this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2025
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Did he form these views before or after he lived out his life in the country that is the anthesis of socialism? ๐ค
After. In 1923, he fled Berlin to the United States, and was a member of a liberal political party. He was thoroughly anti-soviet at the time, but eventually his views changed and balanced out. In 1949, he wrote Why Socialism? as he became increasingly convinced of the logical necessity for the transition to Socialism, and a world government. He also changed his tune on Lenin and the Soviets:
Part of what changed his views were becoming friends with prominent American Communists such as the legendary Paul Robeson. Over time, he took increasingly gentle and in some cases supportive stances towards the Soviet system, and was anti-War, including the nuclear Arms Race that the US relentlessly pushed forward.
Einstein, however, had serious internal chauvanism. He was a supporter of Zionism (which, while faded over time, never truly faded), and had this to say about the Chinese:
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.
I deleted my comment because this is a masterful response. I want to remain on record, though, that you're replying to an idiot who is trying to cause problems. You're better than me for not pointing that out lol.
(also pinging @[email protected])
Sometimes*, it's still worth replying to bad faith 'debate', not to discuss or even necessarily refute them, but to address their audience, including lurkers.
That said, it's also good to have FAQs and links so you don't waste 30 minutes of your labor replying to a downvoted sunken bad faith one-liner.
No thats a great mindset. I just have no faith in humanity.
I've had many people at this point DM or reply to me saying they appreciate my input and learned something new, and this helps me keep my faith up. There are also those who consider me a "troll" which is silly, and others who are eternally anti-Marxist-Leninist no matter what, but those aren't the people I really try to reach, it's the more reasonable people that are more receptive and act in better faith. Funnily enough, I have developed a bit of an "anti-fan club."
In cases like this, it's pretty much a lay-up for me to put a bit of effort in, as you can see from the response my comments are getting on this post. In other cases, I ignore because I can tell the other person's mind is made up and there's no chance of onlookers anyways.
Ultimately, it's a balance.