The Bitcoinization of Jordan Peterson is a go. The famed psychologist and media personality had a Canadian politician as a guest in his podcast and couldn’t help but touch on the subject. And Maxime Bernier was right there with him, which lead to a brief discussion about Austrian Economics. Even though both Peterson and Bernier are controversial figures, they’re as mainstream as it gets. This isn’t Bitcoiners preaching to the choir.
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As if he was walking through a minefield, Jordan Peterson approached the subject carefully and in a non-comital way:
“The cryptocurrency types. You know? The people who’re pushing Bitcoin in particular, make the extraordinarily radical claim that it would be better for everyone if the entire business of money was taken out of the hands of government permanently. And that’s essentially what Bitcoin allows. At least at the present time.”
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Surprisingly for everyone not familiar with the politician, Maxime Bernier agrees and flashes his Austrian Economics credentials. Peterson follows the bread crumbs and asks him about that, Bernier answers:
“I believe, yes. The cycles that we have, the ups and downs in the economy, is because of the Central Bank. Money is everywhere, and if you create too much money out of thin air, you’ll have inflation. And distortion in the economy. And the boom and bust that we have. So, I 100% agree with Mises, Rothbard, Hayek, and these economists.”
For more information and Austrian Economics’ concepts, check The Bitcoinist Book Club’s analysis of “The Bitcoin Standard.”
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So, Who’s Maxime Bernier?
In the video’s information box, Jordan Peterson ’s team informs:
“In this episode, Dr. Peterson is joined by the Honorable Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), former MP of Beauce (2006-2019) and candidate for the Prime ministership of Canada.”
In 2017, Maxime Bernier tried to win the head of the Conservative Party. He failed. The next year, they removed him from the Official Opposition shadow cabinet. Later that year, he founded the People’s Party of Canada. In 2019, the novel party didn’t do so well, but, cut to 2021 and the People’s Party of Canada is suddenly on everyone’s radar.
The National Post explains the main reason:
“With protests against COVID-19 public-health measures growing, Bernier has tapped into a deep well of resentment about the way Canadians have had to live for the past 18 months, and fears about what the next months will look like.”
Apparently, the People’s Party of Canada is en route to get 6% in the next Canadian elections. If it happens, they’ll become one of the major political forces in the country. The Washington Post explains the situation:
“Six percent is not an impressive figure unto itself, and it’s likely the party will not win a single parliamentary seat. Yet the Green Party won zero seats and 4.3 percent of the popular vote in the 2004 general election and was nevertheless swiftly institutionalized by the media. Proclaimed one of Canada’s “major parties.”
What Does Jordan Peterson Think About Bitcoin?
The Canadian psychologist learned from the best. He had four of the brightest minds in the Bitcoin space explaining everything to him, and he got most of it on the first try. We at Bitcoinist broke down the episode, took notes, and transformed them into this analysis: Part 1, Part 2. The most amazing quote was this one:
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After listening carefully, Peterson synthesizes those ideas in a quote for the ages. “Whatever energy is expended in the production of Bitcoin and the maintenance of the system should be more than recouped by the increased efficiency of every system that uses Bitcoin as a transactional device.” Boom! If we take that into account, “There’ll be a net energy gain and not a net energy loss if you calculated it across the entire system.”
That conversation sparked the Maxime Bernier one. One of Canada’s biggest stars talking about Bitcoin in good light with a major political candidate. Who would’ve thought?
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