Arnold Schwarzenegger Reflects on the Parallels Between Trumpism & Nazism, and How We Can Save Our Democracy

He grew up in the ruins of World War II–the ruins cre­at­ed by the Nazism and its ide­o­log­i­cal com­mit­ment to con­spir­a­cy the­o­ries, vio­lence and white suprema­cy. Based on that for­ma­tive expe­ri­ence, the for­mer Repub­li­can gov­er­nor offers his take on this week’s coup attempt in Wash­ing­ton: “Being from Europe, I’ve seen how things can spin out of con­trol… We must be aware of the dire con­se­quences of self­ish­ness and cyn­i­cism. Pres­i­dent Trump sought to over­turn the results of an elec­tion, of a fair elec­tion. He sought a coup by mis­lead­ing peo­ple with lies. My father and our neigh­bors were also mis­led with lies, and I know where such lies lead.” To avoid a sim­i­lar fate, we must hold the con­spir­a­tors account­able, find pub­lic ser­vants who will serve high­er ideals, and, most impor­tant­ly, “look past our­selves, our par­ties and our dis­agree­ments, and put our democ­ra­cy first.” Amen Arnold.

Relat­ed Con­tent:

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The Sto­ry of Fas­cism: Rick Steves’ Doc­u­men­tary Helps Us Learn from the Hard Lessons of the 20th Cen­tu­ry

Umber­to Eco Makes a List of the 14 Com­mon Fea­tures of Fas­cism

Han­nah Arendt Explains How Pro­pa­gan­da Uses Lies to Erode All Truth & Moral­i­ty: Insights from The Ori­gins of Total­i­tar­i­an­ism