Dr. Jordan Peterson has warned that Britain will be “Venezuela for 20 years” if Labor wins the next general election.
Speaking to The Telegraph, the Canadian psychologist said it was “highly likely” Sir Keir Starmer would be elected but it would be a “disaster”.
In a wide-ranging interview, Dr. Peterson said that believing people can change gender represents “maximum confusion” and criticized the “diversity is unity” ideology.
He praised Margaret Thatcher as a “morally admirable human being” and a “backbone” conservative whose likes have been lacking in politics in recent years.
Dr. Peterson is a best-selling author, psychologist, and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto with twenty years of experience teaching at educational institutions, including Harvard University.
Labor has a 17 per cent lead over the Conservatives in the polls. There is speculation the election could be held in spring 2024 as Rishi Sunak seeks to unite the divided Conservative party.
Speaking from Toronto, Dr Peterson said: “If you elect a Labor government you will be Venezuela for 20 years.
“I fear it will be a disaster if the UK votes [in] a Labor government. If you were foolish enough to do this, you would face choppy waters. But yeah, that’s probably it,” he said.
Once the richest country in South America, Venezuela has endured a series of crises under decades of socialist rule. Its president, Nicolas Maduro, is accused of tightening his control over institutions such as the judiciary and the electoral commission, and most recently threatened to seize an oil-rich region controlled by neighboring Guyana.
‘Not good. ‘It’s really not good’
Dr Peterson also criticized his compatriot Justin Trudeau.
He warns that Canada’s prime minister’s ideology is deeply confused.
Dr. Mr. Trudeau is among the leaders who “declare diversity as our unity,” Peterson said, adding that “impulsive diversity proliferates endlessly… and there is no limit to how much division it can create.”
She said: “I think we’ve actually reached maximum confusion with our confusion about gender itself. I don’t think you can get any more confused than that. It’s not good. It’s really not good.”
Dr Peterson added: “A culture that thinks diversity means unity is also a culture that thinks a man can be a woman. You couldn’t be more confused than this.”
“Diversity is Canada’s strength,” Mr. Trudeau declared, arguing that his country’s strength “comes from our differences, not despite them,” and praised “Canada’s commitment to diversity in action.”
A fierce advocate for gender inclusivity, Canada’s prime minister launched the country’s first Federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan last year; sexually and gender diverse people”.
In September, the Labor leader met Mr Trudeau on an international tour aimed at positioning Sir Keir as a statesman on the world stage. He is said to be seeking election cues from the Canadian, his ideological ally in the progressive left movement.
Let stupid ideas die
While the Labor Party led by Sir Keir has struggled to define a clear position on trans ideology and decide on the definition of woman, Labor MP Rosie Duffield, who has been critical of gender, has faced backlash from her own party for her views. Feminists who criticize gender believe in two biological sexes that cannot be changed.
Dr Peterson faced ire from his country’s progressive left in 2017 when he criticized the addition of “gender expression” and “gender identity” to the Canadian Human Rights Act. The free speech advocate claimed this change would make refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns a hate crime and dismissed it as “forced speech”.
To overcome the fragmentation and confusion caused by these ideologies, Dr Peterson said it is crucial to understand: “We are not molded in a Petri dish, nor are we deer in the forest.”
He said: “Man can let his foolish ideas die. Because we can learn and transform, we are not limited by environmental constraints like other creatures, we can always do more with less.
“The zero-sum Malthusian model [a population growth model which holds that the rate of growth is proportionate to the current population] “This is not the appropriate model of human existence, and it is certainly not the appropriate model of human flourishing.”
Dr Peterson believes that the correct model for human society is to cooperate and compete together within a “hierarchy of social order for the good”. And if you build that, it’s an auxiliary structure.”
“Take responsibility for yourself, take responsibility for your spouse and children. And as you become more capable, expand that responsibility outward and encompass it as much as possible.
Dr Peterson blames the view that identity is individual rather than collective for many of the ills facing the modern world, including climate alarm, gender identity crisis, and family and social collapse.
He said: “So the idea that your identity is individual and that you are only who you say you are is not only absurd and counterproductive, it creates terrible anxiety and causes people to be lost forever.”
And so “If you are looking for meaning in your life, take responsibility. There is no difference between voluntary responsibility and meaning. They’re the same thing. And boy, that’s a secret worth knowing.”
‘You are not free, you are lost’
The psychologist cites his own clinical studies to support this.
“I have been advocating this case for years,” he said. “Young people come up to me all the time and tell me that I’m so lost and having such a bad time. And I started to get my life in order and take responsibility. Now I’m married, I have a child, I have a good job and I make a lot of money, and you know, I’m not depressed, I’m not anxious, and the future looks good. And I think I can improve myself.”
In his best-selling book, 12 Rules of Life: The Antidote to Chaos, which has sold more than seven million copies worldwide, Dr Peterson seeks to motivate his readers with what one review described as a “tough” yet “idealistic” approach.
Dr. is married and the father of two adult children. Peterson has tough love. He said: “If you worry about the purpose of your life, you are a privileged baby. Because you must be so busy juggling the weight you choose to carry that you won’t have time to think about anything else.”
Responsibility is key in Peterson’s philosophy, even—or perhaps especially—in the context of freedom. He believes that freedom without responsibility is what the liberal West embraces as an ideal, where any restrictive obligation is seen as something that hinders one’s “self-actualization.”
“So, what remains to be accomplished? What’s left of you? You have no wife, you have no friends. You don’t have any children. You don’t take care of your unemployed parents. You’re free now, aren’t you? You are not free, you are lost. I guess you’re free when you’re lost because you can wander stupidly in any direction. But that’s not the kind of freedom you want.”
A deeply religious man who recently led and published a 17-part seminar on the biblical book of Exodus, Dr. Peterson relies heavily on religious imagery to illustrate a point. “The vision of freedom in the Exodus narrative, the master narrative of rebellion against tyranny and slavery, is an orderly freedom. This is responsible freedom. This is not an anarchic or hedonistic freedom. This is the worship of the golden calf.”
Thatcher had a backbone
Dr Peterson also told how he admired Thatcher.
Recalling her left-wing politics in the early 1980s, she said: “You know, I never liked Margaret Thatcher. I was a vegan. What do you understand when you are a child? God, I hadn’t stopped being a socialist at that point.
“But I didn’t realize until later how effective both Reagan and Thatcher were against the Soviet Union.”
He added: “And Thatcher. It brought the English-speaking world back to its traditional path. He was an ethically admirable person and deserved his nickname [of the Iron Lady] very efficient. It had a backbone. “In recent years we have seen an increase in spineless conservatives, especially in Great Britain and Canada.”
Sir Keir recently found himself in a political crisis between his own party and SNP MPs after praising Thatcher for making “meaningful change” in an article for The Telegraph. In the face of criticism from MPs, the Labor leader accused Thatcher of doing “terrible things” with which he “totally disagreed”.
Dr Peterson also rejects fatalism about the environmental challenges facing the world.
He said: “There is no hunger in the world 1702833639Except for political reasons. [There is] There’s plenty to go around.
“We have hurricanes. This is a natural disaster. But what if you’re prepared? What are the prerequisites for preparation? The answer is secondary social organization or distributed responsibilities. This also makes the system quite durable. So part of the secondary vision is that decision-making should be transferred to the closest possible level in the hierarchy.”
Dr Peterson believes universities are failing to teach young people what they need and not inspiring them to take responsibility.
Dr. In what he calls “an irrational ambition in some ways,” Peterson decided to challenge the monopoly of these institutions by creating his own online university.
Peterson Academy aims to offer courses taught by academics from Ivy League and Oxbridge universities, with the slogan “Learn how to think, not what to think.”
He said: “We try to find people with real knowledge and get out of their way so they can pass it on.”
Faculty afraid to say what they believe
At the Peterson Academy, students will learn a “broad range of concepts” that are “tools for thinking, not lists of facts. A good course not only tells you the facts of the subject, but also tells you how to embody it and why it’s useful. And then you’re better off in the world.” “You can negotiate, you can navigate the world better,” he added.
“And we don’t have an HR department. Or a DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) consultant to lead any of these.”
Peterson Academy, which is expected to be operational in late January next year, will offer courses for a modest fee of $480 (£378) per year. These courses will be open to everyone and there is a conservative estimate that 30,000 students will take part by the end of 2024.
Dr Peterson clearly explains why experienced academics want to be part of this plan.
“Because institutions treat them so badly. They don’t pay anything. “And faculty are afraid to say what they believe,” he said.
“I’m going to bring them to Miami and treat them so well that they’re excited, I’m going to offer them a better financial deal,” he continued. “I will say this, you teach exactly what you love, however you see fit. And if we do anything to help you, let us know. “Then we will deliver it to everyone.”
He emphasized that he was not overly concerned about the academy’s lack of formal accreditation for its courses.
“Accreditation is important for only two reasons,” he said. “First of all, this is a path to graduation from school, and that’s going to be a problem for us. But the other way is employment. And companies of all kinds are already publicly stating that they no longer view a college degree as a stamp of accreditation. So why would I pursue this?
Dr. Peterson Academy’s goal is to truly “universalize” its courses, Peterson said, including using cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence.
“The other day, I received a video showing me giving the lecture in Spanish with my own voice, my intonation matching the language of my lips perfectly. “So we can take all our lessons and translate them, they can already do this in twenty different languages.”