Page 52 - Tom Steyer Issue

Cooper: Yeah. I guess you could say low-income in general.
Steyer: Yes. That’s the lens through which I look at cli- mate.
Cooper: Have you worked with Al Gore?
Steyer: Yes. I think anybody in climate has to look up to and respect Vice President Gore. He is a model person. He has accomplished so much in so many different areas and has been a gigantic leader in climate on a global basis, and continues to be. He spends a lot of time in the Bay Area, which is where I’m from, so I’ve been lucky about that and have gotten a chance to get to know him and work with him. He’s been working on this for a very long time. He was very prescient early on. He’s been very influential as a leader and is dedicat- ed. I can’t say enough good things about Al Gore.
The organization I started, NextGen America, has been pushing for high turnout for elections for as long as we’ve been around. This is the end of our eighth year. It’s really important for everybody to show up. NextGen has been pushing in all the states it’s in for ubiquitous, universal vote by mail. That’s specifically relevant to people with disabilities to make sure that they have as much opportunity to vote as possible. So I’m encourag- ing everybody to show up and vote on November 3rd in what will be a pivotal day in American and world histo- ry. I want to make sure that everybody gets the chance, specifically people with disabilities have as much chance as possible, to fulfill their basic rights. I think in this case basic obligations to vote and participate in our democracy.
Cooper: You’ve mentioned your father’s work at times. How much was that discussed in your family when you were growing up in terms of what he was able to do in Nürnberg?
Steyer: You mean prosecuting Nazis? Cooper: Yes.
Steyer: I don’t know how old you are, but I am 62. That means I grew up right in the middle of the civil rights movement. The context in which my father talked about prosecuting Nazis was in the context of justice. Honest- ly, the civil rights movement was when people are haters and prejudiced. It’s like, that’s where we were going. You’re just seeing the most extreme version of that. So make sure that you’re aware that when that shows up, you’re on the right side and you’re not just passive. Honestly, that’s how my parents talked about Nazism, in terms of civil rights and justice and accept- ing people. When I said to you respecting people’s dig- nity as fully human beings, people with disabilities, that was my point. That’s the context for my father talking about prosecuting Nazis. The last Nazi came out of prison in 1970 to be prosecuted, Albert Speer, who got reasonably good press. And I asked my father, “Is he a decent guy?” And he was like, “No, that guy had slaves working for him, and he was working them to death, and he told me to my face he didn’t know they were slaves.” They’re doing horrible things and they’re trying to justify them.
Cooper: Why do you think they could get so many peo- ple to do so many bad things?
52 ABILITY