One of Canada’s more serious cultural pathologies is its persistently irritating insistence upon self-deprecation.
The habit manifests itself in many fashions—sports, film, television, literature—and when it comes to celebrities there is no greater, nor perhaps more puzzling example than Jordan Peterson.
While he is popular and respected globally—he is considered by many in the British, American, and Australian punditry to be a leading public intellectual—he is shunned by his home nation’s self-styled illuminatae.
I'll admit I found the initial public version of the former University of Toronto professor to be more fun than the current manifestation, but only because the latter too often appears angry, besieged, and employs terminology that seems at times to have migrated from refreshingly frank to unnecessarily confrontational.
Hard to blame the guy, really, but there has been a transition because, near as I can tell, Canada has rejected its most famous psychologist, author, and free thinker.
His non-academic books—“12 Rules for Life” and “Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life”—have sold millions of copies and topped bestseller lists in Canada, the UK, and the United States.
His critics call his wisdom folksy, with one British reviewer referring to his approach as “bonkers.” Others, though, have praised his work, as did journalist Larissa Nolan. Writing for the Irish Independent, she called “Beyond Order” “a psychology book on another plane, a self-help book de profundis, from a beautiful mind. That he wrote it during the greatest crisis of his life is a testament to the power of what he preaches.”
His live events have sold out auditoriums and arenas to people anxious to find meaning and purpose in their lives. He’s appeared on Piers Morgan’s programs, the BBC, Sky News Australia, and many other English-language mainstream media beyond Canada’s borders. His own YouTube channel has an astounding 8.3 million subscribers with, according to speak.com, 832.7 million views based on 1.040 videos.
Sure, that doesn’t rank him up there with top YouTubers like Mr. Beast. But it’s not too shabby for a kid from Alberta who became a successful university professor with his own psychology practice who drew a line in the sand at the University of Toronto and refused to comply with a law demanding he use whatever pronouns he was asked to apply. To be clear, his original issue was not about respecting an individual’s wish regarding what they were called, it was about being forced by authority to do so.
“We could have a conversation about that, just like I would if you asked me to use a nickname. But there’s a big difference between privately negotiated modes of address and legislatively demanded, compelled speech.”
To me, that seems obvious. What was not just fascinating but frightening was that others couldn’t see it as what it was—a moderate, principled response to a radical, authoritarian request.
The very idea that Dr. Peterson’s stance prompted literally hundreds of his academic colleagues and others to demand that the University of Toronto terminate his employment is beyond alarming, and reminiscent of the mentality that throughout history has proven fertile ground for authoritarian rule.
There was a time when those who challenged the accepted verities of the day were put on pedestals for no other reason than that they forced us to think.
In today’s Canada, though, we seem to have established a reverse tendency that calls for those who resist a radical movement’s latest moral order to be shamed, mocked, even destroyed personally and professionally.
These apparently all relate to a social media post he made in regard to an event involving American Vice President Kamala Harris in January, 2023. Ms. Harris is now the Democratic candidate in November’s U.S. presidential election.
Dr. Peterson senses an organized campaign by ideological opponents “weaponizing the professional governing boards.”
Success has made Peterson a wealthy man who wears fancy suits these days. It may also have made him a little careless.
His greatest sin, in the end, might be being a Canadian success story.
