Schwarzenegger’s Neoliberal Mantra: Bigots are Losers so pull yourself up from your Bootstraps

Source: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Twitter

Earlier this year, Arnold Schwarzenegger put out a video, calling out hate and antisemitism, which he denounced as a horrible loser ideology. This was probably in response to Kanye West and Nick Fuentas meeting with Trump, though it was reposted after the Hamas terror attack. Schwarzenegger made a similar video in response to Charlottesville, that called out Trump’s “both sides” comments, proclaiming that “there are no two sides to hate, there are no two sides to bigotry.”

Schwarzenegger’s video is mostly about antisemitism, but address bigotry in general. He starts off speaking about visiting Auschwitz with the message of “never again,” and asks how do we stop this from ever happening again. However, he makes the point that he does not want to preach to the choir but rather wants to talk to those who hold bigoted views, as he’s seen enough people who have followed hatred, referencing a personal angle with his father, who was a Nazi.

Schwarzenegger’s message is that the bigots themselves end up suffering rather than just their victims. He talks about the guilt and brokenness, but also that they end up feeling like losers, emphasizing the word loser. He says that some people feel like they deserve more in their lives, and that the only way they feel like they can make their lives better is to make others’ worse. Basically everything that you’re unhappy about is other people’s fault. It is easier to blame others and say that you’re superior to someone else than it is to work to improve, he says. He says that is not the path to success, but is the path of the weak. He says he doesn’t want you to be a loser, so rather than fighting a war against yourself, pull yourself up from your bootstraps.

In a sense it is a self-help/self-improvement video that has a redemption arch, that says it is never too late to improve and evolve rather than tell people they are irredeemable, as antiracist usually do. Obviously Schwarzenegger’s appeal is as a charismatic bodybuilder and action hero, not as an intellectual. However, there are partial truths to this message, as negative emotions can hold people back from accomplishing their goals and hatred often leads to conflict.

Regardless, Schwarzenegger’s commentary is hyper-moralistic and gaslighting, as well as a secular Prosperity Doctrine, that success is a reward for good moral behavior. Though it is convoluted in that it treats the loser in a Social Darwinist sense, while also worshiping the meek or victims. It assumes that there is a “right side of history,” with a Universal cosmic force that automatically punishes all actions and movements based upon hate. For instance, Schwarzenegger gives the examples of the Nazis, Confederates, and Apartheid South Africa, as failed movements based upon hate. Schwarzenegger called out the protesters at Charlottesville for idolizing losers as heroes, much like how CNN’s Jake Tapper called out Trump for defending the legacy of “loser Confederate generals.”

Source: MattM0720 Twitter

While a moralistic view of history is appealing, there are plenty of historic examples of bigoted people succeeding, and meek but righteous people being crushed. Schwarzenegger is also blatantly wrong that there has never been a successful movement based on hate. Were the slaves and Native Americans also losers of history, while European colonists were the winners? Certainly Genghis Khan, who was responsible for millions of deaths, is a winner of history with millions of living descendants.

Good vs. Evil from a moralistic, humanist standpoint, and success and accomplishments from a materialistic, or “might makes right” standpoint, don’t necessarily match up. Schwarzenegger brings up Nazism, which is the most extreme example of racial supremacism and totalitarianism, but leaves no room for nuance on questions of identity, tribalism, and nationalism. Not to mention that Schwarzenegger expressed some admiration for Hitler back in the 70’s.

Source: Bill Maher’s Twitter

Deriding one’s opponent as a loser is a common political tactic, especially for establishment shills. For instance, Rick Wilson, saying that Trump supporters were childless single men who masturbated to anime, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign dismissing Bernie Sanders supporters as basement dwellers. Another example is Ireland’s Prime Minister saying about anti-immigration protesters that, “ask everyone you know what they fear most on our streets. They're afraid of you. Afraid of your violence and your hate and how you blame others for your problems.”

A medium article by David Grace said that “The Charlotte/white supremacists stories in the mainstream media are all ‘New rise in racism–Hate is bad — etc.’ but nobody’s talking about the elephant in the room The basic, obvious, important fact that’s gone unreported is that saying, ‘I’m great because I’m white’ is equivalent to saying, ‘I’m a big, fat loser.’ Racism is something that people who feel inferior and weak grab onto like a guy who can’t swim clutching a life preserver.” Similar points are often made by conservatives about how the woke are losers who cling to identity politics, because they are too lazy to pursue STEM or the trades, or Fox News saying that it is anti-racist to be capitalist.

Source: BohmRespektor Twitter

Racists are losers is the neoliberal mantra, with its twin mantra being that class based politics are also for losers. Telling people to not take pride in their ancestry/inborn identity but only in material accomplishments is the essence of neoliberalism. The idea that it does not matter what ethnicity you are, as long as you can make money, is sold as a moral good. However, those who are unable to compete under neoliberalism are both morally shamed, but also denigrated as low status for turning to identity and tribalism. Basically it is cutthroat capitalism but masked by an egalitarian meritocratic ideology.

There are limitations to self-improvement and most people don’t matter to society as individuals. The message that success is only achieved on an induvial level is bullshit, as people organizing as a collective can have a greater impact. Yes, identity politics empowers those who feel powerless as individuals, and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. While there are opportunities out there for those who can carve out their own niche, there is zero sum competition and limited slots at the top, especially within mainstream institutions.

There are always going to be societal winners and losers, but there needs to be some honesty about that. Elites would rather gaslight people that all problems are personal than address deeper societal problems. Schwarzenegger, as part of the elite, is not saying that elites should have to make concessions to those struggling but rather is telling people that they can succeed, just like he did. It is a slave morality that is used to justify society’s social, political, and economic hierarchies.

Source: dr_duchesne Twitter

Presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, said that racism is a scarcity mindset, thus universal basic income can curb racism. This got him flak from the woke left for absolving racists of moral guilt. It was ground breaking for a left leaning politician to talk about racism in non-moralistic terms, but rather as an issue of material needs. Yang epitomizes the archetype of the East Asian technocrat, which many found refreshing in contrast with how American politicians tend to talk in moralistic platitudes. The leftist counter argument is that plenty of people who have their material needs met are still bigots. Regardless, the reality is that people are tribal and that won’t change.

Schwarzenegger’s comments imply that it is primarily ethnocentric Whites who are resentful and blame others for their personal failings. However, this victimhood mentality is way more common among the left and non-Whites. Overall the Left is much more motivated by envy and resentment, though recently a segment of non-liberal Whites are flirting with the politics of identity and resentment. Not to mention that anti-Jewish sentiment is also strongest amongst non-Whites. 

Schwarzenegger expressed sympathy for Black Lives Matter but then BLM vandalized his statue in Colombus, Ohio. However, I wouldn’t even call Schwarzenegger’s commentary woke, but rather it encapsulates the late 20^th Century, liberal capitalist paradigm, which is popular amongst Boomers. While you could describe Schwarzenegger as moderately woke, he basically is a neoliberal centrist who dislikes both MAGA nationalism and rising socialist sentiment on the Left. Regardless, woke did not come out of a vacuum, and is heavily influenced by the post-WWII, 20^th Century Liberal Paradigm, including Civil Rights.

Source: Muscle Insider

The neoliberal will deride Whites who can’t succeed and our bitter about it while the hardcore woke will focus on attacking White success, as a product of systemic racism. The woke leftist view is that capitalism is rooted in racism, and that the entire power structure that props up the wealthy, including the police and corporations are fundamentally White supremacist. From a rightwing standpoint this seems absurd, but the distinction is that it punches up rather than down. Though obviously the woke also punch down, so you can’t win if your White.

White Fragility author, Robin DiAngelo, stated that “Even the racial beliefs and responses that feel authentic or well-intentioned have likely been programmed by white supremacy, to perpetuate white supremacy. Whites profit off of an American political and economic system that showers advantages on racial “winners” and oppresses racial “losers.” Influenced by critical race theorist, Derrick Bell, Prof. Dorinda Carter Andrews, suggested “that because it is based on a system requiring winners and losers, capitalism is an inherently racist system and that education has been a “project of cultural imperialism.”

There is a horseshoe where both the dissident right and woke get at certain truths about power dynamics that the normie center totally ignore. For instance, woke critical race theorists are actually correct that the American system requires winners and losers. It is just that woke neoliberalism shifts around the seats, so that more losers are White and more winners are of color. The question is whether extreme wokeness will put enough pressure on the White upper class, rather than allowing them to just virtue signal and scapegoat downscale Whites.

While there are obviously tons of successful White individuals, Whites are declining as a group, in part due to hyper individualism and a lack of positive ethnocentrism. Multi-ethnic societies are overall harsher on losers, and capitalism fused with racial liberalism on top of social atomization, makes this especially harsh. While overt racism is low status for Whites, well off Whites use their wealth as a substitute for racial segregation. Non-ethnic Whites are at a disadvantage over groups that are more collectivist and who look out for each other, such as Jews, Chinese, and Hindus. However, I don’t support antisemitism, which is an easy copout and is ironically similar to how the woke left blames everything on White Supremacy.

Source: bizlet7 Twitter  

While today’s America amounts to an economic zone, the ruling class still needs a moralistic ideology to justify their legitimacy. American exceptionalism is based upon both moral superiority and a sense that Americans are great because we are winners, an ideology that has no response to decline. This explains the rise in both ethnic identity politics and economic resentment, which will only further accelerate, as people’s economic situations become more dire.

More and more people view the system as rigged against them. Where one stands in the managerial hierarchy increasingly matters much more than talent or hard work. There is a paradigm shift among the young, where many feel screwed over by society and thus have no moral obligations to society. There is greater appeal in grievance culture, in that people want to be told that they have been screwed over and that they can get some justice. This applies to both the woke and MAGA/dissident right. Identity politics and tribalism have the potential to meet people’s unmet social and economic needs.

Our ruling class want to keep this country as competitive as possible in every facet of society. American managerial capitalism is heavily reliant upon mechanisms of control and rites of passage, which have brutal repercussions. You have to play the game if you don’t want to end up destitute, or you can become a grifter. Alternative History YouTuber, Whatifaltist, said that “If a guy talks about the economy being bad he’s called poor, if he talks about the dating crisis he’s called an incel.” He adds that “Our elite treats us as a conquered people to humiliate and hurt to break our spirit. At this point the only thing that would get the ruling class to realize how miserable, poor, lonely and angry most people are is if there is a literal revolution.”