Dear Wolly B,

I don't mind him at all. There is something typically Canadian about him which is always nice, John Raulston Saul being another favourite of mine, and he is prepared to work hard on the words and framing he uses.

One does get the sense that some of his arguments are there to drive book sales and he will sometimes sound a little unconvincing when he tries to back those particular points up, but on the whole I think he has a positive demeanor and some relevant things to say in the debate.

I'm not sure he qualifies fully as a right winger, although that side of the divide seem to have embraced him warmly.

I feel if he maintains a relatively calm approach without getting bombastic and aggressively argumentative he will remain relevant and can hope for a decent length of time in the spotlight.

He could do worse than see how Chomsky has conducted himself over his career.

My impression is that he is not a "conservative". I don't think terms like Left and Right or Conservative really serve much purpose in regard to political leanings the current period. Perhaps way out at the edges.

The bigger issue in my view is the divide between the authoritarians and those supporting individual freedom (with the latter covering a very wide range).

There are many who consider themselves Left who are very concerned about how authoritarian the public face of the Left and Progressives has become.

Peterson appears to be well accepted by many who in the US frame consider themselves liberals (which normally would be Left leaning). Not all of the left has bought into the extremes of the SJW class however those who have not seem to be regularly called Alt-right, literally Hitler and a variety of terms designed to isolate them.

Peterson already had a profile in Canada which escalated to a much larger audience when he took a public stand against mandated requirements to address people by their preferred pronouns. Drawing a line between restrictions on what we may say and compelled speech.

I think that he has a lot of good stuff to say and is well worth watching/listening to however his notoriety is in part driven by the extreme reactions to him by the far left.

R0bert

The meme between Peterson and Newman,

Peterson; "I like eggs and bacon."

Newman; "So you are saying kill all vegans!"