Neumann’s hope in mass reason ignored that fascism itself had already molded them

Evidence

The breach between possibility and actuality' was seen by all the members of the Horkheimer circle. But the question was whether the masses were so imbued with possibility that they would at some point cease to accept actuality. To this Neumann was only able to say, If we believe man to be essentially wicked, if egoism is the sole incentive of man, the prospects are rather black. But man is neither bad nor good, he will be molded by his cultural and political experience.’ However, it was precisely this cultural and political experience, in Neumann’s own view, which had made the virtually unresisted seizure of power by the Nazis possible. Since then, the formative `cultural and political experience’ had been fascism. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 1207

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The self-undermining optimism: Neumann’s faith that cultural experience would radicalize the masses was hollow because the formative experience had already been fascism.