Marxist passivity toward ripening conditions paralyzed German socialists

Evidence

I ignore the middle classes, for whom I am in danger of becoming a bogeyman, and the Friends of the Fatherland', who, at the moment of danger for the Fatherland, prefer despair to constructive work. I appeal to the Socialists, Yes, you are loyal! You are loyal to a prophecy: that is why you are waiting till the time is ripe. That is why you talk about firms ripe for socialization’instead of trusting yourselves to have the maturity to make them ripe! — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 29

Categorization

• APHORISMS: Wilbrandt’s rebuke—waiting for ripeness instead of ripening things yourself—reads as durable practical advice beyond its 1919 context.
• XREF: connects to: Critical Theory arose from Marxism’s failure to explain workers’ passivity — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 389; Capitalist contradictions operated at higher and more dangerous levels in Germany — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1203; German socialists seized power in 1918 unprepared for governance — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 27

Broader Connections

• Critical Theory arose from Marxism’s failure to explain workers’ passivity #contradicts (0.78) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 389
• Capitalist contradictions operated at higher and more dangerous levels in Germany #expands (0.72) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1203