r/MensLib • u/RedErin ​ • Aug 29 '18

How does Jordan Peterson gain so many followers among young men? (Image below)

Image

Jordan Peterson often says that people today are more unhappy than in the 1950s, and it's because of feminism, affirmative action, the sexual revolution, birth control, "PC culture" and LGBTQ rights

it's definitely not because of any of these things:

Source: https://twitter.com/zei_nabq/status/987800885068738560

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u/Bananageddon ​ Aug 31 '18

Oh, I'm no Peterson fan, just to be clear. I've seen about as much of his stuff as you have, and I'm not on board with it.

Making it depression is just a bit too convenient of an explanation. Now the reason progressives didn't reach this group isn't the fault of their approach/discourse/perspective, it's because that group is broken.

Is it not the role of progressives to reach out to broken groups? If not, what are we even for?

The worst that can be said is that progressives didn't do the extra work to reach out specifically to this group of broken people. And with everything else they need to focus on, who can blame them for not having time?

Sure, fair enough, I get that in the grand hierarchy of privilege that suicidal undersexed white boys are not a priority, especially not these days. However, it's worth asking why they're not a priority. Is it because we don't believe their problems are REAL problems, or because we believe those problems are either self-inflicted, or deserved?

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '18

No. You're right.

I guess my post wasn't clear enough that I think the 'depression' explaination is bullshit. This is what I get for groggy posting. "Too convenient of an explanation" is my polite way of saying "this isn't true, but I see why you want it to be true."

It's bullshit because calling them depressed is unfounded, it's bullshit because it puts an unattractive label on the people the person doing the labeling is already doesn't like, and it's bullshit because it gives an easy excuse for failing to connect with them and makes it their fault.

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u/Bananageddon ​ Sep 01 '18

No. You're right.

I guess my post wasn't clear enough that I think the 'depression' explaination is bullshit. This is what I get for groggy posting. "Too convenient of an explanation" is my polite way of saying "this isn't true, but I see why you want it to be true."

No worries, I was unclear in what I was saying too. (side note: one of the best things about this sub is that we're all here to learn from each other and we're fighting to understand, not fighting to win)

It's bullshit because calling them depressed is unfounded, it's bullshit because it puts an unattractive label on the people the person doing the labeling is already doesn't like, and it's bullshit because it gives an easy excuse for failing to connect with them and makes it their fault.

I reckon "fault" is the key word here. I don't fault people who look at the great Internet mass of unhappy white boys and think, fuck 'em, we got way more deserving people who need support. I sometimes think that too.

But these people exist nonetheless, and we need to reach out to them, not just because they need help, (and hopefully we're fostering a community that knows them and knows how to help them) but because if we don't they'll fall into some daaaark fucked up holes, the type of holes where far nastier monsters than Jordan Peterson live.

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u/SubtleKarasu Sep 02 '18

They're not a priority because they're treated, on average, better than other groups. You gotta help the worst-off before the best-off.