Wellness is a Gateway to Right-Wing "Fascism"?
The Guardian's advocacy journalism attacks the physically fit.
I know the Guardian is a left-wing socialist rag, but even for them - their article titled “Everything you’ve been told is a lie!’ Inside the wellness-to-fascism pipeline” is so over the top obnoxious and bigoted that I can’t help but be amazed. Talk about lefties losing it!
Yep, according to the Guardian, there is a “WELLNESS TO FASCISM PIPELINE.”
From the article:
Thanks to wellness, QAnon is the conspiracy that can draw in the mum who shops at Holland & Barrett and her Andrew Tate-watching teenage son. The QAnon conspiracy is one of the most dangerous in the world, directly linked to attempted insurrections in the US and Germany, and mass shootings in multiple countries – and wellness is helping to fuel it.
The “wellness-to-woo pipeline” – or even “wellness-to-fascism pipeline” – has become a cause of concern to people who study conspiracy theories.
This apparent radicalisation of a nice, middle-class, hippy-ish group feels as if it should be a one-off, but the reality is very different. The “wellness-to-woo pipeline” – or even “wellness-to-fascism pipeline” – has become a cause of concern to people who study conspiracy theories.
The article’s psychobabble is incredibly intense and strange; to the point where it is hard to read the text without laughing out loud. The Guardian tries to link the modern-day “wellness” movement to the creation of QAnon, conspiracy theories and even fascism. Frankly, the entire article reads like a prolonged narcissistic self-victimizing cry of envy and resentment. Reminds me of some of my detractors.
The premise of The Guardian’s hit piece is that somehow people who are in the fitness industry are more prone to conspiracy theories, which then - according to the article is a “wellness to fascism pipeline”.
Furthermore, “people who study conspiracy theories”, those anonymous “people”, those experts who study conspiracy theories see wellness as a pipeline to fascism.
Have those experts actually bothered to read a definition of fascism? Enquiring minds also want to know - are those experts employed or funded by the government? Cause it sure seems like there is an agenda at work here.
But the Guardian didn’t back off on their obsession with fitness and fascism. Oh no, the progressive rag went even deeper into crazy land. This week, the Guardian published another hit piece on people who aren’t liberals and the wellness industry. The article is titled:
Getting fit is great – but it could turn you into a rightwing jerk
Quotes from the article include:
“The more self-actualized you become, the higher you are on self-righteousness”
“But there is a dark side to wellness, which I always, for shorthand, thought of as political: getting fit makes you more rightwing.”
“there you are, high on self-righteousness. You can tell this has happened to you when you start inhaling performatively, like the hero of an Ayn Rand novel.
“Inescapably, you start to situate other people’s problems within their failure to be as fit as you. This is particularly true if you don’t know them and they’re just a bunch of numbers. All those statistics – depressed people, obese people, people with IBS – imagine how much better they would be if only they took responsibility for their health, the way that you have.”
“Fitness has a capitalist logic – I guess because there’s so much money in it? – so nothing is ever enough. As soon as you can run 5km, you want to run 10. Before you know it, you’re swapping Strava stats with people you used to think were tossers but now, miraculously, you find you have a lot in common with. Always competing, always striving for growth, even if by “grow” you mean “shrink”. You have internalised the market, unfortunately. Also, you’re getting on everyone’s nerves.”
“In the fullness of time, I realise it’s not really a question of an unwitting slide into fascism, hastened by a treadmill. It’s more that there is a fixed amount of excellence in any self, and the more you spend on your biceps, the less you have for your personality. Wellness could turn you into a bit of a jerk, is what I’m saying.
The statements from the article are pure drivel and unsupported psychobabble, and even the submission of this manure should have had the author thrown out of the newsroom - as a bigot. Advocacy journalism at its finest.
So, just for kicks and giggles, let’s reread some of those quotes again.
“getting fit makes you more rightwing”
“there you are, high on self-righteousness. You can tell this has happened to you when you start inhaling performatively, like the hero of an Ayn Rand novel.
“Fitness has a capitalist logic”
“Inescapably, you start to situate other people’s problems within their failure to be as fit as you”
“Wellness could turn you into a bit of a jerk.”
“Also, you’re getting on everyone’s nerves.”
“the more you spend on your biceps, the less you have for your personality”
Beyond the pure and obvious bias on the part of the author, the quotes above document the Guardian is weaponizing words. Which of course, is that old trick that the progressive left does so well.
What actually is the definition of “self-actualization”?
Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled. The highest level of psychological development in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is self-transcendence. Wiki
According to The Guardian, being at the highest level of psychological development makes people more self-righteous. Yep, that makes total sense. Being self-actualized actually leads to one becoming a right-wing fascist. Who knew?
The truth is that the above articles are more victim worship. How dare anyone think that people who are not living up to their potential aren’t doing so because they are reliant on a socialist system? That providing a universal living wage, free education, free healthcare, housing, and other benefits, might make people less likely to feel the need to take personal responsibility for themselves?
So, why does the Guardian promote such nonsense?
Personal responsibility is a muscle that must be exercised. It takes goal setting, willpower, resiliency, self-control, and yes, a work ethic. It starts with teaching children responsibility for themselves and their families. What the Guardian misses is that people who take responsibility for themselves and their families may sometimes want to be fit, because they know that others rely on them. They may feel the need to be in the best shape that they can be, and to do their best at whatever endeavor they are involved in. This is a healthy mind-set in my opinion. But what do I know. I am neither psychiatrist nor psychologist.
An article in the Federalist titled, “What Fitness Tells Us About Conservatism’s Appeal” sums up the link between conservative beliefs and fitness nicely. From the article:
Consider the world of sport and fitness. It’s nearly always a fantastic encouragement of individual expression and ability while also promoting a positive community at large. Those hard working, disciplined, don’t-give-up mantras have become more prominent in the last few years as America’s athletic personality has swelled with amateurs.
Mentally tough and intuitively conservative-minded concepts of hard work and personal responsibility accompany these ventures.
Why not promote these ideas more prominently toward individuals in other parts of life? When government-centric solutions promise to deliver the goods with minimal effort on the part of the recipient, it takes away the opportunity for some that hard work, goal attainment and self-respect would offer. Government is necessary in many cases – a safety net for those in need – but when a net traps instead of saves, something has gone desperately wrong.
The human stories we love are usually those of character, humility and discipline. They are about people who have overcome despite the obstacles in their lives, who recognized they would miss 100% of the shots they never took.
Your “gold medal” may not be earned at the Olympics or on a race course at all. But if you apply the conservative principles found in the discipline of sport to other areas in life, your opportunities will have limitless potential.
This point of view is compelling, and articulates much of what the young men and women in the conservative and freedom movements believe. This is why the Guardian is on the offensive. They recognize that the fitness movement in the conservative party is a threat to the very foundation of the socialist regime which they support.
How about an article on the mental illness to liberalism pipeline? The highest rates of mental illness by far are among liberal women, and the highest rates of happiness are among conservative regular churchgoers. Can’t wait for the guardian’s “church to happiness pipeline” article…
Serious take: perhaps the more distant you become from reality, including the reality of your own body, the more prone you are to impersonal dehumanizing ideological fads… This is why medicine is such a disaster today, the doctors have forgotten the basic reality of what a child is, what a woman is, what a human being is:
https://gaty.substack.com/p/you-cant-intubate-a-fish
"My good-for-nothing parents, even knowing that my UBI check usually comes this time of the month, had not yet brought in the mail. So I had to do it myself. I hopped on my mobility scooter and rolled to the mailbox at the end of the driveway. And this, this healthy man came jogging by. He smiled at me, the smug bastard. He waved, and said 'Good afternoon,' before continuing on, probably for miles. He WAVED! Hitler waved too, you know. I just had to roll back inside and calm down with some HotPockets and HoHos. I blame my parents for this trauma."