What Jordan Peterson’s Conversation with Destiny Can Teach Us

“Paradoxically, as the amount of online content available for consumption increases, conversations with as interesting a dynamic range as the one between Peterson and Destiny seem fewer and farther between.”

The other night, my husband and I settled in on the couch—full snacks and blankets mode—to experience a monumental media event. No, it was not the Oscars or the Golden Globes. It was not a football game or a State of the Union address. It was something much, I would say, better? It was the great Jordan Peterson vs. Destiny debate. Recorded in February and released on YouTube this past Thursday, this showdown had been long-anticipated by Internet standards—a few weeks—by myself and whoever else resides in the thin middle section of the Venn diagram where Peterson’s and Destiny’s audiences overlap.

It was as entertaining as I hoped it would be, and I know why. It was because I remember the term “foil” from seventh grade English class. Destiny and Peterson put on a fine show because they are perfect literary foils of one another, shedding light on the other’s distinguishing characteristics through sheer force of contrast.

In one corner, we had the notorious Peterson, who favored socialist policies in his youth and now decries big government at the conservative media outlet The Daily Wire. In the other, we had the equally infamous Destiny—Steven Bonnell for long—who once championed George-Bush-era conservative policies and now uses the X handle “TheOmniLiberal.”

Peterson has the superpower to shoehorn the story of Cain and Abel into virtually any conversation; Destiny can be found proclaiming the virtues of atheism. Peterson’s career is studded with establishment credentials, yet now he is intensely skeptical of “establishment” anything. Destiny rose to notoriety through new media, tripping into political commentary through video game streaming, yet he is a frequent defender of the institutions Peterson decries. Peterson has said he dislikes conflict. Destiny positively enjoys it.