My overall opinion on that matter is that, ultimately, Einstein grasped the logical necessity of Socialism as outlined in Why Socialism? but contained many chauvanistic attitudes common to Western Socialism. He changed his tune from being firmly anti-Soviet in the 20s to overall greatly complimenting Lenin:
“I honor Lenin as a man who completely sacrificed himself and devoted all his energy to the realization of social justice. I do not consider his methods practical, but one thing is certain: men of his type are the guardians and restorers of the conscience of humanity.”
The chauvanistic attitudes, however, are often swept under the rug. With respect to Chinese people, he commented in his diary:
“Chinese don’t sit on benches while eating but squat like Europeans do when they relieve themselves out in the leafy woods. All this occurs quietly and demurely. Even the children are spiritless and look obtuse… It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races. For the likes of us the mere thought is unspeakably dreary.”
Overall, I believe he harbored extremely reactionary views, such as support of Zionism (which, while eventually fading, persisted), the shown racism towards Chinese people, and more. While the logical necessity of Socialism is elucidated quite clearly in Why Socialism? it appears he harbored western-supremacist views.
This stands in stark contrast to contemporary intellectuals like Frantz Fanon, who lived in Algeria and the USSR. I don’t think Einstein should be lionized, however I do think his essay Why Socialism? serves as a good starting point for those who think Socialism to be utter nonsense, and serve as a springboard for actual, genuine works of theory.
No problem! That’s just my interpretation, he waffled back and forth on the Soviets his whole life but maintained a “non-anti-soviet” position after coming to Socialism from his former Liberalism, which shaped the earlier aspects of his life. I don’t think he ever seriously committed to confronting that liberalism, but merely became convinced of the benefits of Socialism.
In his early 20s, the region that would become the USSR had performed a number of pogroms and mass murders in the name of blood-libel. Post WWI, Bolshevik started to become a bit of a dog-whistle for Jews, which got amplified through WWII, and then fed back into anti-Bolshevik/antisemitic beliefs.
As a proud, yet incredibly hypocritical Jew, I’m sure Einstein had seen enough antisemitism coming from that region that it likely played some sort of a role in his decision.
Hey history buffs: why did Einstein flee to the US when he believed this? Why not flee to the USSR?
My overall opinion on that matter is that, ultimately, Einstein grasped the logical necessity of Socialism as outlined in Why Socialism? but contained many chauvanistic attitudes common to Western Socialism. He changed his tune from being firmly anti-Soviet in the 20s to overall greatly complimenting Lenin:
The chauvanistic attitudes, however, are often swept under the rug. With respect to Chinese people, he commented in his diary:
Overall, I believe he harbored extremely reactionary views, such as support of Zionism (which, while eventually fading, persisted), the shown racism towards Chinese people, and more. While the logical necessity of Socialism is elucidated quite clearly in Why Socialism? it appears he harbored western-supremacist views.
This stands in stark contrast to contemporary intellectuals like Frantz Fanon, who lived in Algeria and the USSR. I don’t think Einstein should be lionized, however I do think his essay Why Socialism? serves as a good starting point for those who think Socialism to be utter nonsense, and serve as a springboard for actual, genuine works of theory.
Einstein also wrote some colorful things about Latin America
It’s a good reminder of how ingrained colonialism is in society, and how no one is immune of its influences in our worldview.
Gross…
Thank you for the information! <3
No problem! That’s just my interpretation, he waffled back and forth on the Soviets his whole life but maintained a “non-anti-soviet” position after coming to Socialism from his former Liberalism, which shaped the earlier aspects of his life. I don’t think he ever seriously committed to confronting that liberalism, but merely became convinced of the benefits of Socialism.
In his early 20s, the region that would become the USSR had performed a number of pogroms and mass murders in the name of blood-libel. Post WWI, Bolshevik started to become a bit of a dog-whistle for Jews, which got amplified through WWII, and then fed back into anti-Bolshevik/antisemitic beliefs.
As a proud, yet incredibly hypocritical Jew, I’m sure Einstein had seen enough antisemitism coming from that region that it likely played some sort of a role in his decision.
Also, this is an assumption.
No safe harbors for socialists anywhere