It seems like every generation believes that the olden days were better and looks down on younger cohorts, stereotyping them as being lazier, weaker, or more immature than their older counterparts.
Arnold Schwarzenegger defends this nostalgic theory. In a recent interview on the Howard Stern Show, the former bodybuilder complained about “kids these days,” arguing that America was raising a “generation of wimps.”
According to the 76-year-old star, people these days are less exposed to “struggles,” which translates into weaker, less resilient characters.
Image credits: schwarzenegger
"You can only strengthen your character and become a really strong person inside if you have resistance, if you fail, if you get up again and if you work hard,” he said.
Instead of leading a comfortable life, he said, the younger generations should “accept pain, misery, and discomfort” in order to become “tougher.”
"Anyone who tries to baby themselves and pamper themselves, it’s over. You’re never going to get there.”
The former governor of California believes that first-generation Americans perfectly embodied this definition of “toughness.”
"You can only strengthen your character if you have resistance, if you fail, if you get up again and if you work hard,” he said
Image credits: schwarzenegger
Image credits: schwarzenegger
The country became prosperous thanks to its workers, who were willing to tolerate adverse working conditions in order to bring food to the table.
"This is where ballsy women and men that went out there at five in the morning, and got up, and they struggled, they fought, they worked their butts off,” he explained.
“Is it people that slept in? Is it people that were wimping out? This, ‘Oh, I want to feel good. Oh, I want to be comfortable.’ No."
He carried on: "That’s what made this country great. And so now, let’s continue this way. Don’t start creating a generation of wimps."
Unlike first-generation Americans, he explained, "young kids" are not willing to make any sacrifices or deal with frustration
Image credits: schwarzenegger
Image credits: schwarzenegger
Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria and was the son of the local chief of police, has explained how he disciplined his children when they were growing up.
When asked whether he was a strict father, the dad of five said: "For I think the way I grew up, I was lenient," he said. "But I think for American standards, I was probably strict."
One of the incidents he described was when Patrick, his eldest son, had his nanny make the bed instead of making it himself.
"So I came in one time, and the bed was made so immaculately that I looked at Patrick and said, 'did you do that?'”
"And he said, 'no I didn't.'”
"So I opened up the doors, grabbed the mattress, and threw it off the balcony, down into the swimming pool."
As he shared, his son then had to drag up the soaking wet mattress from the swimming pool, dry it, and make his bed.
The ex-Mr. Universe maintains that children should do many chores to become resilient in the future.
"I said the kids have to make their own bed, they have to scrub their own showers, they have to clean their own toilets, and they have to wash their own clothes."
The Terminator star said that children should "make their own bed, scrub their own showers, clean their own toilets, and wash their own clothes"
Image credits: schwarzenegger
He then recalled other examples that prove his strict character, such as unscrewing every lightbulb in his son’s bedroom after he repeatedly forgot to turn off the lights and putting his daughter’s shoes in the fire after she didn’t put them away.
The Terminator star believes that, when it comes to controversial parenting choices, the ends always justify the means. "Let’s go and teach kids to be tough, to go out and do sports, to struggle, and go through these kind of painful moments sometimes,” he highlighted.
While it’s important to be considerate of their feelings, he said, people shouldn’t “over-baby” their kids.
You can watch Schwarzenegger voice his opinion below
Schwarzenegger wasn’t the first high-profile millionaire to complain about youngsters. In 2017, Australian real estate mogul Tim Gurner said millennials spent too much money on avocado toasts instead of homes.
Similarly, in 2016, the phrase “snowflake generation” was added to Collins English Dictionary to describe “the generation of people who became adults in or after the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offense than previous generations.”
Many people agreed with the star's analysis of the "snowflake generation"
Others, however, took issue with his words
