I've now seen a couple of interpretations of @Schwarzenegger's video as going too easy on the Nazis. It's a very odd reflex that some people have to view any attempt to understand the *human* motivations of evil people as an excuse for their behavior. That's counterproductive.
@Schwarzenegger Schwarzenegger's story of his abusive ex-Nazi father is a warning to the Proud Boys--whom he compares to the villains of Kristallnacht--that if they continue down this path, they will be broken, guilt-ridden shells. That is, if they survive the fire they are trying to kindle.
See, the thing about the Nazis is that they were in fact humans, and they were motivated by human drives and beliefs. We have to understand how that happened and how it's happening again--but such understanding in no way justifies or excuses their crimes.
Frantz Fanon showed how torture inflicts psychopathology in not only the victim, but in the torturer as well. Arnold's father was lucky to have survived the war--who knows what he did during it--and his post-war life was the scar he had to bear for at least enabling atrocities.
Acknowledging the role of disinformation in the formation of racist and genocidal movements is critical in understanding how they form. It doesn't imply that those who greedily devour the lies are not culpable. They want to believe the lies, for a variety of reasons.
Imagine growing up the child of a literal Nazi--a Nazi who got drunk and beat you and your mother. Imagine knowing that your dad hurts you because he feels guilty, but ALSO that he feels guilty because he fought a war for genocide. Those are some complicated feelings for a kid.
Empathy is in short supply among white nationalists, but if some chud is convinced not to join up because he's scared of what might become of him or his family, that's something.
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