They are buying into what they want to hear - which is infinitely easier than actually doing any sort of hard internal work of introspection - particularly when man have been messaged to always be in control and never be vulnerable (something that is well documented to be literally killing men). Peterson thinks we need more of that, not less....
It's incredibly easy to be a charming charlatan and no, he doesn't know 90% of what he's talking about. He's pulling shit out of his ass left and right and these guys are eating it up because he's telling them they are knights off to slay a dragon (which feels good) rather than people who have been sold a bill of goods that actually harms them and the rest of the culture (which feels bad).
There are plenty of men and men's groups who are out there (and have been since the 1970s) offering guidance and support to men. The problem is, what they offer is hard work. It requires taking real inventory of yourself and the way that masculine culture has contributed to inequality, violence, and dysfunction. Only really strong men are willing to undertake that. Most prefer to be fed "feel good" pablum from the likes of Peterson and Tate.
You honestly don't see how it's harmful to blame women and other marginalized communities for daring to speak up about the way that patriarchal dominance hierarchies have harmed them, to tell lies about the way society is and how it functions, to encourage men to do more of the types of masculine norms that are causing them so much misery and dysfunction?
I can see that you have well and truly drunk the Kook-aid, so I won't waste any more time with this, but he's not a good person. He's a cult leader with a messiah complex who wishes it was still 1950 when "everyone knew their place." 🙄
This is precisely why Peterson is so huge. He taps into the pain aspect and then says, “Mostly what’s wrong here is the outside world full of feminists and neo-Marxists. If you just clean your room, stand up straight, and are allowed to be as ruthless and competitive as is in your nature, then all will be fine again.” Meanwhile, that element of ruthlessness IS the root of the wounds, because in a dominance hierarchy one must constantly joust for position and try to rise at the expense of those around you. And it’s not natural or inevitable for humans; it’s an endless performance of brutality, which encourages bullying others at the expense of your own soul.
I’ve heard Peterson say that part of the element of respect that underlies interactions between men is that they know that if they need to, they can resort to fisticuffs — but you can’t do that with a woman.
My reaction to this is, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!? You don’t know how to comport yourself without having to engage in what is essentially dominance posturing and violence? That’s what you honestly rely on as the foundation of your interactions.” That’s not the world I really want to live in.
