Clinical psychologist Jordan B. Peterson has some advice for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: take a cue from America’s founding fathers and consider the possibility that his best intentions “might do more harm than good.”
A recent discussion with the the Oxford Union Society was uploaded to its YouTube page Sunday in which the University of Toronto professor and bestselling author was asked to opine on Mr. Trudeau’s ideological blind spots.
“Well, I guess I would ask him to consider the possibility that his emphasis on tribal inequality might — if there’s any possibility that he could see any way that that might do more harm than good,” the “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos” author replied. Because my sense is that the idea that harm might come out of that is never an idea that’s even considered. I certainly don’t see it in our provincial government, for example.
Mr. Peterson then said that America’s founding fathers were wise to construct a system of government that took the inherent fallibility of mankind into consideration.
“Imagine that your theory could go spectacularly wrong,” he continued, the Daily Wire first reported. “What would that look like? This is one of the things that’s so great about the way the Americans set up their political system — because it was never utopian. Their idea was, “Look, we are probably going to be governed by halfwits who are not any smarter than we are.” It wasn’t, “We’re going to set up the perfect system.” It’s like, “How can we ensure that if we are governed by halfwits that are no smarter than us that we won’t end up in hell?
“America’s freedom is a manifestation of the deeper freedom of Great Britain,” he said. “Anyone with any sense can see that. It’s just true historically. I mean, maybe the Americans codified it in a creative manner — and good for them — but the fundamental traditions were already laid down. They had enough humility to think through how things could go terribly wrong even if they had good intentions. That’s the mark of someone who’s wise because it’s way easier for things to go wrong than it is for them to go right.”
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• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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