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Albert Einstein: Why Socialism?

Detroit Institute of Art ~ Diego Rivera Mural

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“For the sake of simplicity, in the discussion that follows I shall call “workers” all those who do not share in the ownership of the means of production—although this does not quite correspond to the customary use of the term. The owner of the means of production is in a position to purchase the labor power of the worker. By using the means of production, the worker produces new goods which become the property of the capitalist. The essential point about this process is the relation between what the worker produces and what he is paid, both measured in terms of real value. Insofar as the labor contract is “free,” what the worker receives is determined not by the real value of the goods he produces, but by his minimum needs and by the capitalists’ requirements for labor power in relation to the number of workers competing for jobs. It is important to understand that even in theory the payment of the worker is not determined by the value of his product.” — Albert Einstein, Monthly Review, May 1949

NonCompete on Apr 5, 2019

Read the article.

From the archives:

The Difference Between Socialism, Communism, and Marxism Explained by a Marxist

Caleb Maupin: Socialism Will Save America!

Brendan M. Cooney’s Law of Value Series: Part 1: Introduction + Marx Quiz

How Capitalism Controls You by The Anti-Social Socialist

Howard Zinn: Hidden History of The American Working Class

What If Workers Ran Society? by Elizabeth Schulte

Socialism: Creating a World to Change Our Lives by Sam Friedman

What Will A Socialist Society Be Like? by Jessica Hansen-Weaver

How To Achieve Socialism (repost)

What is Socialism? (archive of posts)

22 thoughts on “Albert Einstein: Why Socialism?”

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  9. I agree with the substance of Einstein’s position, but as things have progressed since 1949, the entrenched extremes have become more and more polarised in massively destructive ways that have done very great, irrevocable harm. First among those are the gross, sacrilegious and lethal insults to Nature that an unenlightened polity and privileged ruling minority have permitted to occur, through the abuses of industrial power and the deployment of monstrous weapons of devastating force.

    The great challenge for an ecological society is how to accommodate the colossal diversity of expression, of which human beings are already, and may in future be capable; as we evolve further to expand our understanding of Universal Laws.

    Jacob’s quote is thoroughly apt ~ “Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education).” Of course it is also true that religious establishments have immense power to condition and also to suppress free thought and creative expression.

    The truth is writ large on our city walls now in crude hieroglyphs, make no mistake; as the scars of consumption desecrate the landscapes of our Sacred dwelling ‘outside.’ We cannot continue as we are. Appropriate technology has its part to play, but more than anything what is needed most urgently, is a new relationship with our habitat ~ and those habitats within this life-supporting biosphere, We may dream of a super-galactic cosmos without end, but our jewel in space, this Island world we call Earth is a very finite place in relation to the relative enormity of what remains an inscrutable ‘local’ Solar system There certainly are empirical limits to planetary growth, but there are no limits to what the educated imagination can compass..

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  19. “Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of the smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights.” – Einstein

    https://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism/

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