Thanks for reading and replying. I don't think Peterson's advice is all bad, telling someone to take responsibility for themselves is obviously a good thing, but if that's all one thinks about individuality/responsibility, like Peterson and most right wingers, then it's a hollow statement. It's a lot more complicated than that.

If you've managed to separate Peterson's philosophy and self-help and it's helped you then that's great. I was responding mainly to 1) my own experience reading Peterson and 2) most online Peterson fans, who seem to feel invigorated only because they've now got a hateful identity (i.e. spending all their time hating on feminism and academics). But like I say, if you've managed it then good, but his self-help and philosophy are so entwined, they come from the same sources and beliefs, that I couldn't imagine subtle influence from his philosophy seeping through somehow.

As for the far right thing, Peterson was originally big with the 'alt-right' before they realised he wasn't as extreme as them, but there are parts of Peterson's philosophy that definitely have appeal to the far right, especially his whole Strong Man, patriarchy-as-proven-by-biology thing, which has a lot of appeal to the 'manosphere'.

I did post a comment linking other Peterson critiques by other people below this essay which I'd recommend checking out.

Peace :)