In Bellingham town hall, travel guru Rick Steves turns attention to fighting fascism | Cascadia Daily News

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In front of a sold out crowd, renowned European travel guru Rick Steves took audience members on a journey. Not to the pleasure beaches of Italy but rather a journey through the rise and fall of fascism in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s — and the rhyming tones of history nearly 100 years later as the United States faces a consequential presidential election.

Hosted by Cascadia Daily News, the two-hour event on Thursday, Oct. 17 featured a screening of Steves’ 2018 TV special “The Story of Fascism in Europe” and a discussion between Steves, moderator Dean Wright and CDN Executive Editor Ron Judd about the role the free press plays in creating an informed electorate.

The day after ballots were sent out across Whatcom County, Judd and Steves discussed what’s at stake in an election only two and a half weeks away, the importance of educating citizens, and how travel can help Americans become better-informed voters.

“You aspire to come home with that most beautiful souvenir, and that is a better empathy for and an understanding of the other 96 percent of humanity,” Steves said. “You can be more thankful than ever that you’re American, but you’ve gotten out there, and you know that the world is filled with joy, it’s filled with love, it’s filled with good people.”

The love and the value people place on their families, and the desire to keep them safe, can help explain why people may believe lies told by autocrats who spread fear of the unknown. Ahead of the TV special screening, Steves used that idea to help the audience understand what the German people were thinking during the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.

He added that fear — fear of the Jewish people and fear of new ideas — used by the Nazis at the time is still used today. The targets of fear may be different but autocrats such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and autocrat-like former President Donald Trump still continue to use the same threads Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini used.

“It’s as if they’re reading through a recipe book on how to overthrow a democracy,” Steves said.

In order to fight back against rising fascism and autocracy, the need for a free press is clearer. But, Judd argued, news media could do a better job calling out propaganda-like claims from U.S. politicians.

“The frustrating thing for me … you don’t see the national press just demeaning the things that are coming out of one of our parties as propaganda,” Judd said. “They don’t use the word. They put code words.”   

Ever complicating the spread of propaganda and misinformation is social media. While the Nazis used the newest technology available to them (radio), today, information echo chambers allow people to settle into their perceived realities. 

“When I try to understand the right-wing populist Christian nationalism base, I’ve got to remember their whole outlook is shared by that algorithm kind of stuff,” Steves said.

Remaining aware of the rise of fascist ideas and the leaders who peddle them helps create a balm against it. Part of that includes being educated and remaining curious about the world.

“I keep thinking that people want to be good, and they would be good if they had hope,” Steves said. “And if they had an education, they were less liable to be manipulated by fear-mongering sources that want to take advantage of you.”

Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.