In a video message that recently went viral on Twitter, former governor of California, actor, and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger says that “the strength and the heart of the Russian people” have always inspired him. He then goes on to say that this fact gives him hope that the Russian people will understand him when he tells them that they are kept in ignorance of the reality of the war in Ukraine—viz. that it is the result of Russian military aggression—and that their leader Putin should end the war. Schwarzenegger’s message seems certainly well-intended. It is also true that it gets at some important issues: the extent to which the wider Russian population is kept in the dark about the war is both staggering and problematic. However, there is also something troubling lurking in the background of the message.
Arnie and the “Russian People”
Arnie and the “Russian People”
Arnie and the “Russian People”
In a video message that recently went viral on Twitter, former governor of California, actor, and bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger says that “the strength and the heart of the Russian people” have always inspired him. He then goes on to say that this fact gives him hope that the Russian people will understand him when he tells them that they are kept in ignorance of the reality of the war in Ukraine—viz. that it is the result of Russian military aggression—and that their leader Putin should end the war. Schwarzenegger’s message seems certainly well-intended. It is also true that it gets at some important issues: the extent to which the wider Russian population is kept in the dark about the war is both staggering and problematic. However, there is also something troubling lurking in the background of the message.