SC
3 min readMar 1, 2021

--

I’m vaguely familiar with the name Jordan Peterson and that he has come under fire for political ideology. I can’t speak to whether or not he is an intellectual. I know he passes himself off as one, has a following, has been somewhat of a Twitter troll himself against those he deems SJWs and Transfolk.

(I avoid social media except Medium, if it counts).

So here’s where I stand on Peterson. If he is being physically mobbed IRL off campus as your comment suggests, then I agree with you. It’s not okay. It’s not a free speech issue or cancel culture though. At that point, it’s criminal mischief/conduct. Same as Marjorie Taylor Greene hunting down David Hogg, Parkland Survivor now an advocate for gun safety, stalking, harassing, and menacing him down the street(s) and through a building he had a scheduled event to speak at.

It wasn’t what she said or her opinions. Stalking, menacing, and harassment are against the law and carry both criminal and civil penalties. It’s wrong.

Same thing. You can’t have one set of rules for one group and different rules for another group. It just doesn’t work, sooner or later it will tear the society/nation apart. That’s just the nature of things.

~

To be fair, I googled 'Jordan Peterson mobbed' and found a thread talking about where he cried during an interview about being Twitter mobbed. And was being mocked by many, again on Twitter, for his comments about how awful the experience was.

So I assume that’s what you’re referring to. That’s a virtual experience, not a physical one. I’m sure it was a difficult experience, it usually is to get online hate. There’s just so much of it the laws against cyberbullying are useless unless the harrassment leads to an actual assault, death, or maybe theft or hack. He has the means to seek redress through civil litigation. It’s his choice whether or not he wants to pursue it. He will expose himself to countersuits if he does from his own prior behavior.

Overall, the civility problem is now endemic and you can’t lock everyone up. Peterson has spent years blasting SJWs and Transfolk on Twitter, being part of a mob attacking an individual they don’t like. Being a virtual sicko harassing someone else. Apparently, it’s his turn in the hot seat now. What goes around, comes around.

The real tragedy here is that it took a dose of his own medicine for him to consider such behavior harmful. Too bad he couldn’t bring himself to spare a thought for others before having to experience it himself. Oh well, live and learn. He could be taking an opportunity to self reflect and use his platform to advocate for some much needed civility mores in the online world. Instead, he seems intent on playing the part of a hypocrite as far as I can see. He’s doubling down on those double standards that rip apart healthy societies. So I don’t have much sympathy for him either.

If you can’t take it, don’t dish it. He can say whatever he wants, no one is stopping him. You put it on Twitter, anyone can respond with whatever condescension or verbage they want the same way Peterson did; they have free speech too as it’s not a one way street.

If you don’t like it, either learn to dodge rotten digital emojis, learn to self edit or filter before making an ass of yourself in a public space, choose a platform/medium with a more particular market, learn to keep it in perspective, or just keep it to yourself.

The right needs to clean up their own house and own their share of responsibility creating this toxicity in online space before criticizing the left for the same conduct.

Don’t bemoan cancel culture and then applaud the outrages and abuses of the Trumps, MTG, Hawley, Gaetz, Limbaugh, Carlson, Hannity, or the right leaning army of Twitter trolls. Let the right clean up their own act, then I’ll support condemnation of the left’s cancel culture.

I’ll grant you that from what I’ve seen Peterson is nowhere near on the level as MTG, but I’ll frame that assessment around the fact that I’ve only seen a very small portion of what he’s put out there and the knowledge that he has been Trolling himself.

Appreciate your thoughts on this.

--

--

Responses (1)