While I lean left, I am a centrist and I am vocal about loathing opinions on both extremes. I would consider JP to be a mild libertarian (which is a bit right wing). I certainly agree with his pro-Freedom of speech position unequivocally, and I am also not fond of political correctness as I, along with JP, think it is a species of thought policing. I do begin to draw the line when a psychologist like JP begins to promulgate Climate Denial without actually addressing any of the science. I find that the level of scientific illiteracy on the topic on both left and right should be getting more people to STFU and do their homework, and Peterson expressing an uninformed opinion in as if it should matter adds nothing to the debate. Had he waded in with a legitimate scientific criticism of Climate Change, or criticised the left for politicising what should be a bipartisan issue, I would be far more sympathetic towards him. More broadly I can understand the appeal of the sort of rugged individualism that JP promotes, but where I begin to doubt him is when he begins to promote a life philosophy that begins to sound like it has been plagiarised from a pick-up artist website. He literally does a whole spiel where he discusses female psychology and their pursuit of the alpha male, in favor of the beta "nice guys". Word for word it could have come from a pick up forum, and this from a public intellectual? What next?
I guess my problem with Peterson, condensed, is that he is glib, but not substantial. What he says sounds snappy and informed, but when you listen more closely and think about what is being said more critically, you realise that you are being fast-talked into buying a lemon. On close inspection, the sad truth is that JP has nothing new to say. Everything he says has been said before and often better, but he dresses it up like it is his own idea; relevant and contemporary, but it never is. Now there might be some spineless millennials out there who could benefit from a bit of tough love, but the same answer will not work for everyone, and should not be "sold as a cure-all". I certainly don't think that arguing against compassion is a form of decency, and often JP does just that. JP behaves like a culty life coach, while recent events suggest that he himself may be in need of one. Ergo he doesn't practice what he preaches.