“There are many reasons for optimism”

Jordan Peterson, an admirer of Swiss psychiatrist C.G. Jung, is making the case for individualism rooted in responsibility. He is urging people to improve the world by putting their own house in order.

I first heard of Jordan Peterson through my father, with whom I’ve discussed and debated political issues since I was a teenager. It was 2017, shortly after Peterson went viral in his response to Canadian bill C-16 regarding gender pronoun misuse. My father sent me a link to Peterson’s now infamous interview with Cathy Newman on Britain’s Channel 4 news. Having worked in television news for the last 8 years in New York City, I’ve heard enough of people yelling unintelligibly at each other via satellite for a lifetime; this interview was different. I was blown away by Peterson’s calm demeanor, his handling of difficult questions by pointing to the research first, ...