VICE have been terrible for a long time, but this article may well win the award for the worst piece they have ever published. In this utterly bizarre excuse for journalism, Sarah Berman opens by comparing Keith Raniere (leader of the horrifying NXIVM sex-trafficking cult) to Ayn Rand, because Raniere was allegedly influenced by her work. The parallels are incredible. Rand insisted that her work was a pathway to objective truth; Raniere’s courses make similar claims. Rand supports unfettered free markets; Raniere’s courses use corporate and individualist rhetoric. Rand had a “cult of personality” i.e. she was a celebrity; Raniere had a literal sex cult full of brainwashed sex slaves. Rand did some unsavoury things in her life (“had affairs” and “ruined other people’s careers”); Raniere did some unsavoury things (sex-trafficking and effective rape). They’re exactly alike!
As far as the “cult” of personality goes, surely Karl Marx would be a much better go-to comparison. He too claimed that he had access to objective truth (“scientific” he called it) and that anybody that didn’t agree with him was operating under “false consciousness.” The difference between Marx and Rand, however, is that Marx’s cult following went on to kill around 100 million people, even though Marx’s future projections had failed to manifest.
But I digress. On with the article. Determining that these apparently shared traits put us on the path to Raniere-ism, Sarah then claims that Jordan Peterson is the latest villain to spread these foul ideas. This is no surprise as VICE publish smears of Dr. Peterson like clock-work every couple of weeks. Peterson is apparently comparable to Rand (whom he has criticised on numerous occasions) because he promotes “individual responsibility” and because he believes that there is such a thing as objective truth. He also believes that reason and rationality are good things, and can be used to bring us closer to objective truth. This puts him in league with Raniere, via Rand. Do you see the connection?
There is literally nothing more to the article than this. Sarah makes the occasional dig at Peterson not being a feminist (three times I think) and seems to assert that Peterson is an objectivist (despite him not even identifying as a libertarian). Simply read it for yourself, and decide whether you wish to continue supporting VICE (if you didn’t have the sense to split once Gavin left). I’m all for reading disagreeable opinions – I regularly turn to Libcom, Revleft and Marxists.org for educational purposes. But I’d like you to read this piece and ask yourself: “does this really read like journalism? Is this simply a controversial opinion? Or is it a smear, intended to associate Peterson with a sex-trafficker in order to defame his character?”
I’ll let you decide, but will leave you with a reminder that the article opens with a photograph of Peterson next to a photograph of Raniere (who, let’s not forget, are linked spuriously together by alleged similarities to Rand), and the article contains quotes like “one could almost write off figures like Rand, Raniere and Peterson until you realize their followings are on a moral crusade they believe is backed by reason itself” and “we hear Peterson and Raniere argue you need to work on yourself, make yourself rich and successful first, before you can look to solve any other problem in this world…And only thinking about yourself—not looking out in the world for perpetrators of massive power abuse—well that’s the mindset that allowed Raniere to avoid the attention of America’s justice system for more than a decade.”
And now, just in case you’re worried that you yourself might get involved in a Rand-Peterson-Raniere objectivist sex cult, please refer below for the Sarah Berman Objectivist Sex Cult Proclivity Test!
Tick All That Apply
- Do you believe that the use of reason is a pathway to truth?
- Do you believe that there is such a thing as objective truth?
- Do you believe that rationality is superior to irrationality?
- Do you believe in individual responsibility?
- Do you disagree with the post-modernist claim that there is no objective truth and everything is relative?
- Have you ever read Atlas Shrugged?
- Do you enjoy Dr. Peterson’s lectures?
- Do you believe that objective truth may be reached by reasoned, rational argument?
- Are you Aristotle?
- Are you Rene Descartes?
- Are you Karl Marx?
- Are you Bertrand Russell?
- Are you planning on operating an enormous, secretive, Scientology-like enterprise which fronts as a support group, fraternity or self-development course but is actually a means to brainwash young women into being branded and used as sex slaves?
If you ticked none of the above, hurray! You are safe for now. Be sure to avoid any thinker that claims to be rational and reasoned, and just focus on authors that embrace irrationalism like Derrida. Do not take responsibility for yourself – blame the “system” until everybody in the world is equally prosperous (the natural way, the way things should be).
If you ticked one or more of the above, uh oh! It is very likely that you have been afflicted with Raniere-ism (aka Peterson-ism, Rand-ism). It is unclear what will happen to you. You may write one of the best-selling novels of all time, you may go on to be the most popular psychologist and philosopher of our age, or you may start a secretive sex-trafficking cult. Tread carefully.
C Hill