Why Does the Australian Extreme Left Hate Jordan Peterson So Much?

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On Jordan Peterson’s second speaking tour of Australia various local left-wing extremist groups decided to hold protests outside his events.

Jordan Peterson

Those paying attention would know that to mark the occasion of Canadian Professor and self-help guru Jordan Peterson’s second speaking tour of Australia various local left-wing extremist groups have decided to hold protests outside his events.

Outside of Melbourne these have been organised by Socialist Alternative activist Hersha Kadkol under the name “NUS Against Racism” while in The Marxist stronghold of Melbourne the main organiser appears to be Socialist Alternative activist Chris Di Pasquale operating under the banner of the SAlt front group “Campaign Against Racism and Fascism” (CARF).

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Chris Di Pasquale. Socialist Alternative activist.

Which has led to a little confusion amongst both attendees and Peterson fans online. Why on earth is a Revolutionary Marxist group of the Trotskyist school attempting to disrupt the tour of a squeaky voiced self-help speaker most famous for telling people to clean their rooms?

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Hersha Kadkol, Socialist Alternative activist

After being widely mocked online it appears that this question has presented itself to the members of SAlt as well, so they helpfully put an explainer “12 reasons to protest Jordan Peterson” up on both the “NUS Against Racism” and CARF Facebook pages. It provides a useful look into the minds of people who will seemingly at this point protest against the opening of an envelope.

The twelve reasons (clearly a clever pun on the title of Peterson’s book) are as follows:

  1. Peterson advocates a worldview in which hierarchies are natural.
  2. Peterson says men and women are biologically different.
  3. Peterson believes that Cultural Marxism is an influential trend in our society.
  4. Peterson confirms the “fundamental tenets and paranoid fantasies” of the far right.
  5. Peterson speaking here is a part of a conspiracy for “building and cohering far right sentiment” in this country.
  6. Peterson disagrees with Socialist Alternative about which groups in society are oppressed.
  7. Peterson thinks forcing people by law to call them by their “preferred pronouns” is wrong.
  8. Peterson has said that “Islamophobia is a word created by fascists and used by cowards to manipulate morons” (this was actually said by Andrew Cummins and is often misattributed to Christopher Hitchens).
  9. Peterson uses his Self Help advice as a crafty trick to turn people into “reactionaries” by bettering themselves.
  10. Peterson claims to be a fighter for free speech but disagrees with Socialist Alternative about who is oppressed so therefore is actually helping shut down free speech… somehow.
  11. Peterson has appeared with Lauren Southern, a woman that Socialist Alternative also tried to shut down in Australia.
  12. Protesting Jordan Peterson helps to build an “alternative pole of attraction” which will advocate for multiculturalism, equality and freedom.

Pretty hilarious I’m sure you can agree. Accusing Peterson of spreading paranoid conspiracy theories in point 4 and then accusing him of being part of a vast conspiracy in part 5 is my personal favourite.

All twelve points can more or less be summed up by “We disagree with him” but the last one is particularly important. There is a reason Socialist Alternative has organised attacks, disruptions and protests on speaking events by figures as diverse as Jordan Peterson, Nigel Farage, Stefan Molyneux, Lauren Southern and Milo Yiannopoulos across the country.

It isn’t simply to force right of centre ideas from the public square with threats of violence and intimidation and thus move the window of acceptable opinion further towards their extremist worldview. It’s also to draw in centre left people (particularly the young and impressionable) who might be susceptible to being recruited by Socialist Alternative or other violent far left extremist groups.

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The front page of Socialist Alternative’s totally moderate not-at-all-extreme magazine.

As has been pointed out numerous times (including by former members) Socialist Alternative and other Trotskyist groups operate like cults. They suck in young and vulnerable kids, pump their head full of a messianic worldview, encourage them to cut off ties with “non-revolutionary” friends and family and push them into a furious routine of activity that leaves them exhausted with no social support structures outside the group and so many hours invested that leaving can seem like an impossible task.

Even those who tear themselves away or manage to escape early on are still indelibly scarred with a sick Marxist cosmology that encourages them to hate their country, their family, the society around them and in some cases even themselves.

The reason the extreme left hates Jordan Peterson is simple. He disagrees with their worldview and is popular. That’s enough reason in their book to attempt to disrupt his events and harass paying attendees. But the primary reason Socialist Alternative and other Marxist groups around the world hold protests like these isn’t out of sheer outrage that a man with a voice like Kermit the frog thinks boys and girls are different; the main reason is find and attract new victims to suck the life out of and turn into placard waving, slogan chanting zombies just like themselves.

Which is why even though their antics might sometimes seem funny, really they aren’t. It’s sadder than that. Much sadder.

If you enjoyed this, you may also enjoy my article exploring why the Anarchists who attacked Andrew Bolt remain unpunished here.

Author Details
Lucas Rosas
Lucas Rosas has spent years monitoring far left extremists so you don’t have to. He lives in a secure location with multiple large and hungry guard dogs.
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Lucas Rosas
Lucas Rosas has spent years monitoring far left extremists so you don’t have to. He lives in a secure location with multiple large and hungry guard dogs.
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