On April 29, 2020, an article appeared in the Hamilton Spectator by U. of Ottawa professor Stuart Chambers concerning Jordan Peterson’s “postmodern neurosis.” Chambers finds Peterson’s contention that Postmodernism threatens the very essence of Western Civilization an outright lie which he insists on preaching to a bunch of “gullible” simpletons [i.e.,”conservatives”]. As evidence, he cites Peterson’s statement at a 2017 Manning Centre Conference that postmodernists “don’t believe in the individual,” “don’t believe in logic,” and “don’t believe in dialogue.” Only one crippled by ideological bias would doubt the validity of Peterson’s statement.
The statistical parity based on Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation etc. pursued aggressively by the Left in every realm of contemporary society, is by definition impervious to the rights and merits of the Individual. Sorry, though you’re eminently qualified, you’re a White Male and we’re only hiring Black Females!
Reason and Science, as I have cited repeatedly, have been attacked by “anti-racists” as mere White, Western European eccentricities. This implies their inclusion in our educational system to be an aspect of “systemic racism.” There is, for example, no dearth of articles celebrating the “holistic,” “spiritual” nature of the Indigenous approach to the natural world, an approach that saw many of the Natives of the Americas still living in the Stone Age when Columbus arrived. But postmodernist relativism absurdly allows our “intellectuals” the luxury of criticizing the Industrial Revolution, Colonialism, etc. as evidence of Western Man’s propensity for abusing both the environment and other people, while at the same time suggesting he is morally bound to share the material benefits of his perversity with those people. The illogical and ultimately hypocritical world-view that has come to dominate our Civilization is comically evident every time some wealthy, environmentally conscientious celebrity or politician uses his private jet to fly halfway around the world to attend an event he might easily have accessed sitting in front of his computer. Whatever Prof. Chambers’ objections, Peterson is absolutely right, the death of Logic and, as a consequence, meaningful Dialogue, epidemic throughout our culture. Chambers own article ironically illustrates this very fact.
In attempting to expose Peterson’s unwarranted cynicism, Chambers quotes U. of Toronto Professor Ira Wells who said of Postmodernism: “it is not that interpretation is potentially infinite and therefore meaningless. It is that interpretation must be socially and historically contextualized in order to become meaningful.” The hypocrisy of this statement, the double standard with which it is applied by Academia, is disgusting! When was the last time you saw historical context invoked to exonerate Canada’s first Prime Minister of the oxymoronic [emphasis on moronic] charge of cultural genocide. Apparently he ought to have known that the Residential Schools he naively thought might enable the Indigenous to prosper in the 20th Century were just an expression of cultural arrogance. Apparently the fact that he was actually progressive for his day is irrelevant. Apparently it is perfectly fair to judge him according to postmodern standards he would have found absurd 150 years ago!
Every aspect of the contemporary Leftist narrative conveniently ignores historical context in demonizing the White, Western European “Patriarchy,” while endlessly invoking context in its attempts to exonerate history’s various “victimized” classes. A myriad of factors, biological and otherwise, made it perfectly sensible that Women in Western societies be excluded/exempted from certain roles up until the recent past. Shakespeare’s male contemporaries, given the nature of warfare in their day, no doubt deemed it both logical and loving to exempt Women from military service. But as Postmodernism is wed to Marxism, it must find oppression in every nook and cranny. As a consequence, even iconic Western art works devoted to celebrating Female Beauty are now generally seen as attempts to keep Women politically subservient. No doubt da Vinci would be shocked to learn his Mona Lisa was an act of political oppression, this Postmodern valuation, of course, utterly unconcerned with historical context!
In his opening paragraph, Chambers cites Postmodernism’s disdain for “meta-narratives” which purport to explain every aspect of the Human Condition. Christianity is such a narrative. Ironically, so also is Postmodernism! Even more preposterous is that while this world-view impugns all human beliefs and values as mere “social constructs,” it conveniently exempts itself from that same eminently fallible category. Duh!
On April 30, 2022, The National Post published an article by academic Peter MacKinnon entitled “Our shifting values.” Its subtitle explains the gist of its content: “Death of the Enlightenment and the rise of Populism.” While this certainly implies the contemporary erosion of Enlightenment values to be a product of the “populist” Right, MacKinnon does admit that postmodernists, anarchists, authoritarian socialists, etc. are also somewhat responsible. This would seem to mark him as one honestly committed to an unbiased appraisal of the truth, but in fact his attack on Populism is rife with Leftist duplicity!
Populism is a term used with abandon to describe anyone not in agreement with certain basic “progressive” beliefs. Clearly a pejorative implying ignorant masses beleaguered by bias, it is nevertheless hurled at millions utterly undeserving of such abuse. Those on the Left, as I have stated repeatedly, loves to hurl insults rather than actually discussing the substance of the issues before them. The various “conservative” pundits whom I have cited are in no way guilty of what is implied by “populism,” indeed are passionate proponents of that Enlightenment Humanism committed to the dictates of Reason and Objective Reality which used to be known as Liberalism. The truth obfuscated by MacKinnon’s pseudo-intellectual article is that the Left has in fact become pervasively illiberal, its inclusive, socialist, postmodern agenda being the primary cause, as Jordan Peterson contends, of the death of rational political discourse in the West. While there are racists, sexists, etc. lurking on the far right, they have virtually no impact on our mainstream culture. If that culture seems only tenuously committed to Enlightenment Rationalism, it is, whatever the delusions of our “intellectuals,” precisely because of them!
I have cited elsewhere John Ralston Saul’s polemic against Reason in “Voltaire’s Bastards.” His devotion to mindless empathy is but a modern day extension of the 19th Century’s conscious rebellion against Enlightenment Rationalism. Poet William Blake famously declared Objective Reality to be a monster heartlessly impeding Man’s quest for happiness. He in essence gave Man the right to ignore all “inconvenient” truths. It was a luxury defended by many “intellectuals” throughout the Century. It was the idea that in fact fathered Postmodernism which in turn has given rise to a sensibility today generally defined as “woke.”
Surely the two academics cited above are familiar with our cultural history. Surely they know our moral/intellectual standards have been in decline for the last 200 years, that decline interrupted by the two World Wars and Depression that marred the first half of the 20th C. only to reassert itself at Woodstock which was in fact a celebration of childish self-indulgence. Clearly beguiled by what they see as a “progressive” trend, Chambers and MacKinnon ludicrously demonize anyone who disagrees with them as simple-minded “populists.” It is the stratagem for which Bret Stephens, as mentioned in my blog of July 27, sincerely apologized. It is a stratagem which, as Jordan Peterson argues, makes rational discussion of almost any issue utterly impossible …… i.e., Americans who deem it insane that Biden is allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants into a country already unable to provide adequate housing, education, etc. for millions of its own, are not common-sense Rationalists but mere “populist” racists. If you agree with that sentiment, Reason is in fact dead and we have nothing more to say to each other!
While Postmodernism impugns all human beliefs and values as mere social constructs, there are Facts which are undeniably, Objectively True, just as there are Human Values beyond dispute. Whatever the insistence of our academics, it is mainstream “conservatism” with its devotion to Reason and Moral Integrity that is in fact the champion of Enlightenment Humanism and our only hope for a civilized future.