Jordan Peterson v Milo: how the Trickster lost his mojo

If there was any doubt, Milo then accused Peterson himself of selfish motives: "He has heavily intimated that he's, you know, going to take on fights on people's behalf. But when it comes to individuals who just coincidentally might be commercial rivals to him, he doesn't just stand back, he sometimes actively stabs them in the front." The Trickster had challenged the ascendancy of the Lobster King to his popular throne, but frankly, few of Peterson's massive and grateful audience would have even noticed. To my mind, Milo's accusations were an interesting example of the very lobster hierarchy fights that Peterson described in his book. Well-known on YouTube and on American college campuses for opposing political correctness, Milo saw himself as first on the turf that Peterson had come along and claimed for himself. For instance, in an interview with Stefan Molyneux, Milo said of Peterson: "It's lovely to see somebody else being successful on territory that we know and love and work in ourselves."

It's hard to tell what Milo is exactly. He's a very complicated and contradictory person, destined to implode, which is exactly what happened. Well there's just no way you can be that contradictory a person and manage it. It's just not possible. He was just too many things happening at the same time for anyone to ever manage.

Jordan Peterson on Milo Yiannopoulos, Aspen Ideas Festival, June 2018

He's kind of got the manner and attitude and style and weaknesses, I suppose, of an old school fuddy-duddy establishment conservative, who will never go outside their comfort zone, never risk anything.

Milo Yiannopoulos to Andrew Bolt, on Jordan Peterson, February 2019

On the Bolt Report, Milo opined that Peterson had failed his responsibility to be a public voice on issues such as the Covington teens and Brett Kavanaugh. "There are consequences to speech when you have an enormous platform," he declared, also lamenting that "people who are very brave in writing don't go out and live their maxims, do justice to their fandoms" (yes, 'fandoms'). Peterson was "a lot of blather, and a lot of chat, and a lot of vague indistinct waffle, and not very much action." Milo then played the victim card. He had "suffered terribly" for his "truth telling" while Peterson was a "beta male" who was "not wanting to lose what he has." All this self-serving drama for spurning the Trickster, for no longer paying him the so-called "lavish compliments" he once did.

Milo's pitiful comments to Andrew Bolt seem very out of character for the self-described 'fabulous troll' of the Internet. But Peterson the psychologist and self-help author has his own row to hoe, sharing his passion for personal development and empowerment with others. He has also made it very clear that personal change and motivation come before social activism ('Clean up your room'), and that it is even sufficient in itself to transform the world. Who seriously asks Peterson to be a crusader for every issue that comes along? Milo, that's who. It's sad to see the Trickster lose his Mojo.