rant · moment 21 of 23
American Decline, Sacrifice Zones, and Jordan Peterson
from America's Election Headquarters · #121
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
3 minTim and Ray discuss America's late-empire military dominance versus economic hollowing-out of towns (referencing Chris Hedges' "sacrifice zones"), then pivot to criticizing Jordan Peterson's increasingly combative, mythology-laden persona.
- 53:53America will become like Britain, but Britain's a small country where the elites don't care about decline.
- 54:26Many American cities will go the way of Detroit; Chris Hedges calls these 'sacrifice zones.'
- 54:42Tim travels constantly and sees bleakness everywhere—mining towns, factory towns, all shot through with the opioid crisis.
- 55:00Service industry jobs are all that's left: cutting hair, working at Applebee's, lumber yards, mechanic shops.
- 55:23Tim thinks Peterson has become radicalized and combative in recent interviews, dismissive of people's actual problems.
- 56:05Peterson offers redemption allegories while real places like Flint are poisoned; Tim calls this mythological garbage when people need tangible help.
- 56:19Peterson is objectively intelligent and articulate, which is testament to how bad things are that people regard mere intelligence as a solution.
- 56:45A Chris Hedges and Jordan Peterson conversation would be interesting—they disagree fundamentally on capitalism and corporate power.