The Appropriation of the Nerd Image as Meritocratic Propaganda

Not long ago I remarked the class overtones of the stereotypical image of the "nerd" and the disdain for those adhering to it--the upper-class resentment of those who challenged their entitlement by trying to get ahead on the basis of diligence and education. Belonging to a world of aristocratic privilege and its defense, the ways of rationalizing inequality have long since changed to claims for society as meritocratic--and unsurprisingly, attitudes toward the "nerd" have changed in some ways. Especially with the neoliberal era seeing the exaltation of the self-made inventor-businessman--the tech billionaire as usually presented to the public--as the supreme example of the meritocrat, there has over recent decades been much talk of the "revenge of the nerds," "nerd pride" and so forth.

It is all quite silly, really, as silly as any of the other neoliberal propaganda out there, the true stories of these things not usually what they are made out to be. (Indeed, looking at many a "self-made" fortune today, as much as in any other time, one constantly finds Josiah Bounderby-like distortion of the facts, not least regarding the share of that critical feature of technical ability in the making of a billionaire.)

Meanwhile, given all the baggage attaching to the term "nerd," so-called attempts to "reclaim" nerdiness and "take pride" in nerdiness ring hollow indeed, with this exemplified by how those who can seem the very faces of the propaganda actually act in real life. Far from embracing their nerdy image, many seem to go to great lengths to discard it--not least by in middle age deciding to enter martial arts tournaments in which they are publicly humiliated by abler opponents.