While the NBC News segment describes him as an enabler of the alt-right, Peterson, 55, views himself as a father figure of sorts, helping bring “lost boys” away from the political fringes. Grow the hell up and sort yourself out as an individual. It’s like, I have something better for them to do. Peterson: What do you think should happen in this polarized world? If you’re dealing with people that you think are being attracted by a pathological ideology – what do you think you should do with them? What I do is talk to them and say, “Look, why don’t you make yourself into an individual and get the hell away from the ideology?” And so a lot of these kids are lost in the underworld, let’s say – in nihilism – and they turn to these ideological solutions because they don’t know what else to do, and they’re angry. He frequently touts the number of young men he’s brought away from the alt-right by engaging with them. However, Peterson argues it would be counterproductive to distance himself from the meme. The Anti-Defamation League considers it a hate symbol.Ĭritics point to a picture Peterson took with two fans holding a Pepe the Frog flag as proof of his affiliation.ĬBC interview yesterday offers stunning proof of my appalling character (having failed to watch The Metaphysics of Pepe: ) /012Bft8Q6i “Most of the people who are using this sort of symbol are using it in a deeply satirical way,” Peterson told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.īut he doesn’t dispute that it’s been co-opted by some on the alt-right like Spencer, who wears a Pepe the Frog pin. Peterson believes that, for the most part, the memes are used to troll the far left as a sort of defensive humor. “Because I’ve been, let’s say, identified under many circumstances now with the alt-right, I’ve been doing every bit of investigation I can into its many manifestations,” Peterson said on the “Joe Rogan Experience.” “It’s a very confusing place.” Soon thereafter, he posted a video called “The Metaphysics of Pepe.” “I just about fainted after I posted that and people pointed out the correspondence with Pepe – really, I just about fainted,” Peterson said in one video.īut that shock turned into a fascination with meme culture and why it’s become so popular among young men on the political right. People began to comment how the hat, a gift from a Native American carver, resembled Pepe the Frog, a meme character that has been adopted by members of the alt-right on web forums like 4chan. Peterson says the association began, oddly enough, when he wore a frog hat for a video as self-deprecating humor (his voice has been compared to Kermit the Frog). He does acknowledge that part of his fan base comes from the alt-right, but he believes the extent of that support has been exaggerated. Peterson thinks labels like “alt-right” and “white supremacist” are meant to damage his reputation. Buckley and the failed neoconservative movement of Bill Kristol and Ben Shapiro,” he wrote in April. “The combination of his sudden success with his observable intellectual ineptitude suggests that he has been elevated by the mainstream media in order to provide a harmless, toothless, and non-Christian alternative to the failed conservative movement of William F. “He ended up as a conservative.”ĭay calls him an “integrity-challenged coward” for his views on ethnicity. He describes himself as a “classic British liberal.”Īlt-right leaders have criticized Peterson for refusing to “confront the racial issue.” “He could have been radical,” Spencer tweeted in February. “The correct game, as far as I’m concerned, is one where you focus on your individual life and try to take responsibility for your actions.” Instead, Peterson advocates for the values of personal responsibility and Western individualism. Peterson can be found making similar denunciations here, here, here and here. I think they’re equally dangerous,” he told Time Magazine. The left plays them on behalf of the oppressed, let’s say, and the right tends to play them on behalf of nationalism and ethnic pride. “You don’t play racial, ethnic and gender identity games. “The Alt Right believes we must secure the existence of white people and a future for white children,” writes Vox Day, a prominent alt-right leader.Įxcept Peterson rejects all forms of identity politics, which he calls a “sick game.” The alt-right believes in a tribal form of politics that places racial identity above all else. NBC News calls him an “alt-right intellectual.” He’s been called a “ hero,” “ darling” and even “ poster boy” for the movement. It’s not the first time that Peterson has been associated with the alt-right.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |