Thoughts on Jordan Peterson

[ghost of forum past]

It is true that income inequality is increasing. It is true that quality of life is suffering by some metrics. It is true that some cultural and ethnic groups are over-represented in various fields. But it is completely fallacious to then decide to universally pin societal ills on general cultural and ethnic groups, just because they may be over-represented in powerful positions. People of any given ethnic group don't choose to be greedy or abuse their power in a higher position because they are a member of that ethnic group, they do so because they are human, and human nature is such that power corrupts all.

It's understandable why people jump to these conclusions - it's remarkably easy to pontificate about all the "goddamn Jews" controlling financial institutions and the media, likewise for how all white people are out to repress and hold back minorities with their microaggressions, likewise for how all Asian people are going to take our STEM jobs, likewise for how your new Muslim neighbors are going to impose their Sharia law on you because of some misquoted excerpt from a book you haven't read and don't understand, etc, etc. (I'm speaking in absurd generalities here but my point should be quite clear). It's harder to accept that people that look a bit different from you are humans too, and they are subject to the same moral shortcomings as everyone else, including yourself.

Seriously, does anybody truly believe that if they had the same life experiences as, say, a banker that happens to be Jewish, that they would be some Robin Hood for all the common people? That might only happen if a day laborer were to wake up tomorrow and suddenly be an investment banker worth millions (and even then there's no guarantee). Banking requires constant foresight, awareness, and competition. There's little room for charity if you want to be successful.

When people start speaking in blanket statements about groups of people and start playing the blame game, they tend to really do themselves a disservice in having their other more reasoned arguments be heard by others.

[Raver]

It is true that income inequality is increasing. It is true that quality of life is suffering by some metrics. It is true that some cultural and ethnic groups are over-represented in various fields. But it is completely fallacious to then decide to universally pin societal ills on general cultural and ethnic groups, just because they may be over-represented in powerful positions. People of any given ethnic group don't choose to be greedy or abuse their power in a higher position because they are a member of that ethnic group, they do so because they are human, and human nature is such that power corrupts all.

It's understandable why people jump to these conclusions - it's remarkably easy to pontificate about all the "goddamn Jews" controlling financial institutions and the media, likewise for how all white people are out to repress and hold back minorities with their microaggressions, likewise for how all Asian people are going to take our STEM jobs, likewise for how your new Muslim neighbors are going to impose their Sharia law on you because of some misquoted excerpt from a book you haven't read and don't understand, etc, etc. (I'm speaking in absurd generalities here but my point should be quite clear). It's harder to accept that people that look a bit different from you are humans too, and they are subject to the same moral shortcomings as everyone else, including yourself.

Seriously, does anybody truly believe that if they had the same life experiences as, say, a banker that happens to be Jewish, that they would be some Robin Hood for all the common people? That might only happen if a day laborer were to wake up tomorrow and suddenly be an investment banker worth millions (and even then there's no guarantee). Banking requires constant foresight, awareness, and competition. There's little room for charity if you want to be successful.

When people start speaking in blanket statements about groups of people and start playing the blame game, they tend to really do themselves a disservice in having their other more reasoned arguments be heard by others.

I don't disagree with your general message. In the end of the day, it is only the bad apples of an ethnic group in power causing problems for society. They may be of one ethnic group or of several ethnic groups, we simply don't know.

However, I think it is fine to put our ire on those with power and money that seek to subjugate us (it can be the government, corporations or something unknown), ethnicity whether relevant or not in this scenario is not a factor though.

I also agree that it is human nature to take advantage of power regardless of the ethnic group involved. We also should not attack an entire ethnic group, which is silly considering that only a minority within that ethnic group are harmful.