Is best summed up in this piece, discussing the need for Freedom of Speech. The fact that the article must be written reveals the great threat of our time. Terrorism, domestic and foreign, is nothing compared to the growing argument that Free Speech is Hate Speech, which therefore must be condemned and banned.That the Left has now opened the gates to defending those who use government intimidation, physical violence, assaults, censorship and other authoritarian tactics shows that the usual institutions who used to be guardians of the Word are fast emerging as its staunchest enemies. Where is the world of art and entertainment, where is the press, other than standing firmly behind this movement to redefine who does and doesn't have the right to express themselves?
Today is a good day to reflect on this because, as Donald McClarey points out, it's also Ronald Reagan's birthday (and Donald McClarey's, too!). Reagan was one of the most optimistic people to sit in the White House. Sometimes that didn't serve him well. But despite his optimism, he was no fool. He understood that even America could sell its birthright of freedom for a bowl of stew. He knew that we were not just one day away from poverty, but one generation away from totalitarianism.
This revolution against liberty and freedom has been generations in the making. Jordan Peterson has emerged at the right time to call this movement out for what it is. While he acknowledges the threats that come from the radical response to this Leftist movement, he knows that the core of the problem is the Left's growing insistence that there is no right to not be a Leftist. He knows that the Left would redefine freedom and liberty to mean the freedom to conform to the Left under threat of physical violence and government retribution. In the end, it was Jordan's exposure of the hypocrisy behind one of the Left's biggest tools for accomplishing this - banning hate to avoid offending - that has made Jordan a star.
Whether or not Jordan lasts or is merely a blip on the screen doesn't take away his importance. He has sounded the warning bell by word and deed. A storm is rising, and it seeks to undo everything that the long, agonizing march toward freedom and liberty strove for over the centuries. And once it's gone, as Reagan understood, it won't be coming back any time soon.
Peterson being interviewed by Patrick Coffin formally of Catholic answers:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.patrickcoffin.media/dr-jordan-peterson-on-catholicism-suffering-evil/
There is an alliance of individuals forming who are joining the fight, so to speak, against the forces of "cultural marxism and post modernism" Some are religious and some not, some are conservatives some are liberals (in the best sense). Names like Dave Ruben, Ben Shapiro, Bret and Eric Weinstein, and even figures like Sam Harris. Peterson's book is number 1 on Amazon, so something is happening out there. Dave Ruben, said that this will be the year of unusual alliances and I think he is right.
That reminds me of seeing that Alan Dershowitz has become a Fox News contributor. For my whole life, Dershowitz was a staunch liberal, agnostic anti-Religious Right advocate. I didn't know him that he wasn't speaking out against the GOP, the Christian Conservatives, the American Right. Now he's on Fox, mostly trashing the Left. What happened? Says he, it's because the Left that has emerged is no liberalism, and is every bit the threat that he once saw in the radical right. It's that growing number of former (or current for that matter) liberals joining up against the Left that is interesting. And telling.
DeleteDershowitz is a real old time liberal who supports freedom of speech for all, and not just those who agree with him. He has been disgusted by the totalitarian tone of most of the Left today.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed a trend in some old time liberals jumping ship. They're still liberal, but that seems to be why they're jumping ship.
DeleteI think the issue is that the left has been made up of people who had the same near term policy goals whose but they are finding out that their long term goals are very different. So I think your right a lot of liberals, have found out that a lot of people with whom they have been allied because they all agreed on topics, like abortion, gay rights, social programs ultimately had a very different view of what kind of society that they want to have. I think that say Ted Cruz and Alan Dershowitz who may disagree on almost every policy issue both believe in liberal democracy, where as the alt right and the antifa left don't. This is going to come down to the realization among all of those who love freedom whether they be conservatives, liberals, or libertarians that they have common enemies in those groups who don't and that they need to come together to fight them.
DeleteI think one thing Peterson gets right is that, ironically, Trump was correct. That is, there are two equally dangerous movements in our country today. Both have absolutely no desire for an America the way we ever understood it. The problem is, while the radicals of the Right are hammered and hammered hard, the same cannot be said of the radicals of the Left. In fact, I think that's where Dershowitz is coming from. That both should be condemned equally, but too many institutions, such as media and education, are not just giving them a pass, but are actually excusing or defending their radical and dangerous goals. That is the big problem. If the press and other institutions would call both extremes out, we might find out that in the center there is room to agree to disagree.
Delete