podcast: jordanbpeterson.com/podcast/
- Reading List: jordanbpeterson.com/great-books/
- Twitter: twitter.com/jordanbpeterson
- Support This Podcast: jordanbpeterson.com/donate/
Doctor Peterson, if you read comments I wanted you to know how much your lectures have helped me in my life. I’m disabled and until I stumbled on you from YouTube I had pretty much given up on life. I had been for the most part bed-ridden from chronic nerve damage and bad veins and pressure ulcers. I live on a mix of pain killers and blood pressure pills, since I also suffer from heart problems.(gotten through two heart attacks, one at 18, and the other at 38) I had pretty much given up, but when you talked about aiming up, it made me think. Now I’m trying to improve, little steps to most, but to me…it’s monumental. Am up to using a recombinant excercise bike and trying to get up more often to do things I thought I’d never be able to again. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I don’t know if you believe in a god, but after my last NDE, I’m going to say god bless you and your work!
I have a couple of questions for Dr. Peterson. You state unequivocally that Marxism is a murderous philosophy, but never say what about it causes it to be so murderous. I would deeply appreciate some clarification. Thanks to you, I am reading Marx. Your statement about using other people’s words hit a bulls eye in the center of my forehead. I’ve always just accepted others interpretations of Marx, and quoted from them. I am also rereading, The Gulag Archapeligo (sp?), in which you say Solganitzin ( I know that’s spelled wrong ) completely destroyed the argument that the Soviet Union wasn’t truly Marxist. I don’t remember that, but I only read volume one about 20 years ago. If you can, please direct me to the relevant parts of the text. I watch your YouTube channel, and listen to your pod casts while at work… I have a fairly mindless third shift job. I am a baker, which isn’t mindless, I’ve just done it for so long that I don’t really have to think about it. I hope you look at these comments, I want to understand your beliefs about Marx. Thank You.
When reading the Gulag Archipelago, you’ll read about a never ending sequence of horrors, people committed to people in a system that aided to this atrocities, by putting some ideology of an “higher collective good” above the well-being and dignity of each single person.
Every ideology that doesn’t care for the individual, his rights, his free speech, his personal beliefs, will destroy everything you cherish in a civilized society that is worth living in. Communism, Marxism, Socialism, Collektivism, Fascism: This is all the same ideology in the sense that the individual has to bow before the ideology, can’t have a contrary belief and is seen as an enemy to the belief-system if he dissents. The “higher good” justifies every punishment of dissidents, even murdering them. Did you read Orwell’s “1984”? It is short and an easy read. Understanding “1984” will cure you for eternity from falling for any ideology. An ideology never has room for individuality. The end of individuality, which means possible dissent(!), is the end of civilisation and a life worth living. Sometimes even the end of millions of lives, literally.
It is interesting to me that 4 of the 5 “belief systems” you mention are opposed to capitalism to varying degrees. Are capitalism and individuality somehow fundamentally intertwined? I also find it odd that capitalism body counts are never mentioned. Nor is Adam Smith held personally responsible for capitalisms uggly side. Also, as I said before, I have read, The Gulag, but I’ve also read many other books that presented horror after horror that had nothing to do with communism. It’s interesting to me that “the left” is painted as murderous with a broad brush, while nothing is said about “the right” Could it be something other than Idology cause people to be murderous?
It isn’t about bad Communism/ good capitalism.
It is about Collectivism (of all sorts!) being dangerous, when it abolishes or endangers individuality and the right & freedom , to disagree with whatever worldview.
“Could it be something other than idology cause people to be murderous?”
Sure.
But here we are talking about radical belief systems (of all sorts!).
Collectivism is a radical belief system, an ideology,intolerant towards individuality and divergent views of the world.
Human beings are social creatures. I just checked the definition of social and saw that one of its synonyms is collective. I don’t have time right now to discuss this, but i will come back to this as soon as time permits. A quick question, I’m not very internet savvy, how did you respond to my post so quickly. Is there some kind of notification system?
I have learned a lot from Dr. Peterson’s lectures and ideas and agree with most of his arguments. However, I believe that the discussions of Marxism and Stalin/ totalitarian ideas of the 20th century are grossly oversimplified in many of the lectures, particularly in the ways that they are associated with extreme leftist views in Canada and those in the United States. My guess is that this comes from the frustrations of what he rightly calls the “militant left” in the unversities and his just criticism of what we might call “the gender label war”. (See Ayn Rand for overreactions to Marxist influences and the throwing away of important progressive values).
My point: it is completely inappropriate to equate progressive values and their respective platform, which came from decades of social struggle, simplistically with totalitarian atrocities in the 20th century, as is often suggested in his lectures. I’d like to hear more from him about the strengths of the social systems which he benefited from: education, health care which give us the opportunties we have in North America. In the many of the “red” states in the US, many of these values and social systems are threatened under the illusion of “free markets” and “drain the swamp” red neck simplicities, which Dr. Peterson may not have first hand exposure to.
He has stated that our community local social systems are beneficial to us and I might add voluntary, where as government run systems are run by the rule of law, much different societies in the end.
I have been a fan of Sam Harris for a number of years. However, his character fell in my estimation when listening to his dismissive reactions to Dr. Peterson’s thoughts and opinions in two podcasts in recent months. On the positive side, listening to those podcasts, promoted a strong interest in Dr. Peterson’s ideas.
I agree .
I listened to the ‘Incendiary Dicussion’ in my car yesterday and want to express my appreciation for Dr. Peterson’s understanding and empathy for those in our world (our western, rich world), who do the jobs that most people do not give a thought about. As a mother of a son and a daughter (now young adults), and as a teacher, I have always felt that young men can often be taken advantage of in labouring jobs. Such experiences can bring life-long physical problems for these men, and I have always done my best to speak to that concern whenever I had the opportunity. I realize that this aspect of the podcast was just one, perhaps even a minor side issue, but it resonated with me as did all of the discussion. Thank you so much Dr. Peterson.
I can not locate the web page that offered your maps of meaning book as a bonus for joining some sort of ongoing membership support for your efforts to make things clear to people.
Please forward the link to [email protected] if it still exists.
Thanks,
Dave