Let's make Canada sane again!

Let's make Canada sane again!

Jordan Peterson and Canadian sanity.
   Canada is a very different country today than the country  I emigrated to fifty five years ago.  I didn't make the decision to emigrate to  Canada lightly.  I was already a physician and although penniless, I knew I would be able to make a living anywhere, even in my native Ireland.  Although I was born there, as was my father and although I had some very close Irish friends, there was really no doubt that they really didn't consider me one of "them".  My brother, who always was predisposed to Ireland and Irish ways in a  manner I could not understand, once told me how shocked he was when his closest friend, a nice Catholic lad commented to him, when they were both about ten years old,
   "Well, you're not really Irish"
   My brother was astounded.  "Yes I  am, I was born here and so were my parents.  How could you say that?"
   "It's not in your blood,  You're Jewish, not Irish."
   It was a message that stuck with him all of his life.
   I myself felt that Irish antisemitism was a by product of Catholicism.  I was wrong.  Now, many years after the Irish have largely cast Catholicism aside, antisemitism is stronger than ever in Ireland.  Alas, it seems it was a vital component in their mother's milk.  Now, it  seems, they take the leadership in  propagating antisemitism and the only reason I would visit that bigoted little country would be to visit the  family graves of those I  loved.
   My alma mater, Trinity College Dublin, seems to have taken  the lead in the anti-semitic thrust, describing a professor, a distant relative of mine as a 'fucking Jew'.
   I emigrated to Canada for many reasons, it seemed as near to an  ideal choice as possible, for reasons I will discuss elsewhere.

   When  I first heard of Jordan  Peterson and the pronoun fiasco, I thought here's an academic that I can sympathize with.   As a Professor in the department of Family Medicine in the University of Saskatchewan and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Western Ontario, I recognized that this man had  the considerable courage to stand up for  something he believed in, despite the fact that he had little to gain and much to lose.  The vultures of academe can devour their victims more effectively than most predators.  Peterson stood strong against their attacks.   Then I started listening Peterson's podcasts and 'Lo and Behold' this man was saying things I had been thinking for years!  He talks about de-masculinized men (pathetic weasels)who are afraid to be men and hyper masculinized women. He talks about parental incompetence and inability to control their children and to teach them independence and responsibility.  He talks about parents afraid and unable to discipline their children, afraid to apply the most minimal measures of restraint and punishment, who wonder why their off -spring behave as they do, certain that the acts that they commit as adults will be as free of consequences as those of their childhood.  He explains how the attempt to ameliorate the responsibilities that they should bear must ultimately result in disaster.  The well intentioned parents who attempt to remove all stress from the life of their children deprive them of one of life's most important skills - the ability to provide for themselves and their family.  He talks about and emphasizes the differences between men and women, something that terrifies most men today.
   I started listening to his book, "Twelve Rules to Live By." as one of the books/podcasts that lull me to sleep nightly.  ( I may not have told you that I am  a chronic insomniac).   Well, instead of lulling me to sleep, it woke me up!!  This man whom I regarded, as some sort of over-rated guru, really turns out to talk common-sense!   Instead of sending me off to sleep, his audio-book keeps me awake but it is worth it! 
     I'll keep you posted!