Psychologist Jordan Peterson has bestowed upon himself the moniker "academic persona non grata" – and for the sake of his students, has resigned his position as full tenured professor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Peterson is leaving his post because higher education is eating itself alive with wokeness, he argues – and it's not fair to his students, who get dinged just because they are the politically incorrect educator's students.
"This is partly because of Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity mandates (my preferred acronym: DIE) … that have been imposed universally in academia," he writes in a National Post op-ed explaining his decision. The effect of those mandates has effectively "rendered my job morally untenable," he offers.
"How can I accept prospective researchers and train them in good conscience knowing their employment prospects to be minimal?" he asks.
He then goes on to explain that the wokeness prevalent in academia – and emanating from Hollywood and the corporate world – is at the root of the divisiveness that's "destroying" society.
"Look no further than DIE," he emphasizes for readers wondering how things got this far.
"When they [the Left] worship at the altar of DIE, and insist that the rest of us, who mostly want to be left alone, do so as well. Enough already," writes Peterson.
But it's not new. Peterson says the politically correct intolerance infecting the West has roots more than a hundred years old. As Peterson points out in his op-ed, Russian President Vladimir Putin himself is "capitalizing on this woke madness" – proving that wokeness isn't new to the West. He quotes the following from a recent speech by the Russian leader.
Putin: "After the 1917 revolution, the Bolsheviks, relying on the dogmas of Marx and Engels, also said that they would change existing ways and customs, and not just political and economic ones, but the very notion of human morality and the foundations of a healthy society.
"The destruction of age-old values, religion, and relations between people, up to and including the total rejection of family (we had that, too), encouragement to inform on loved ones – all this was proclaimed progress …."
"Looking at what is happening in a number of Western countries, we are amazed to see domestic practices – which we, fortunately, had left, I hope – in the distant past. The fight for equality and against discrimination has turned into aggressive dogmatism bordering on absurdity."
Peterson concludes his column with this warning to university professors, CEOs, musicians, artists, and writers who he says are going along with the DIE activists: "Whatever your reasons: this is on you …. He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind. And the wind is rising."
