Will Jordan Peterson Lose His License?
Free Press, WSJ
The Free Press covers the an attack on psychologist Jordan Peterson for his views—”The College of Psychologists of Ontario has told Peterson that if he doesn’t go to therapy…it may revoke his license to practice psychology. What warranted this ultimatum? A few tweets and a podcast… claiming…[his] statements had caused ‘harm.’ ” The real intention? This “is not a message to Peterson, but a message to other would-be dissenters: Comply with our politics, or risk losing your livelihood…”
The most chilling part? “It was not enough for the College to declare his comments offensive. It had to go one step further and imply that there was something about him that was unwell. By referring Peterson to a therapist for daring to speak his mind, the College of Psychologists of Ontario has pathologized dissent. It has made political disagreement into an illness.”
“There is a long history here… For most of its existence, the Soviet Union, among other authoritarian regimes, used mental illness as grounds for marginalizing countless voices.”
Another angle not covered? The College of Psychologists’ move is also an attempt to institutionalize speech as harm. The more members of a population psychologically “harmed,” the more who will need insured and state-funded psychology.
This WSJ editorial gives the details of Peterson’s “infractions.”
Related:
Jordan Peterson’s Last Trial (Quillette, 2/14/23)
Jordan Peterson and the "Re-education" of Canada (City Journal, 1/8/23)
