Reject the Identity Politics of the Alt-Right and the Control-Left
by Nur Baysal, Foundation for Economic Education:
Identity politics contributes to an environment in which it is all about whether specific groups feel offended.
Jordan Peterson is a clinical psychologist at the University of Toronto. Previously, he has held positions at McGill and Harvard University. He has also been known for saying very inappropriate things. For example: “Clean your room and sort yourself out before you try to change the world.” “The school system generally favors girls over boys and that’s not a good thing.” “People need to have meaning and purpose in life that goes beyond immediate happiness.”
Apparently, you can expect violent backlash when you hear someone with such views talking at college campuses. And that is exactly what happened during Peterson’s recent talk at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. Around 150 enraged protesters assembled outside, breaking stained glass windows and even barricading the front and back entrances of the lecture building. One protester was heard yelling, “Lock ’em in and burn it down,” which was met with applause by the crowd of protestors. A 38-year old woman who took part in the protests was later arrested for carrying a garrote with her and violently attacking police officers. In case you don’t know, a garrote is a weapon used to strangle someone to death.
Another bout of rage ensued when Christina Hoff Sommers, a self-identified feminist and registered Democrat, was invited by the Federalist Society to give a talk on feminism at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. Several student groups composed a letter opposing Sommer’s talk, in which she was called a “known fascist.” The letter continued with a rather interesting definition of free speech:
Freedom of speech is certainly an important tenet to a free, healthy society, but that freedom stops when it has a negative and violent impact on other individuals.”
Neither Peterson nor Sommers said anything remotely close to the generally accepted meaning of fascism. As a reminder, fascism is defined as a political philosophy that exalts one’s nation and/or race above the individual and aims to implement an authoritarian government headed by a dictatorial leader. As shown by the examples in the first paragraph, Peterson stresses personal development over political action. He also mentioned how his writings and talks have moved many former alt-right proponents to adopt a more centrist position.
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