I am being very precise with my words. At this point, Peterson is a full-time social critic. He does not have a psychology practice or teaching position and makes all his money by doing speeches and writing things that criticize current society. Peterson gives lip-service to facing the shadow, but he doesn’t actually do it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so emotional and volatile, screaming and ranting about people who have legitimate issues with their treatment in society as if they were crazy and completely out of line. It’s one thing to comment on the efficacy of someone’s tactics, but to essentially say there is no racism or sexism, or that it is natural, is to be out of touch with observable reality.
And rather than actually getting people to take true responsibility for themselves, including the ways their behaviors impact others, he teaches them to blame feminists, SJWs, neo-Marxists, and other externals which affirmatively turn the focus away from self-responsibility.
I’ve watched dozens of full-length interviews and lectures of his. I’ve also had productive discussions with other young men who found him useful or of interest. At least one of them finally came around to seeing things through the same lens that I do. Peterson only scratches the surface on actual mature behavior and creates an avuncular figure that appeals to young men who feel displaced in a changing world.
If he makes sense to you and you can’t see all of his glaring hypocrisy and holes in his theories, I’m guessing that he emotionally resonates with you in some way. I’m not saying that to be condescending — I’m just trying to answer your question about why you see such a different Peterson. As human beings, we are all susceptible to this kind of thing.
Patriarchy is a dominance-based hierarchy, but it’s a social system that causes nothing but pain and alienation for everyone in it, even those who are successful at it. It is not based on merit, as Peterson likes to opine, but rather in the maintenance of traditional power — and that status quo is maintained through coercion, violence, and fear. I’ve written about 12 or 14 articles about that so too much to summarize here, but if you what to explore what I’m talking about just as another perspective, here is the link.
Here’s one of them that is particularly relevant.
