A Self-Claimed Evil Capitalist Taught Us a Valuable Lesson When He Spoke About Money.

Once you succeed at something, the probability that you’ll continue to achieve it rapidly increases.

Photo by Gage Skidmore: Public Domain

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Jordan Peterson is a lightning rod for controversy.

Despite what some folks might think, I respect him and am not shy about admitting it.

I’ve clocked countless hours of the no-nonsense Canadian psychologist turned culture warrior, and I find his tell-it-like-it-is approach remarkably refreshing.

His simple yet profound message is to take individual responsibility, try to improve yourself, always tell the truth, and confront personal challenges and chaos because it’ll help you find order and purpose in your life.

You should do this before you set out to reorganise the world.

You can start by tidying your room — if you can’t, organise your chest of draws. If that’s too intimidating, then aim for managing a sock draw. Just start where you are because “It’s not nothing”.

I became a fan of Peterson after his Channel 4 appearance, where U.K. T.V. star Cathy Newman tried to tie him up with ‘gotchya’ gender pronoun questions, which resulted in her freezing live on air.

She had the same blank expression as my cousin does when we’re playing Uno and a draw-four card lands on the deck.

It was as if you could almost hear the Windows P.C. shutting down sound in Newman’s head.

Cathy Newman: “So you haven’t sat there from, and uh, I’m just, right, (giant pause). I’m working that out. You have got me — you have caught me. I’m trying to work that through in my head — it took a while”.

Jordan Peterson: “ha, gotcha”

Peterson says the incident propelled him to success in terms of public recognition.

Despite being a Jedi when it comes to debate, he insists he hates conflict, but we must confront the chaos to get order in our lives.

It’s simple stuff.

But I relate to it all, especially during another notable instance when he spoke to an Australian audience member who believed some things are beyond our control:

“Jordan, you talk all this much about individual responsibility — most of us will never be able to afford to have all these assets to have responsibility over. So what is your advice beyond banal comments like ‘clean your room’?”

Peterson calmly puts his hand on his chin, leans forward and asks the woman to reformulate what she said so there’s an actual question and not “some opinionated political statement”. Lol.

What came next was a calculated bombshell that sent the internet into meltdown — and the onset television audience into applause.

Jordan Peterson —Source

“Fundamentally, I’m a psychologist, and my experience has been that people can do a tremendous amount of good for themselves and for the people who are immediately around them by looking to their own inadequacies and their own flaws and the things that they’re not doing in their lives and starting to build themselves up as more powerful individuals.

If they can do that, they can expand their career and competence. And if they can expand their career and competence, they can take their place in the community as effective leaders.

Then, they can make wise decisions instead of unwise decisions when making collective decisions. People who don’t have their own houses in order should be very careful before reorganising the world.”

Photo by Gage Skidmore: Public Domain

The intellectual with a deep-rooted view of most aspects of life and devoted fans, primarily men, worshipping his straightforward advice, has openly admitted to being an “evil capitalist”.

And it’s okay to be an evil capitalist because making money is a sign of “moral virtue”.

He says passionately, “It’s not okay for you to be a weak loser — it’s an ethical crime for you to allow all your necessary potential to go to waste”.

He teaches us a valuable lesson when he speaks about money.

Let’s dive in.

Making money is a sign of impetus for efficiency and care.

Sometimes, you can feel as dirty as a muddy puddle at even the thought of earning money.

It’s society’s fault because we demonise people based on what they have and not how much they’ve contributed in value. Or the person they had to become in pursuit of it all.

Peterson says earning income fairly and ethically demonstrates your dedication to following the rules.

Money-making is an indicator of the value you offer to others. By delivering products or services people want, you contribute positively to their lives while reaping the rewards that come with it.

When you hang out in J.P.’s comments on social media, it doesn’t seem like most people think that way.

Nowadays, many tend to see cash as a bit of a bad guy or “inherently evil”, but Peterson believes it’s a viewpoint influenced by folks’ politics or their own moral compass.

You should take individual responsibility because managing money is complex.

It carries significant commitment and can be challenging to handle effectively, especially if you waste or misuse money.

Jordan Peterson — Source

“I hope to have more money than I have in three years.

I’m not doing this for the money, but every single business enterprise I operate, and I operate a lot of them, is for-profit.

It is an impetus for efficiency and care, requiring me to produce marketable products.

Therefore, it should be regarded as a sign of moral virtue rather than the opposite.

This assumption implies that I trade and play fairly, which is indeed the case. Thus, I am thrilled about it.”

Managing money is like pouring water into someone’s hands.

Peterson says giving people money can result in it slipping away quickly because it’s like pouring water into their hands.

It’s what makes poverty stick around. It’s not the lack of money that’s causing the problems.

Giving people money provides little practical value or long-term benefit, and we should instead change our collective views.

It can disappear if you don’t handle it right.

Online scams target older folks for their cash. Those battling addiction can end up unconscious in a doorway or face down on the sidewalk if they have too much of it.

You often see a small group of highly skilled individuals holding a big chunk of it.

Jordan Peterson — Source

“In our culture, there’s a widespread belief that poverty is caused by a lack of money, which is a foolish idea.

Money is incredibly challenging to manage. I had addicted clients for whom receiving money was the worst possible outcome.

They would gravitate towards sociopathic acquaintances, especially if they lacked intelligence and self-defence skills. Once they had money, they would head straight to the bar with their friends.

I distinctly recall one individual who would disappear for five days every time he received his disability check.

Often, he would be discovered in a ditch, having spent every penny on alcohol and waking up in a near-fatal state. Eventually, he would feel ashamed, horrified, and repentant, striving to set himself straight again.”

Peterson’s earnings are astronomical, but capitalism isn’t to blame for the lack of people’s success.

You can’t blame inequality on capitalism.

Do you ever wonder why a small percentage of people achieve a significant amount?

The wealthiest 10% of people in the United States owned 69% of all the wealth. The bottom 50% of earners only comprise 2.5% of the total wealth.

While the U.S. promotes hard work and self-reliance, the reality is different when 9.3% of U.S. households earn less than $15,000 annually.

It’s a significant wealth disparity in the country.

Source — Statista

Peterson believes it’s a pattern that applies not only to wealth distribution but also to various aspects of life like career success, historical patterns, and even cities’ size.

It’s like when you play Monopoly, where everyone starts equally, but eventually, one player, “the evil capitalist”, ends up with most of the money and properties.

This pattern of unequal distribution is a common phenomenon in many areas of life.

Jordan Peterson — Source

“Once you start to succeed at something, the probability that you will continue to succeed ever more rapidly increases, so there’s an exponential function with regard to success, but there’s also an exponential function with regard to failure.”

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Success and failure don’t follow a linear path — they follow a curve. A small percentage of people achieve a lot, while the majority achieve less.

Peterson says it has less to do with the system people are in and more with an unwritten“economic law”.

The system should aim to provide equal opportunities, but it’s essential to acknowledge that unequal outcomes will always exist.

While in Monopoly, you are at the mercy of the dice and a significant element of luck, Peterson pokes fun at people who see capitalism as the issue — “Maybe you play non-competitive Monopoly where you re-distribute the wealth with everyone on the board after each round. That’d be fun.”

Peterson’s critics have questioned his moral stance of making so much money off the backs of primarily distressed men looking to better their lives.

The numbers are eye-watering.

Jordan Peterson — Source

“I’m an evil capitalist. I don’t make bones about it. I’m not ashamed of making money. It’s very hard to make money.

I make 80,000 dollars a month on Patreon. My book sells about 20,000 copies a week. I have royalties amounting to a dollar fifty on each of those. The tours garner about 35,000 to 50,000 dollars an evening.

I have a business generating, I don’t know, something in the neighbourhood of 200,000 dollars a month. There are some other smaller sources of income.”

Final Thoughts.

I have no issue with the money Jordan Peterson earns. His message resonates with millions of people across the world.

He’s exceptional at what he does, which plays out in his extreme success.

But the amount of money Peterson earns is in the spotlight and has received tremendous criticism.

One journalist asked, “The model you use to promote your work is a crowdfunding site (Patreon), so the more you incite a reaction, the more money you raise. Is it about raising money for you, or are you doing it for a cause?”

He says people support him because his videos have helped them, but they aren’t promised anything when they subscribe. He has a family to feed and more people he wants to reach with his message.

Jordan Peterson — Source

“I am an evil capitalist, after all, and I don’t really make any apologies for that. I set up my Patreon site mostly out of curiosity because I’ve been interested for a long time in how creative people can monetise their creative productions. Because that’s actually part of my technical interest because it’s very hard to monetise creative productions.”

For some reason, modern culture often portrays money as the root of all evil. What people speak about less is that it’s the love of money that’s evil.

If the wrong people have it, it can have catastrophic impacts. If capable people have it, it can have profoundly positive effects.

Peterson says making money requires diligent effort, discipline, and willingness to improve yourself continually.

You have to align your work with your values and interests, which can lead to greater fulfilment and increased opportunities for financial success.

But at its core, it revolves around the significance of “taking personal responsibility”.

Even when some might find what you say and do as “banal”.

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