Jordan Peterson, at His Core, Teaches Personal Responsibility

“…for all of those who continue to maintain that Jordan Peterson is problematic because of something one of his followers somewhere did, keep in mind that—above all else—Jordan Peterson is a proponent of individuals taking responsibility for their own lives.”

In his recent Merion West article, Alessandro van den Berg issued a call to all who follow or support Jordan Peterson, requesting that they strive to be more like Jordan Peterson and practice what the man they so admire actually teaches. However, there was an important piece missing from van den Berg’s analysis. The fact of the matter is that right now, it is not clear if Jordan Peterson himself knows precisely what he wants, let alone what to tell the countless people all over the world who have found such comfort and inspiration in his work.

It is quite likely—as those of us who have followed Jordan Peterson’s life and career for decades (since his book Maps of Meaning was first published in 1999) suspect—that Peterson never expected to achieve such a massive following. As such, one can empathize with him as he seeks to cope with countless people hanging on his every word.

As a public figure, Jordan Peterson has spent the past few years—since his ascent to international fame—under a massive magnifying glass, as well as being on the receiving end of tremendous amounts of criticism. GQ has sought to portray him as a villain; The New York Times has tried to portray him as a pusherman for toxic masculinity, and Economist Radio presents him as an agent of chaos. These criticisms have been largely unfair, and, as I suggested in my interview with filmmaker Maziar Ghaderi, perhaps this avalanche of incessant media criticism has taken its toll on Peterson.