One of the things I’ve found most interesting in my forays on Bullshit Mountain is the great variety of Bullshit in so many forms. Among them are the creatures of conflation that blur the lines between fact and fiction, the fallacious fauna which convince their prey of pseudo-rational realities, and there are the mutants of misinformation bent on whipping up irrational madness and starting brush fires of outrage.
The latter describes this latest piece of invasive Bullshit that was brought to my attention by a dear friend who was absolutely convinced of a state-sponsored stomp-down on free expression taking place in the mystical land of Canada.
Today’s Bullshit is brought to us by University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson.
Jordan Peterson has become something of a wunderkind of the right, the alt-right, the tighty-whitey right, and even the handful of Trumpsters with delusions of intellect. He is a maven of social issues from why it’s okay for women to be paid less, the idea that ‘White Privilege’ isn’t a thing, that same-sex marriage is a Marxist plot, that women who wear makeup to work should expect to be sexually harassed, to the belief in such a thing as ‘racial IQ’ (even though we really can’t measure intelligence yet), and he even has a bit of a rectal shaft over pornography.
All of this Peterson supports with bits and pieces of various studies crammed into pseudo-intellectual arguments that give his vastly conservative audience great collective turgor.
Peterson has all the right-wing rhetoric, worldview, and principles of a hard-right ideologue, but he calls himself, get this…
… A ‘Classic British Liberal’.
In reality, such a tag doesn’t actually conflict with much of what Peterson promulgates. But his followers are unlikely to recognize any real distinction from what the label actually means and what ‘libruls’ in America (that means Canada too) actually are. That way, they get to tell themselves; “SEE! He’s a liberal and even he agrees with us! He must be right!”
Now, for the record, there are many reasons I and other reasonably thoughtful people agree with much of what Peterson says. First, he does employ facts. He also knows how to author studies that hold up to peer review. The short of it is this; he’s rational. To be honest, there’s actually quite a few of Peterson’s opinions that I agree with.
That makes this particular species of Bullshit created by Peterson a rare specimen indeed… and also DANGEROUS.
In the simplest terms, the message that he’s been sending out is: “Canada passed a law that means you can be fined or jailed for refusing to use someone’s preferred pronoun when addressing them.”
That, in a nutshell, is what my friend told me. Until I started the research, I had no clue where she got this idea from. She was using it as an example of how liberalism and political correctness are getting out of hand to the point of militancy. She actually started with that assertion and then presented me with the above quote after I said ‘give me an example of this’.
Upon hearing it, my Bullshit needle pulled a 720°spin that would turn Tony Hawk green. Only in the most totalitarian nations will you find laws that govern how people are mandated to address one-another, but Canada?!?
To cut to the chase, here’s the gist of what my dear friend was on about:
Did you catch that? He states that the use of preferred gender pronouns is now ‘mandated’ and that there’s been an ‘explosion’… in gender identity categories. But the best part is this quote: “There’s nothing in the legislation that stops there from being a requirement for people to use a different pronoun for every single one of those [31 protected gender] categories.”
That right there is the red flag of Bullshit. He’s generally careful with his verbiage and this is no exception. In this case, he just effectively stated that the law doesn’t prevent itself from requiring people to use ‘mandated’ pronouns. He essentially just used a negative to imply a positive. Lying without telling a lie is a sure sign of Bullshit.
So like a post-pubescent penguin with a grudge at a grenade-fishing derby, I pulled up a whole bunch of tabs.
I found this:
Canadians Could Face Hate Crimes Over Using The Wrong Gender Pronouns
…
“Compelled speech has come to Canada,” stated Peterson. “We will seriously regret this.”
“[Ideologues are] using unsuspecting and sometimes complicit members of the so-called transgender community to push their ideological vanguard forward,” said the professor to the Senate in May. “The very idea that calling someone a term that they didn’t choose causes them such irreparable harm that legal remedies should be sought [is] an indication of just how deeply the culture of victimization has sunk into our society.”
http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/16/canada-passes-law-criminalizing-use-of-wrong-gender-pronouns/
And this:
Canadian gender-neutral pronoun bill is a warning for Americans
BY JORDAN B PETERSON, CONTRIBUTOR – 10/18/16 06:20 PM EDT
…
“There is, however, a crucial difference between laws that stop people from saying arguably dangerous words and laws that mandate the use of politically-approved words and phrases. We have never had laws of the latter sort before, not in our countries. This is no time to start.”
Aaaaaaand this:
ORWELLIAN: Canadians Can Now Be Fined Or JAILED For Using Wrong Gender Pronouns
“Critics of the legislation say the bill will target conservatives who cling to reality and science and refuse to adhere to progressives’ gender theory, which is rooted in mere feelings, for potential hate crimes; potential consequences for refusing capitulation are monetary fines, “anti-bias training” and jail time.”
But wait… Who would actually believe such a thing?
From the above links…
Schnefferpepper Hard Little Machine • 9 months ago
… Now that fines and jailtime are a consequence of misgendering it should be enforced that your gender be clear so you dont risk others well being. Thats right lefties you opened the door to make trans illegal.
BlameTheFed alexander • a year ago
They won’t give up. They are evil and insane.
DeDean Chrome • 9 months ago….
Controlling language is a powerful means of controlling thought and *compelling* behaviors.
Freedom, liberty and rights are being systematically destroyed by the Left’s PC-Think.
Personally, I’m beginning to think we *need* a left vs. right civil war just to cleanse America of the mental-disease that is Leftism.
alexander Libeller • a year ago
What they do is try and turn it upside down Being a confused sexual pervert is ”normal’ and being normal is a disorder. Homosexuality and transgenderism are the disorders and if refusing to entertain their delusions is bigotry , so be it. id rather be a bigot than a fagg0t.
The longer I live in Canada the greater the chance I am going to end up a political prisoner and or sent to one their Liberal re-edukation kamps.
This is full on tyranny– jail time or reeducation camp just for saying a boy is a boy and a girl is a girl. Oh, Canada… I am so sorry.
Remember this time, what we are witnessing is the rise of fascism in our society.
THe third reich and Stalinism is making a comeback.
It just goes on like that. And on… and on… and…. You get the idea.
Soooooo… Now, in Canada, it is ‘criminal’ to call someone by a pronoun other than that or those of their preference. Such a crime could result in fines, incarceration, and/or re-education of all those ‘scientifically literate’ conservatives.
Too bad they aren’t ‘legally literate’…
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Canadian Human Rights Act
1998, c. 9, s. 9; 2012, c. 1, s. 137(E)
1 Section 2 of the Canadian Human Rights Act is replaced by the following:
Purpose
2 The purpose of this Act is to extend the laws in Canada to give effect, within the purview of matters coming within the legislative authority of Parliament, to the principle that all individuals should have an opportunity equal with other individuals to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have and to have their needs accommodated, consistent with their duties and obligations as members of society, without being hindered in or prevented from doing so by discriminatory practices based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, disability or conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.
1996, c. 14, s. 2; 2012, c. 1, s. 138(E)
2 Subsection 3(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Prohibited grounds of discrimination
3 (1) For all purposes of this Act, the prohibited grounds of discrimination are race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, family status, disability and conviction for an offence for which a pardon has been granted or in respect of which a record suspension has been ordered.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Bill C-16 ‘replaced’ subsection 3(1). .. by adding four words; “gender identity or expression”.
Sooo…. According to the hysteria, that means that calling someone by the wrong race, nationality, ethnic origin, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, disability, or conviction for offense was already grounds for fines, jail time, or re-education.
“I’m leaving Canadia”
Oooooor… maybe it’s just language, in the law, making it illegal to materially discriminate against someone based on their gender identity?
Actually, that’s EXACTLY what it is.
So a better question is “Why are so many people irrationally terrified of a law that doesn’t do what they think it does?”
I’ll make this quick: For many generations conservatives have enjoyed a world where exactly and only what they viewed a ‘normal’ was tolerable in society. Yes, they were terrified when women and black people wanted equal rights (back when the Democrats were the conservative party) . They were livid when the gays wanted equal rights, and now that trans-gendered people want to be recognized and not have to hide who they are from society, conservatives are flipping their collective shit.
Because conservatives can’t stand the idea that people who aren’t like them should enjoy the same social status they have enjoyed for a couple of centuries. They’re afraid, perhaps, that when those they view as ‘different’ [read: ‘enemies’] gain political and societal power, they will be treated just as badly by society as they treated those former minorities themselves.
Could they be right? Not terribly likely, but they already believe that they are being oppressed… despite any actual evidence to that effect. So it stands to reason.
So what Peterson has done here is tap into a deep, abiding, and ubiquitous fear among his conservative followers. Does the fear have merit? Not according to the actual law they are having paroxysms over. Has Peterson himself been fined? Jailed? Fired? No, worse… he had some events cancelled. Yes, there were some threats made against him, which anyone of conscience should find reprehensible. But that comes with the territory of saying something unpopular… or something that’s bullshit.
So Jordan Peterson, PhD, must be a legal scholar with a keen sense of the law and an inherent duty to warn people by the millions of an impending PC Facist takeover of his country. Quick Google search:
Dr Jordan B Peterson, Professor of Psychology & Clinical Psychologist
“It’s not important how I got here…”
So WHY is a psychologist whipping millions of people into a frenzy about a grave LEGAL danger to people’s right to free speech and bigoted thoughts… that doesn’t exist?
“Professor Jordan Peterson’s Book Is #1 Most-Sold On Amazon”
Oh… right….
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