https://youtubetranscript.com/?v=FxpEroeWpOY
You know, I went through a hell of a time in elementary school for for looking different and being Mocked in so many different ways and I used to wear a turban on the top of my head as well you know being of seek background and so that was always a point of Of uh being bullied and you know people saying, you know, indian people are dirty and you know, you’re brown and and you know Sort of yeah well You’re gonna get you’re gonna get sorely tested if you’re different because if you look at act like everyone else, you’re not a mystery But if you don’t then you are a mystery and how do children solve mysteries? Well, that’s easy. They poke at them and see what happens. So that’s what happened to you It’s like you had a turban. It’s like who’s this? Well, let’s make fun of them and see what happens because if you want to find out who someone is one way of doing it Is by making fun of them Yeah, you know and if they can take and i’m this is i’m not saying this is justifiable and i’m not saying anything at all about right, but you know generally speaking The better you are at taking a joke The less you’ll get tormented all things considered and so it is a reasonable exploratory Mechanism, although it can go completely out of hand, but it’s understandable. Yeah, right so so I would say there is a sign of progress here the fact that that After elementary school, I wasn’t really bullied for my skin color and eventually I did cut off my hair for various Religious reasons I didn’t really resonate with yeah, and you know if you hadn’t been harassed for being a seek there’s pretty high probability that The kids who are prone to bullying would have picked something else about you and tortured you about that It might not have been as horrible as your ethnic identity say but Most kids are subject to a substantial amount of provocative bullying Right. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, and just you know putting aside the religious part of it Which is sort of another area of exploration just the skin color part of it. Let’s let’s look at that So, you know in ninth grade, I remember this one incident and the reason why I remember this right now is because I I mentioned this in my column from today in the new york post about um about council culture about victimhood about racial Transgressions and all these things and I remember in grade nine Being in this classroom where two white boys basically singled me out and they said you know you indian people are dirty and and just all sorts of things of Using my racial identity as a point of targeting me for my various social eccentric Behaviors my various, you know problems and flaws that I had using race as like yeah the dirty element That’s really telling because the dirty of the things that regulates our intergroup behavior is Disgust sensitivity not fear and this is something everyone should know We aren’t really afraid of strangers, however, we are easily disgusted by them and that’s worse Because you destroy disgusting things. It’s disgust not fear It’s a major political discovery that’s only been made in the last 30 years. So the dirty element that’s really crucial And also it’s a terrible thing to be Accused of right? You’re a contaminating agent. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that’s a good way to put it. Yeah, right And then I remember with that yeah, and I remember being totally paralyzed in that situation It was ninth grade all of the other white peers and classmates. They were sort of paralyzed too They didn’t want to speak up for me Um, and so I left the room crying probably didn’t know how Yeah, and it was ninth grade too. So it was embarrassing to be crying in ninth grade. Oh, absolutely. You’re a teenager, right? um But so the point of saying that was that yes racism exists. We should acknowledge that and racism has Impacted my life At the margins I would say in various individual incidents And obviously, you know, you know I know of people who were bullied far more people who are white for being fat for for just being socially awkward Various other sort of things that can be used as targets for bullying Yeah, about 75 percent of children have one Observable physiological abnormality that can be used as the focal point for bullies Exactly. Yeah, but so the point that I want to make here is that yes racism exists and it has impacted me at the margins but but so this is sort of how I how I came to Uh be sort of where I am right now. So last year I started writing about white privilege intersectionality the ideas of systemic racism and I you know, I noticed this pathology of like Okay, i’m a person of color. Yes, i’ve experienced racism, but I don’t identify as a victim, but it’s incentivized for me to be a victim for me to be protesting against white supremacy of Being this victim of systemic racism. Well, it gives you an easy as we discussed an easy pathway to moral unearned moral superiority Which is really attractive because earned moral superiority is unbelievably difficult, right? I mean, right there’s nothing more difficult than This the the attempt to be a good person that’s hard And so if you can just be a good person because you believe, you know the right three things Well, how convenient is that and that’s another Reason for when people do take on the role of victim, you know, plus they can wield a club Righteously, and that’s I mean that’s an extraordinarily attractive option Right, right and and one of the things that I pointed out earlier in my writing last year, which was so It was so influential and a lot of my articles went viral right away was that Race is not a barrier to my success. Like I live such a privileged life stop telling me that I suffer from you know racial disadvantage or That other people have white privilege that’s helping them get ahead like I found that to be totally counterproductive and pathological Like that whole narrative why why was it why did you regard it that way? Because I want to take ownership of my own life and there is no Supernatural force of racism that’s keeping me down, right? Like I can write essays and publish my work in all these influential places and I gotta talk to you here right now And i’m at a fairly young age and i’m doing all these important things race has impacted me Yes, but it’s not a systemic barrier. It’s not stopping me from succeeding in life, but that seems to be the narrative perpetuated by so many white people especially that there is this overarching force of of of racial victimization That’s at play and so I stepped in. Yeah Well, I think part of that too on on the part of the of the white people Let’s say is that they get to have and this is something that really bothers me about the radical left um You get your privilege and you get to be more morally superior because you’re standing up for the victim So it’s like you get to be privileged and a victim at the same time. It’s like hey pick one Okay, like maybe it’s just too much to be privileged and a victim at the same time and that really um, i’ve that I It’s it’s not a an effective psychological practice, it’s terribly socially divisive and it’s unbelievably hypocritical You know anybody who comes to stands up and says well, you know, i’m a professor The system that produced me. Yeah was so racist that it’s or was so prejudiced that it’s racist It’s like okay, you just admitted you have no moral claim to your position resign Yeah now right, right, right Otherwise, otherwise I wouldn’t say shut up because no, right people need to talk and they need to express their opinions. But if you’re if your Statement is that the system that produced you say as a professor is so systemically prejudiced that it it it’s racist You don’t have a valid claim you’re actually an incompetent fraud You’ve just said that yeah Who’s being paid far beyond your competence for reasons that have nothing to do with your ability the only Truly ethical thing to do if that’s true Is to stop doing what you’re doing and go find a job that you’re actually qualified to do yeah, yeah, and i’m glad i’m glad you brought this up here because One of my earliest critics was the editor of my local newspaper here For the chill black progress. His name is paul henderson and initially he was critiquing my work and a very progressive guy and you know, that’s fine, but he disagreed with me rejecting the traditional narratives of of white privilege and systemic racism and and that was great that he was critiquing my work, but then then you know, he Was targeting me for being associated with alt-right that my articles rejecting these racial grievance narratives are are alt-right Which is just a euphemism for white supremacy, right? and and then one of the things that So so he wrote this column. I remember last summer Where it was titled something like dear white people dear dear straight white males in our city and so many people read this and I remember reading this vividly And one of the arguments that he made was that throughout history and even today straight white males have The dominant power in our society. So and he’s a straight white male And so he’s saying it’s time for us to listen to people of color It’s time for us to step down and let them achieve some success in our society and the irony was that he’s a straight white male saying that and either, you know, like you said resign for your unearned position or You know even You know listening to people of color. I remember this explicitly in the column listen to people of color listen to their struggles And this whole stereotype of people of color being, you know victims. It’s like i’m a person of color Does my perspective matter and the answer is no, right? It’s it’s the individual You know activists. It’s the the people who align themselves with left-wing ideologies that align with well, you know your your status as a Minority immigrant to canada Yeah means that you have some things to say to someone like me Let’s say that right that I might benefit by hearing but to think of that as Something that’s going to constitute an insuperable barrier between us that’s that and and and to think about that as Fundamentally what you have to bring to the table. That’s unbelievably demeaning Like i’m not talking to you because you’re young or because you’re a racial minority Yeah, I mean but i’m listening to you About your experience of those things, but that certainly doesn’t it would be horrible It would be horrible if that’s What I how I conceived of you I Mean the reason i’m talking to you well is because you ask that’s part of it but you know, you’re a bright young character and you’ve managed some accomplishments and that’s kind of interesting to me and You have a developing voice you’re a competent writer you’re credible Despite your youth, let’s say and so And I wanted to hear what you had to say and what questions you wanted to formulate That’s why i’m talking to you And it would be really something if the only reason i’m talking to you were for reasons that Would make you easily replaceable of by someone exactly your age and background It’s like who cares about you bring in the next young seek Because they’re all the same anyways Right, right. There’s this assumption with these racial narratives that you jordan peterson as a white man You have a fundamental advantage in our society because you are white compared to me I have a disadvantage because i’m because i’m of a certain skin color here, right? That’s that’s the yeah Well, I probably do have a bit of an edge there all things considered. Well, i’m not sure about that Well, it might not be true. It might not be true. Now. It might not be true I’m you know, i’ve certainly seen in my in academia If you’re a white male a young white male, it’s like forget it And let forget it your your probability that you’re going to find a high-end academic job Which is very difficult and unlikely to begin with it’s vanishingly small and it’s not impossible But but you have to be hyper hyper competent so there are places definitely places where maleness and Talk and being caucasian are working against you. It’s definitely the case in in academia. It has been for 25 years maybe longer