Hello everyone, I (Arnold Schwarzenegger) want to talk to you today about the rising hate and anti-Semitism (Jewish Racism) we’ve seen all over the world in the past few months. I visited the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, where 1.1 million men, women, and children lost their lives, almost all of them ruthlessly murdered simply because they were Jewish. When you walk through a place like Auschwitz, you feel a tremendous weight. Everywhere you look, there are reminders of the horrors that happened there. The suitcases that were never claimed by the prisoners, the shoes that were left behind, the gold teeth and hair that were taken from the murdered to be reused by the murderers. The log books with thousands of names crossed out as if a cruel accountant only measured death. The gas chambers with scratches on the walls from the fingernails of people who tried to hold on to life. The crematorium where the Nazis tried to erase all of the atrocities.
“It’s the feeling of history, of millions of voices that were silenced decades ago, begging you, begging you not to just look at their shoes but to spend a few hours in them, to imagine you were there.”
The weight on your back hits you at the very beginning, heavier than any squat I’ve ever done. It never goes away. It’s the feeling of history, of millions of voices that were silenced decades ago, begging you, begging you not to just look at their shoes but to spend a few hours in them, to imagine you were there. Once you imagine that, your imagination has no choice but to start the real work. How do we stop this from ever happening again?
“Once you imagine that, your imagination has no choice but to start the real work. How do we stop this from ever happening again?”
I want to talk to the people who might have already stumbled into the wrong direction, into the wrong path. I want to talk to you if you’ve heard some conspiracies about Jewish people or people of any race or gender orientation and thought, “That makes sense to me.” I want to talk to you if you find yourself thinking about anyone being inferior and out to get you because of their religion, the color of their skin, or their gender. I don’t know the road that has brought you here, but I’ve seen enough people throw away their futures for hateful beliefs.
Some people joined the Nazis because they were filled with hate. Some joined the Nazis because they thought they deserved more in their lives and believed that the only way to make their lives better was to make other lives worse. Some joined the Nazis because they were frustrated with the government, and some just because everyone else was doing it, and it didn’t really matter why they joined. They were all broken in the same way. That’s the bottom line here. If you find yourself at the crossroads, wondering if that path of hate might make sense to you for one reason or another, or even wrapping yourself with a flag of hate, I want you to know where that path ends. I want you to see very clearly in front of you and your mind that throughout history, hate has always been the easy path, the path of least resistance.
“Hate might make you feel empowered for a while, but eventually, it consumes whatever vessel it fuels. It breaks you.”
Let me be clear: you would not find success at the end of that road. You would not find fulfillment or happiness because hate burns fast and bright, and it might make you feel empowered for a while, but eventually, it consumes whatever vessel it fuels. It breaks you. It’s the path of the weak, and that’s why there has never been a successful movement based on hate. Think about that. The Nazis, the Confederacy, the apartheid movement, and the list goes on. On and on.
I don’t want you to be a loser. I don’t want you to be weak. See, I’ve spent most of my life helping people find their strength. Despite all of the things that we may disagree about, and all my friends who might say, “Arnold, don’t talk to those people. It’s not worth it,” I don’t care what to say. I care about you. I think you’re worth it. I know that nobody is perfect. I can tell you this firsthand, and I can understand how people can fall into a trap of prejudice and hate. We all hold some prejudice. We all have to fight it our whole lives.
“I don’t want you to be a loser. I don’t want you to be weak.”
It’s easy to throw around signs and labels, claiming to be superior to others, but it’s much harder to actually work on becoming better yourself. It’s easier to make excuses and blame others, like the Jewish people, for holding you back, but it’s much more empowering to admit that you need to work harder. It’s easier to hate and find echo chambers that validate your beliefs, but it’s much more fulfilling to learn and grow.
The war against hate is the war against yourself. It’s not easy to look in the mirror and change your own life, but it’s necessary for growth and strength. You have to take responsibility, learn new things, and embrace discomfort. The more you struggle and build strength, the stronger you will become.
“The war against hate is the war against yourself.”
There are two paths in front of you: the harder one, which will be downright painful, and the easier one, which will lead to misery and brokenness. The end of the road isn’t pretty, but it’s necessary to choose strength and conquer your mind.
I’ve seen firsthand the power of strength and the importance of choosing it over hate. Even in the darkest moments, like the Holocaust, there is still hope for those who choose to conquer their minds and find the light.
So, I urge you to choose strength, choose life, and conquer your mind. There is still time for you to make a change and find the empowerment that comes with it. Thank you for listening.
