Arnie and the “Russian People”

In a video message that recently went viral on Twitter, former governor of California, actor, and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger says that “the strength and the heart of the Russian people” have always inspired him. He then goes on to say that this fact gives him hope that the Russian people will understand him when he tells them that they are kept in ignorance of the reality of the war in Ukraine—viz. that it is the result of Russian military aggression—and that their leader Putin should end the war. Schwarzenegger’s message seems certainly well-intended. It is also true that it gets at some important issues: the extent to which the wider Russian population is kept in the dark about the war is both staggering and problematic. However, there is also something troubling lurking in the background of the message.

What is problematic about the message is the suggestion that humans divide into “peoples” that have a “heart” and “strength.” Of course, Schwarzenegger is not the first to suggest this; this has long been a familiar trope in literature and politics. However, this is a trope that, in many ways, ought to be resisted. Biologically, all humans are more alike than different in their genetic and molecular-regulatory makeup. Russian hearts and minds—just like their lungs and toenails—develop and operate much like those of other humans. Suggesting otherwise is dangerous and problematic: fundamentally, we are all human, and we have a lot in common. Talking about “the strength and the heart of the Russian people”—however inspiring these may be said to be—creates divisions where there aren’t any. This is the first key thing to keep in mind here: however well intentioned, talk of “the strength and the heart of the Russian people” groups people into fixed classes of us and them. In an important fundamental sense, Russians, Ukrainians, and Brazilians (to name a few) are the same. In a time of war, this is precisely to be avoided.

Now, it is important to note that it is also part of our biological heritage that we are a social, culture species. We, as humans, are not like snapper fish, growing up and making our way through the world on our own. Rather, we learn how to think and act from parents, peers, and others in their culture. We would not be able to survive otherwise. Importantly, this kind of social and cultural learning can lead to some quite stable intercultural differences. The foods we eat, the languages we speak, the religions we follow, and the social mores we adopt differ across different human groups. In this sense, it is defensible to speak of a “Russian” (or Ukrainian or Austrian or whatever) people. However, it is important not to misunderstand this.

First, these groupings need not follow nationalistic lines. There may not be one Russian people in this sense, but many: there may be many subcultures that interact mostly with each other in Russia. There may be cultures transcend nationalistic lines (and e.g., comprise both Russians and Ukrainians—a fact also alluded to by Schwarzenegger.) Again, therefore, speaking about “the Russian people” is misleading here.

Second, describing these cross-cultural differences in terms of stable character differences is also somewhat off the mark. There is no reason to think that physical or mental strength or bravery match the kind of differences that result from cultural learning. To be sure, there may well be different cultural norms in terms of how to display emotions or the like. However, it is not plausible to think that Russians have a strength and heart that is different from what is found in other humans—including Ukrainians.

Now, none of this is to say that Schwarzenegger was wrong to post his message or that doing so will do more harm than good. On the contrary: the tone of the message is heartfelt, conciliatory, and welcoming, and while it is not clear to what extent it can really influence the outcome of the war, there is a—perhaps small, but not necessarily zero—chance it can have a positive impact. Rather, the point here is just that it is easy for us to fall into a trap of us thinking of us as opposed to them, and that these divisions are deep parts of our beings. Instead, here is to hope that those in charge—but especially Putin and his close group of followers—will remember soon that, in an important sense, we are all the same.