Why Socialism? by Albert Einstein

[guno]

Albert Einstein is the world-famous physicist. This article was originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review (May 1949). It was subsequently published in May 1998 to commemorate the first issue ofMR‘s fiftieth year.




'Is it advisable for one who is not an expert on economic and social issues to express views on the subject of socialism? I believe for a number of reasons that it is.

Let us first consider the question from the point of view of scientific knowledge. It might appear that there are no essential methodological differences between astronomy and economics: scientists in both fields attempt to discover laws of general acceptability for a circumscribed group of phenomena in order to make the interconnection of these phenomena as clearly understandable as possible. But in reality such methodological differences do exist. The discovery of general laws in the field of economics is made difficult by the circumstance that observed economic phenomena are often affected by many factors which are very hard to evaluate separately. In addition, the experience which has accumulated since the beginning of the so-called civilized period of human history has—as is well known—been largely influenced and limited by causes which are by no means exclusively economic in nature. For example, most of the major states of history owed their existence to conquest. The conquering peoples established themselves, legally and economically, as the privileged class of the conquered country. They seized for themselves a monopoly of the land ownership and appointed a priesthood from among their own ranks. The priests, in control of education, made the class division of society into a permanent institution and created a system of values by which the people were thenceforth, to a large extent unconsciously, guided in their social behavior.'

Why Socialism

 

[Iceweasel]

...and yet he chose to move to the biggest capitalist country. LOL

 

[DriftingSand]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

 

[Delta4Embassy]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

Einstein was against teh atomic bomb. That his E=MC2 equation led to atomic bombs isn't the same as saying he helped invent it any more than the Chinese invention of gunpowder and rockets led to ICBMs.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

As to 'why socialism' well how about how the 10 freest and happiest countries are all democratic-socialist countries?

 

[Freewill]

Albert Einstein is the world-famous physicist. This article was originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review (May 1949). It was subsequently published in May 1998 to commemorate the first issue ofMR‘s fiftieth year.




'Is it advisable for one who is not an expert on economic and social issues to express views on the subject of socialism? I believe for a number of reasons that it is.

Let us first consider the question from the point of view of scientific knowledge. It might appear that there are no essential methodological differences between astronomy and economics: scientists in both fields attempt to discover laws of general acceptability for a circumscribed group of phenomena in order to make the interconnection of these phenomena as clearly understandable as possible. But in reality such methodological differences do exist. The discovery of general laws in the field of economics is made difficult by the circumstance that observed economic phenomena are often affected by many factors which are very hard to evaluate separately. In addition, the experience which has accumulated since the beginning of the so-called civilized period of human history has—as is well known—been largely influenced and limited by causes which are by no means exclusively economic in nature. For example, most of the major states of history owed their existence to conquest. The conquering peoples established themselves, legally and economically, as the privileged class of the conquered country. They seized for themselves a monopoly of the land ownership and appointed a priesthood from among their own ranks. The priests, in control of education, made the class division of society into a permanent institution and created a system of values by which the people were thenceforth, to a large extent unconsciously, guided in their social behavior.'

Why Socialism

You mean you think so if they end up agreeing with your position.

Einstein was in reality a flash in the pan. He had about two really great years that cemented his reputation as a genius. Other then that..... He supported the static universe theory to the point of writing it into his famous equation and was proven wrong. So no, we don't need to use him as a source of information on the economy. We only need to look at the failure socialism has been throughout history.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

Einstein was against teh atomic bomb. That his E=MC2 equation led to atomic bombs isn't the same as saying he helped invent it any more than the Chinese invention of gunpowder and rockets led to ICBMs.

Einstein wrote a letter to FDR urging the bomb be built.

 

[Freewill]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

Einstein was against teh atomic bomb. That his E=MC2 equation led to atomic bombs isn't the same as saying he helped invent it any more than the Chinese invention of gunpowder and rockets led to ICBMs.

yeah, I would say that it kinda did.

 

[Freewill]

As to 'why socialism' well how about how the 10 freest and happiest countries are all democratic-socialist countries?

As was shown in another thread, if the US didn't have so many liberals we would be way more happy.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

As to 'why socialism' well how about how the 10 freest and happiest countries are all democratic-socialist countries?

As was shown in another thread, if the US didn't have so many liberals we would be way more happy.

Happiest country in the world is Denmark. A socialist-democracy. US is 17th.

 

[Freewill]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

Einstein was against teh atomic bomb. That his E=MC2 equation led to atomic bombs isn't the same as saying he helped invent it any more than the Chinese invention of gunpowder and rockets led to ICBMs.

Einstein wrote a letter to FDR urging the bomb be built.

True a letter was written signed by Einstein, if it were not for Hitler and Germany splitting the atom in 1938, I doubt the letter would have been written or signed by Einstein.

Albert Einstein and the Atomic Bomb

Einstein's greatest role in the invention of the atomic bomb was signing a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the bomb be built. The splitting of the uranium atom in Germany in December 1938 plus continued German aggression led some physicists to fear that Germany might be working on an atomic bomb. Among those concerned were physicists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner. But Szilard and Wigner had no influence with those in power. So in July 1939 they explained the problem to someone who did: Albert Einstein. According to Szilard, Einstein said the possibility of a chain reaction "never occurred to me", altho Einstein was quick to understand the concept (Clark, pg. 669+; Spencer Weart & Gertrud Weiss Szilard, eds., "Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts", pg. 83). After consulting with Einstein, in August 1939 Szilard wrote a letter to President Roosevelt with Einstein's signature on it. The letter was delivered to Roosevelt in October 1939 by Alexander Sachs, a friend of the President. Germany had invaded Poland the previous month; the time was ripe for action. That October the Briggs Committee was appointed to study uranium chain reactions.

But the Briggs Committee moved very slowly, prompting Einstein, Szilard, and Sachs to write to FDR in March 1940, pointing again to German progress in uranium research (Weart & Szilard, pg. 119+). In April 1940 an Einstein letter, ghost-written by Szilard, pressed Briggs Committee chairman Lyman Briggs on the need for "greater speed" (Weart & Szilard, pg. 125+; Clark, pg. 680).

Research still proceeded slowly, because the invention of the atomic bomb seemed distant and unlikely, rather than a weapon that might be used in the current war. It was not until after the British MAUD Report was presented to FDR in October 1941 that a more accelerated pace was taken. This British document stated that an atomic bomb could be built and that it might be ready for use by late 1943, in time for use during the war (Richard Rhodes, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", pg. 377+).

Einstein biographer Ronald Clark has observed that the atomic bomb would have been invented without Einstein's letters, but that without the early U.S. work that resulted from the letters, the a-bombs might not have been ready in time to use during the war on Japan (Clark, pg. 682-683).

 

[Freewill]

As to 'why socialism' well how about how the 10 freest and happiest countries are all democratic-socialist countries?

As was shown in another thread, if the US didn't have so many liberals we would be way more happy.

Happiest country in the world is Denmark. A socialist-democracy. US is 17th.

Predominately one race on one belief system. Hard to not believe they don't argue among themselves.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

The letter urged it be built, but not used. They wanted to demonstrate it, not actually use it.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

Einstein went from a pacifist to a "semi" pacifist due to Nazi aggression and the idea that the Nazis were working on their own atomic project

 

[DriftingSand]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

Einstein was against teh atomic bomb. That his E=MC2 equation led to atomic bombs isn't the same as saying he helped invent it any more than the Chinese invention of gunpowder and rockets led to ICBMs.

"The Origin of the Manhattan Project


Its roots lay in a letter Albert Einstein sent to President Franklin Roosevelt. On August 2, 1939, Einstein sent a letter to the US President stating the Germans were trying to enrich uranium 235. This process would allow them to build an atomic bomb.


This led to Roosevelt’s decision to create the Manhattan Project. To purify the uranium, a research center was set up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Some of the scientists that figured in this process were Harold Urey and Ernest Lawrence."
Who Invented the Atomic Bomb

 

[Delta4Embassy]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

Einstein was against teh atomic bomb. That his E=MC2 equation led to atomic bombs isn't the same as saying he helped invent it any more than the Chinese invention of gunpowder and rockets led to ICBMs.

"The Origin of the Manhattan Project


Its roots lay in a letter Albert Einstein sent to President Franklin Roosevelt. On August 2, 1939, Einstein sent a letter to the US President stating the Germans were trying to enrich uranium 235. This process would allow them to build an atomic bomb.


This led to Roosevelt’s decision to create the Manhattan Project. To purify the uranium, a research center was set up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Some of the scientists that figured in this process were Harold Urey and Ernest Lawrence."
Who Invented the Atomic Bomb

That's an oversimplification of what actually happened. As it turned out, the Germans were never anywhere close to making an atomic bomb. And they found that out before we'd completed our's.

 

[DriftingSand]

As to 'why socialism' well how about how the 10 freest and happiest countries are all democratic-socialist countries?

As was shown in another thread, if the US didn't have so many liberals we would be way more happy.

Happiest country in the world is Denmark. A socialist-democracy. US is 17th.

LOL. How does one determine the "happiness" of a nation? Nobody asked me if I was happy and I doubt that the vast majority of the members of this forum have ever had the question posed to them either.

 

[DriftingSand]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

Einstein was against teh atomic bomb. That his E=MC2 equation led to atomic bombs isn't the same as saying he helped invent it any more than the Chinese invention of gunpowder and rockets led to ICBMs.

"The Origin of the Manhattan Project


Its roots lay in a letter Albert Einstein sent to President Franklin Roosevelt. On August 2, 1939, Einstein sent a letter to the US President stating the Germans were trying to enrich uranium 235. This process would allow them to build an atomic bomb.


This led to Roosevelt’s decision to create the Manhattan Project. To purify the uranium, a research center was set up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Some of the scientists that figured in this process were Harold Urey and Ernest Lawrence."
Who Invented the Atomic Bomb

That's an oversimplification of what actually happened. As it turned out, the Germans were never anywhere close to making an atomic bomb. And they found that out before we'd completed our's.

So you're saying the Einstein's letter wasn't entirely true and was a means by which to manipulate Roosevelt into producing an atomic bomb when it wasn't really necessary to do so.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

As to 'why socialism' well how about how the 10 freest and happiest countries are all democratic-socialist countries?

As was shown in another thread, if the US didn't have so many liberals we would be way more happy.

Happiest country in the world is Denmark. A socialist-democracy. US is 17th.

LOL. How does one determine the "happiness" of a nation? Nobody asked me if I was happy and I doubt that the vast majority of the members of this forum have ever had the question posed to them either.

Ya, because you don't know how it works it must be bunk.

 

[SassyIrishLass]

An essay from a man who helped invent the Atomic Bomb! How ironic!

Einstein was against teh atomic bomb. That his E=MC2 equation led to atomic bombs isn't the same as saying he helped invent it any more than the Chinese invention of gunpowder and rockets led to ICBMs.

"The Origin of the Manhattan Project


Its roots lay in a letter Albert Einstein sent to President Franklin Roosevelt. On August 2, 1939, Einstein sent a letter to the US President stating the Germans were trying to enrich uranium 235. This process would allow them to build an atomic bomb.


This led to Roosevelt’s decision to create the Manhattan Project. To purify the uranium, a research center was set up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Some of the scientists that figured in this process were Harold Urey and Ernest Lawrence."
Who Invented the Atomic Bomb

That's an oversimplification of what actually happened. As it turned out, the Germans were never anywhere close to making an atomic bomb. And they found that out before we'd completed our's.

The fact remains Einstein supported making the bomb. The US had no idea how far Germany was into it's own project