I am a latecomer to the Jordan Peterson phenomenon. I haven’t read any of his books but I have listened to numerous lectures and interviews. A 2018 interview with NYU professor Jonathan Hardt, founder of the Heterodox Academy, about the causes for the unravelling of the contemporary university touched me close to home. Peterson appeared on the social media battlefield after involving himself in a free speech controversy with the University of Toronto, his employer. Peterson’s views have made him a lightning rod for radical left-wing critics who have trotted out the usual accusations: hate-speech mongerer, fascist, racist, white supremacist. Peterson collects native Canadian art from coastal British Columbia, and has formed a friendship with Charles Joseph, an accomplished Kwakwaka’wakw carver from the Ma’amtaglia-Tlowitsis tribe. In a blanketing ceremony Peterson was given a Kwak’wala name and made an honorary member of Joseph’s family. Unexpected for a racist white supremacist.
Photo: Carving, Charles Joseph
Jordan Peterson challenges the chaos with reason and facts. A few years ago during a visit with my 20 year old nephew, it was heartening to see that he was watching a Jordan Peterson video on You Tube. It gives me hope for the future.
By the way, your book Vizcaya has never left the stack of reading material on my nightstand since I first got it in 2007. Thank you!