Antisemitism is the socialism of fools
Statement opposing antisemitism attributed to August Bebel or Ferdinand Kronawetter
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Etymology
While the phrase is often attributed to German socialist activist and politician August Bebel or even to German philosopher, political theorist and economist Karl Marx,[2] Bebel himself,[3] and later British historians Peter G. J. Pulzer and Richard J. Evans, all attributed it to Austrian left-liberal politician Ferdinand Kronawetter.[2][4][5] The first known usage of the phrase by Kronawetter was in a speech at an April, 1889, general meeting of the Margarethen District Electoral Association in Vienna;[6] on 24 April 1889, the Neue Freie Presse published Kronawetter's speech, wherein he said: "Der Antisemitismus ist nichts als der Socialismus des dummen Kerls von Wien" ('Antisemitism is nothing but the socialism of the idiot of Vienna').[7][6] By the 1890s, the expression was widely used among German social democrats.[4]
Legacy
Philosopher Leo Strauss argued that Soviet leader Joseph Stalin may have believed that, because fools were numerous, a "socialism of fools" would be advantageous. Strauss suggested that Stalin deliberately fostered antisemitism for this reason.[8][9]
