Peterson On Narcissism

 

Jordan Peterson, recently, on several occasion has lashed out at social justice radicals as narcissists. I am concerned that narcissists are considered online to be self-centered, self-absorbed (individuals?) with an inflated sense of their own importance, with a deep need to be admired, lacking empathy for others, can be emotionally abusive, manipulative or controlling.

 

They may have two personalities: one, in public, they seem like pleasant perfect persons, but their real personality may be dark, twisted and filed with rage.

 

Such people exist, and some are mean and sick, and others are just selfish and self-absorbed. Notice that the ideologues that Jordan Peterson is lambasting are zealots, radicals and true believes: such people are narcissistic, but they are hyper-group creatures, with a love of uniformity of thought and action. They are pure altruists—and most selfishness is from altruists.

 

Most rational egoists are individualists. For my living angels’ version of egoism, I wanted self-centered individuators, but they must practice the Golden Rule (treat the self well as you would treat others, and then treat others well with dignity and respect, the way you care for yourself), do not be arrogant, treat yourself and others with kindness, abuse no one and allow none to abuse you. Love the truth and seek to know the truth about the human condition, especially as instantiated in yourself, and in others too.

 

My fear is that Peterson and Dennis Prager admire and champion individualism but their uses of words like self-esteem is empty and Jordan Peterson’s labeling Marxists ideologues as narcissistic, though true allows narcissism to be conflated with individuals and not with groups and group-living, the primary origins of selfishness, malevolence, and narcissism.  My fear is that Prager and Peterson are still so collectivistic in the ethics they promote, that in 20 years, altruist-collectivist ethics will be what they are remembered for, and with some justification.

 

The Randian axiom: selfishness is virtue, and selflessness is vice. That is what we have to remembers as we update moral codes.