I recently attended an event featuring Jordan Peterson.  He is on tour promoting his book 12 Rules for Life.  Peterson is a clinical psychologist, an author, and something of a YouTube star.  He was also a university professor.

At the event, there were actually a few protestors outside holding up signs and doing a few chants. I didn’t even understand their message or what they were protesting.  My guess is that most of them have never listened or read 10 straight minutes of Peterson.  If they have listened to him at all, it was probably out of context.

Peterson became somewhat well known when he refused to obey the dictates in Canada that he use gender-neutral pronouns.  In other words, Peterson did not want to eliminate the words “he” and “she” from his vocabulary. This is what our world has come to.  He took a stand based on free speech implications.

I really don’t find Peterson controversial at all.  Although he is more favored by the political right because of his refusal to give in to ultra political correctness, Peterson does not really identify with any particular political group.  He generally favors the free market, but that is no different than many people out there.  And even when it comes to politics, it tends not to be the arena that gets emphasis from him.

Most of what Peterson said at the event is common sense.  He talks about taking responsibility, being honest and courageous, and being a productive individual.  He is known to use some big and fancy terminology, and I wonder how much of a sensation he would be without it.  It’s hard to say if he would be more effective or less effective if you spoke more simply.

Peterson’s message is negative to a certain extent, but also positive in another.  He said if you find happiness, then you should enjoy it, because it isn’t going to last.  He basically says that the basic state of humans is misery and that we should find ways to better our lives and make them less miserable. He pointed out that we are in the top 1% in terms of history.  Even in today’s world, many Americans are in the top 1%, or at least in the top 10%.  I would say that most Americans are better off than more than a billion people living in China and more than a billion people living in India.  And those aren’t the worst places on earth.

I think his basic message is what has helped many young men get on their feet and take responsibility for their lives.  Sometimes you have to get back to the basics.  Even professional athletes, during times of struggle, have to remind themselves of the basics.

It makes sense that struggling people would be helped by Peterson’s message.  They already have a negative outlook on life.  Peterson is acknowledging that life is hard, which I think they appreciate.  It is just acknowledging the truth.  But then he says that you can take steps to lessen the misery and maybe actually get to a point of contentment, at least for some time periods.

There was a short little interview session at the end.  He was asked if he would consider running for president if the laws in the United States were changed.  (He is Canadian and would currently be ineligible to run.)  Peterson may not have directly answered the question, but he believes he is more effective in preaching his message.  On this, I believe he is correct.

He was also asked about wealth redistribution.  He spoke about how amazing it is that extreme poverty has largely been eliminated.  He said that if we want to eliminate starvation and extreme poverty, then we should be seeking less wealth redistribution.  We should allow the rich to get richer because it produces more wealth, even for those at the bottom.  He also spoke about people who are actually better off without money because they are self-destructive when they have money.  He used an alcoholic as an example.

Peterson’s message on wealth redistribution was right on point, and I appreciated it as a libertarian.  I am glad he said it. At the same time, from a personal standpoint, I tend to like his self-help content better just because it is different.  I travel in some libertarian circles, so I understand the benefits of free markets and have basically heard all of the arguments.  I know it is a point missed by the majority of people, so they do need to hear it.  But for me personally, I get more out of his material when he talks about human nature, happiness, and other deep thoughts that can help me think and reflect on my own life.

My one major criticism of the show is that I think Peterson talked too much (over an hour) in his monologue.  I thought it would have been better if he had just talked by himself for about a half hour and then spent an hour or more taking questions in more of a discussion format.  If he does another tour in the future, I hope he will consider this, or something similar.