Single Points of Failure

Peterson: I know, for me, and I suppose it’s because I have somewhat of a depressive temperament. . . I mean one thing that staggers me on a consistent basis is the fact that anything ever works. 

Because it’s so •unlikely•, you know, to be in a situation where our electronic communications work, where our electric grid works. And it works all the time, it works one hundred percent of the time. 

And the reason for that is there are mostly Men out there who are breaking themselves into pieces, repairing this thing which just falls apart all the time.

Paglia: Absolutely. I said this in the Munk Debate in Toronto several years ago.

All these elitists and professors sneering at men. 

It’s MEN who are maintaining everything around us. This invisible army which feminists don’t notice. Nothing would work if it weren’t for the men.

Peterson: A professor is someone who’s standing on a hill surrounded by a wall, which is surrounded by another wall, which is surrounded by another wall - it’s walls all the way down - who stands up there and says ‘I’m brave and independent.’ 

It’s like, you’ve got this protected area that’s so unlikely - it’s so absolutely unlikely - and the fact that people aren’t on their knees in gratitude all the time for the fact that we have central heating and air conditioning and pure water and reliable food. . . It’s absolutely unbelievable.

Paglia: Yes, I mean people used to die. . . 

The water supply was contaminated with cholera for heaven’s sake.

People don’t understand. To have clean water, fresh milk, fresh orange juice. All of these things. These are marvels.

Peterson: And all of the time.

Paglia: All of the time. Western culture is heading - because we are so dependent on this invisible infrastructure - we’re heading for an absolute catastrophe when jihadists figure out how to paralyze the power grid. 

The entire culture will be chaotic. 

You’ll have mobs in the street within three days when suddenly the food supply is interrupted and there’s no way to communicate. 

That is the way Western culture is going to collapse.

And it won’t take MUCH.

Peterson: Single points of failure.

Paglia: Because we are so interconnected, and now we’re so dependent on communications and computers. . . I used to predict for years it’ll be an asteroid hitting the earth, and then we’ll have another ice age.

Peterson: Do you know how the solar flares work? This happens about once every century. So back about 1880 - I don’t remember the exact year - there was a significant enough solar flare. . . So that produces an electromagnetic pulse like a hydrogen bomb because the sun is a hydrogen bomb. An electromagnetic pulse will emerge from the sun and wave across the earth, and it produces huge spikes in electrical current along anything that’s electronic, and it will burn them out.

It lit telegraph operators on fire in the 1800s. One of those things took out the Quebec power grid in 1985 and knocked out the whole Northeast Corridor. So they figure those things are about one in a century event.

My brother-in-law, who’s a very smart guy. . . He designed the chip in the iPhone. We were talking about political issues the last time I went and saw him in San Francisco, and his notion was that ALL that the government should be doing right now is stress-testing our infrastructure the same way they stress-test the banks. 

Because we’re so full of these single points of failure.

And I think you’re absolutely right. 

Luckily we’ve been, what would you call, invaded by stupid terrorists instead of smart terrorists, because a smart terrorist could do an unbelievable amount of damage in a very short period of time. 

And it’s just God’s good graces that that hasn’t happened yet.

Paglia: What will happen is that it’s The Men. . . The Men will reconstruct civilisation while the women cower in the houses and have the men go out and do all the dirty

work. 

That’s what’s going to happen again. 

Only men will bring civilization back again.