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Jordan Peterson Criticises Leftists for Return to 'Tribal Thinking'

Identity politics is predicated on the idea that people sharing common characteristics also experience similar injustice or privilege. Peterson, one of the world's most renowned public intellectuals, believes that this notion is actually "dangerous".
Sputnik

In his true fashion, Canadian public thinker Jordan Peterson has once again challenged group identity politics, warning against "the dangers of utopian visions".

Peterson, who visited Hungary last week at the intellectual forum Brain Bar, said in an interview with local conservative magazine Mandinder that the individual is the basic unit of society.

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While this notion is central to classical liberalism, Peterson admitted being a conservative to some extent because he felt "sceptical of radical changes".

When asked what the problem with modern-day liberal ideologues is, he slammed the left for what he called the "utopian" belief that group identity should be prioritised.

"It is a return to tribal thinking and tribal societies are extremely dangerous", he was quoted as saying.

Peterson rose to fame after denouncing a bill by Justin Trudeau's Liberal government that would force Canadians to use gender-neutral pronouns (such as "ze" or "zir") when referring to transgender people.

In refusing to use the alternative pronouns, Peterson sparked a debate across the Atlantic about freedom of expression and freedom of speech.

He has emerged as a staunch opponent of leftist group-identity politics, which categorises people according to characteristics defining their allegiance to a broad social group (such as race, ethnicity, or gender) instead of putting emphasis on individual responsibility.

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Nowadays, proponents of this doctrine promulgate the notion that white men are one of the most privileged groups, which does not necessarily refer to all of them.

The self-help guru warned that such a vision is coherent with that of the Nazis, who gave paramount importance to racial and national identity, and Communists, who set the working class in opposition to capitalists.

"The experiences of Nazism and communism taught us one thing above all else", he stressed. "We must be vigilant against the dangers of utopian visions".

Peterson, a clinical psychologist by occupation, is the author of the best-selling book "12 Rules for Life", which calls on people to accept individual responsibility rather than pass it on to the collective.

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