YSK: Albert Einstein wrote about Socialism, and specifically calls out issues with the version proposed by technocrats.

Comments

• Bonesince1997@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  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 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.

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  • squirrel@piefed.kobel.fyi ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    This is too accurate

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    • Bonesince1997@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Stood out to me for that reason, as well. Several other passages in there are like that, too, but that would have been too much to share. However, I did not read in its entirety. Sad that we cannot break out of our limitations, from what little I understand.

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  • sanguinepar@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Wow, turns out Einstein was pretty smart! 😁

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    • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      That was like the third-smartest thing about Einstein. Second-smartest was the Theory of Relativity, and First-Smartest was leaving Germany in 1933.

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• yesman@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  I like Einstein and Socialism! But Einstein’s opinion on politics, while interesting, carries no special weight. On matters of mathematics and physics Einstein carries the authority of his knowledge. On matters of politics he’s just another dude.

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  • king_comrade@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Einstein literally addresses that in his opening statement…
    ‘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.’.
    Give it a read, it won’t take long.

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  • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    So is everyone.

    Saying “he’s just another dude” as if his opinions on politics don’t matter is that same as saying your opinion (or my opinion) doesn’t matter. Its saying only politicians opinions matter, which is about the polar opposite of reality.

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    • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      To be fair, there’s a chance that some random Lemming is more studied on leftist teachings than Einstein.

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    • salacious_coaster@feddit.online ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      [deleted]

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  • JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I honestly don’t care who wrote it. Point is an article was written 75 god damn years ago which specifically denounces the Technocracy proposed mere weeks ago. The article is well written, he doesn’t claim to be all-knowing because he’s good at math, he claims that he has opinions. They happen to be opinions that make a lot of sense.

    TLDR: Hobo Johnson did a musical rendition of some select quotes from the article. If the article is too cumbersome to read, listen to the song. It gets a lot of the point across.

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    • TherapyGary@anarchist.nexus ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      I was just about to link that Hobo Johnson lol. It’s already in my clipboard, and mine is for an alternative platform, so I might as well drop it anyway:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfxOd03PIwQ

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  • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I linked it in a top level comment, but if you’re someone who likes watching long, thoughtful video essays, this is an excellent one on the precise topic of your comment, from one of my favourite science communicators

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• Tiger@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Cool I didn’t know he wrote a whole book about socialism. Irony alert- at that link they’re selling his 104 page essay / ebook for a capitalist-savory price of $15, wtf.

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  • Telorand@reddthat.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I have an idea: fuck capitalism!

    archive.org/download/AlbertEinsteinAndHisWorks

    The essay is titled: Why Socialism?

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    • king_comrade@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      Ty comrade

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• AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  Ooh, an opportunity to share a video from one of my favourite science communicators, the inimitable Dr Fatima (an ex-astrophysicist). (Duration: 1h16)

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