After the persistence of the Young Americans for Liberty, Dr. Jordan Peterson presented on the ethics of free speech and safe spaces.

Once scheduled at Linfield, the talk moved to The Falls Event Center and was open to the community.

Peterson addressed the importance of free speech and why others should be open to engage in such conversations. “You are obligated to speak freely, otherwise people don’t have the benefit of whatever wisdom you may poses,” Peterson said.

“Life is suffering,” Peterson said. Peterson used this idea to support his argument that safe spaces are not helpful in shaping the realities of what is going on in the world. Peterson stated that colleges and universities should eliminate safe spaces because the outside world is not going to be as composed as the safe spaces that universities and colleges have to offer.

“Your most powerful arms are your words,” Peterson said. “Which is why spaces cannot be safe for any length of time,” Peterson said.

“The safer the space is made now, the more dangerous the space is made in the future,” Peterson said. He explained that this is a hard concept for people to understand. “They don’t want to face the fundamental truth that life is suffering,” Peterson said. Peterson defined safe spaces, as “artificial spaces are where people can elude themselves temporarily in their naivety that life can be made safe,” Peterson said.

A discussion followed Peterson’s talk. People patiently waited for their turn to ask Peterson a question. Due to controversy that surrounded this event and the speaker, Peterson was not able to get through everyone in line.

A Linfield student spoke about their views on safe spaces. “Safe spaces are beneficial in educational environments to cultivate safe learning,” said an anonymous student at Linfield. Peterson’s views on safe spaces are controversial. Many at Linfield do not agree with Peterson’s views on safe spaces and argue that they are helpful in colleges and universities across the nation.

Peterson argued that one must teach these individuals to stand up and defend their thoughts in the real world. “That way they know how to stand up forthrightly, instead of crying and running home,” Peterson said. The room filled with applause as Peterson made this statement.

“What you do with someone that you love is you make them strong,” said Peterson. “You do not tell them that they are secure, that there is nothing there to get them because there is everything there to get them,” Peterson said.

YAL apologized for the controversies that surrounded this event. “It is not within the club’s intentions to generate any harm or create an environment where people feel unsafe,” YAL Club President, Lucas Carter said. “We want people to be more open. That is our intention,” Carter said.