Shades of Hitler: Schwarzenegger & The Intensity of His Will

CBC's "The National" | December 19, 2004

I took special note of one response wherein he shrugs off his ignorance while
declaring his "will". Sound like any other famous Austrians you may have heard of?

Of course, the Austrian the writer is aluding to is Adolph Hitler, who frequently spoke about the importance of “will.” Here, for example, are two quotes from Hilter on will:

-“ Fifteen years ago I had nothing save my faith and my will. Today the Movement is Germany, today this Movement has won the German nation and formed the Reich.”

-“ Always before God and the world, the stronger has the right to carry through what he wills"

When we went to research the transcript, we found in it Arnold’s adamant discussion of the ultimate importance of the will. Here it is:

Solomon: Schwarzenegger’s biggest political weakness is what?

Schwarzenegger: If any, it could only be that I’m not as experienced in details as some of the more typical politicians are. But, if this is a weakness is really questionable because we have seen warehouses of details in Sacramento and they ran the state into the ground. So, actually, it could be an asset not to know everything and to…what is the most important thing? It’s will. The most important thing is will.

Solomon: That’s it. What is the most important asset? Is it intelligence?

Schwarzenegger: No. It’s will.

Solomon: Will? More important that experience?

Schwarzenegger: Because you can have all the experience that you want, you can have all the intelligence that you want, but if you’re not willing to represent the people instead of the special interests that you can’t really serve the state. So, therefore the most important thing is not intelligence. It’s will. Do you have the will that you will represent the people, the public’s interest, rather than special interests. That’s one, that’s one area that is extremely important. The other one is vision, for instance. Vision. If you don’t have a vision of where you want to go with the state or where you want to go with your career, and you’re just bumbling around from one thing to the next and whatever happens happens, then you will never really win. I mean that’s the most important thing.

Juxtapose Arnold’s attitude about the transcendent importance of the will with his viewpoint that "people need somebody to watch over them... Ninety-five percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave," (as told to US News and World Report in 1990 – Arnold was 44 years old at the time of this quote). 

How unlike Hitler’s“ Always before God and the world, the stronger has the right to carry through what he wills," is Schwarzenegger’s mindset? Considering he himself has stated that he has “dreamed of being a dictator,” his thinking is very Hitlerian, indeed.