A BIT OF BACKGROUND

When I started this blog, almost four years ago, the idea was to promote my fiction writing, by putting up stories, news about work in progress, and a little bit about myself.

I quickly learned that all blogging, like all writing, is really about the writer. There is no way for an author of anything to keep themselves out of their work. Who wants to shut themselves out of their creations?

I’m a very political person, quite opinionated, a proud progressive Democrat, a member of the Hillsborough County Democratic Executive Committee. I’ve been active in politics my entire life, so it comes as no surprise that my views wind up on my blog pages. (In my novels as well, which pleases some, displeases others, but always gets a response, which is the idea, of course!)

I also happen to be Jewish, and proud of my heritage; my wife is a naturalized Filipino-American and our grown daughters are Jewish Asian-Americans, and we’re equally proud of that heritage. It shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out why so much of my writing addresses the threats from white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other antisemites, xenophobes, misanthropes, and misogynists. We are living in an age where Jews are murdered at prayer in synagogues, just as African-Americans at prayer are murdered in their churches. Asian-American have become an open target for racists of all stripes. Consequently, I become very disturbed when I encounter the kind of intolerance and hate propagated by a charlatan masquerading as a scholar and deep thinker. If anyone ever fit that bill, it is Mr. Peterson.

                                                    THE FIRST PETERSON POST

I first posted about this Canadian avatar of the Extreme Right in November, 2018. (EXPOSING JORDAN PETERSON, PSEUDO-INTELLECT SUPREME OF THE FAR RIGHT AND WHITE NATIONALISTS). It immediately became the second-most popular post on my blog, second only to a post about fiction writers dealing with suicides in their work, in light of the spate of celebrity suicides at the moment. (WRITING ABOUT SUICIDE IN FICTION).

My intent in the first Peterson post was to raise awareness of Peterson’s role in mainstreaming radical ideas of the far right, with dark undertones of racism, xenophobia, and misogyny. My concern was that naive and vulnerable young white men would actually believe that there was a rational, scientific and documented basis for any of Peterson’s wild ideas. (Essentially, he’d like to turn back the clock to a time before we had those pesky civil rights laws that grant equality to all races, all genders and identities, and he extolls a mythical set of “Anglo-Saxon” or “Western European” values that bear no resemblance to anything most of us ever want to see again. But please, read the indicated posts, and the sources cited within, to gain a greater understanding.)

The popularity of that post has been a very pleasant surprise. I had no idea so many people were interested in the subject, and was delighted to have an entry point to my fiction and other posts.

                                               SECOND PETERSON POST

Like any good blogger, when I saw the response to the first Peterson post, I couldn’t wait to write another. Unfortunately, Mr. Peterson refused to cooperate, and simply disappeared from sight. 

Almost three years later, I had good occasion to update my readers on this unpleasant man and his dangerous views. (Updates: BLM Protests,Exposing Jordan Peterson, Works Of Historical Fiction). Mr. Peterson, the proponent of male “toughness” and “bucking up and taking what comes” had indeed disappeared, and when discovered, it was revealed that he had been treated for mental illness and drug addiction! The man who touted the most stringent drug laws refused to apply them to himself! The man who claimed his philosophy would displace the need for left-wing therapy, needed plenty of it himself.

Even more surprising was his choice of Serbia for kicking his addiction to anti-depressants and other mood-altering drugs. Canada is far more equipped to treat this illness, and he would have been in his own environment, not to mention it would be covered by Canada’s  national health insurance.  A psychologist like Dr. Peterson should have known this. In any event, no one has seen any medical records, including his claim that he survived COVID 19; all news about his health comes from his daughter, an unlicensed and untrained self-styled “nutritionist.”

This time, I didn’t have to wait almost three years for more to write about this bizarre character.  Mr. Peterson is again back in the news, again for very bad reasons. Mr. Peterson mysteriously disappears from sight every so often; then, like a mythical island of folklore, arises from the deep and murky sea from which he and his fellow travelers submerge when the spotlight is on them.

                                       THE LATEST BIZARRE PETERSON  EPISODES

If Peterson’s remaining followers thought his reemergence would restore his stature, they were sadly misinformed. As of today, the Canadian Crackpot is embroiled in a very bizarre incident in Belfast, involving the tragic death of a young boy, and is simultaneously lashing out  at publication of a comic book  he claims ridicules him by using his face as the skull image of a Nazi enemy of Captain America.

A. Death of Young Boy in Belfast & Any Relation to an Instagram Message From Peterson

The more serious matter, of course, is the question of what involvement, if any at all, Peterson had with a fourteen year old Belfast boy who turned up dead, shortly after receiving an Instagram message (not a posting), purportedly from Peterson. The young man was found drowned in a drainage ditch, and there was no evidence of foul play. He had copy of one of Peterson’s books in his backpack.

The content of the Instagram message has not been revealed.

Peterson spent time in Belfast last year.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Peterson.

Aside from the above facts, all we know is that last month, the Belfast police investigating the boy’s death asked the Toronto Police Service to speak directly with Peterson, who was at his home in Toronto. This was not done. This disturbed the Belfast police, and at a Coroner’s Inquiry proceeding in Belfast last week, the local police asked the Coroner to follow through on this request, as did the lawyer for the boy’s family.

The Coroner replied that the Instagram account may not have been personally handled by Mr Peterson.

The police told the Coroner that the ongoing inquiry had not “satisfied” their line of inquiry, upset that as of today, the controversial author has not been interviewed.

Peterson’s spokesperson stated that there was never any contact between the author and the deceased boy, and noted that “there are many impersonator accounts.”

It is important to note that there is at this time no evidence of any wrong doing by Peterson, or any causal link between the mysterious Instagram message and the boy’s death.That does not mean there are no serious questions remaining.

It is significant that the investigating police officers were upset Peterson had not been questioned, and they essentially berated the Coroner, and more or less pressured him to insist the Toronto Police honor their request. 

It is difficult to understand why the Toronto Police would not assist their fellow officers across the Pond, especially since both are subjects of the Queen. Wouldn’t we expect better cooperation from a fellow police department within the British Commonwealth? 

It’s equally unfathomable why the Coroner did  not feel compelled to follow up on his own regarding the Toronto inquiry, as opposed to needing local police pressure to act.

There is no explanation as to why Peterson’s spokesperson raised the issue of “impersonator” accounts, when all that was needed was to open Peterson’s Instagram message file and see if any message was sent on that day. Sharing such information with the investigators would be of enormous assistance to investigators. It is obviously the most relevant piece of information at this point. It could clear Peterson completely, if it is as his spokesperson claims. It would also help the boy’s family find closure, and rule out one possible basis for an apparent suicide. The failure to prove the message did not come from Peterson’s account only raises suspicions about the source and content of that message.

There is no explanation given for Peterson’s refusal to speak with police.

When all is said and done, it is highly unlikely that there will be evidence of any specific wrongdoing by Peterson that could be linked to the boy’s death. I doubt that is what Peterson and his remaining acolytes fear. It is the embarrassment at once again having Peterson’s philosophy tied to confused young white men, and leading them astray. Certainly, it doesn’t say much for Peterson’s philosophy, if that’s where it leads.

You can read an article about this inquiry here.

B. Jordan Peterson vs. Captain America

I wouldn’t say this episode demonstrates Peterson’s danger, but it definitely displays his sheer idiocy. 

Dr. Peterson believes that renowned writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, who has been authoring the current incarnation of Captain America comic book, is using his image for the infamous “Red Skull”, a Nazi villain who first appeared in Captain America comics back in 1941. 

Okay, so yet again, Peterson is wrong on the facts. Nothing new; his academic flaws and sloppiness are evident in his books, articles, and speeches. This whole kerfuffle could have been avoided with the most minimal research, but facts are not Peterson’s style, and don’t interest him. Yes, we are persuaded once again that Dr. Peterson does not know what he is talking about. All of this still begs the question:

Why on earth is such a self-promoter, claiming status as a philosopher, sociologist, anthropologist, and of course psychologist, choosing to engage in a battle over a comic book character? Why does he see himself in the image of a Nazi criminal? Where does he dream these things up? Does he still suffer from mental illness? Is he still hooked on drugs? Does it seem like his Serbian treatment was effective?

He’s not even an American. So why is he so obsessed with our culture, right down to monitoring comic books? Shades of the nineteen fifties! 

I cannot help but conclude that this current obsession with Captain America comics is tied to the current far-right hysteria about what they see as impermissible vandalizing of American icons. We saw insurrectionist, white supremacist Republicans like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley -two of Peterson’s fellow travelers-become as twisted as pretzels when the Mattel Company decided to combine Mr. Potato Head and Mrs. Potato Head into one package. These extremists, like Peterson, oppose any changes that advance groups other than White Christian Men, so from where they stand, racism, homophobia and sexism are good things. (Peterson has long railed against feminism, LBGTQ rights, secular humanism, and most offensively “identity politics.” Peterson and his ilk believe only white people can have an identity which must be acknowledged.) We observed the fulmination from the far right when the Estate of Dr. Seuss withdrew six of his books because they contained offensive racial stereotype.

Whatever the reasons, they do not comport with the image  of a scholar and deep thinker Peterson wishes to portray.

Of course, no one in their right mind currently sees Jordan Peterson as either a scholar or a deep thinker. He’s an extremist nut-job, who has gone completely off the rails.

Let’s hope his remaining followers get this message.

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