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May 27, 2019 9:24 AM Subscribe
“This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.” May marks the 64th anniversary of the founding of Monthly Review, the longest continually published socialist journal in the US. To mark that occasion, here is an essay from thier first issue, “Why Socialism?“ by Albert Einstein.
Einstein read Veblen? Nice.
posted by clawsoon at 11:07 AM on May 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by clawsoon at 11:07 AM on May 27, 2019 [1 favorite]
Yes, reading this I was like "Hmm, this dude's pretty smart" followed by "well I guess that makes a lot of sense actually. He is Einstein after all".
posted by Balna Watya at 11:34 AM on May 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by Balna Watya at 11:34 AM on May 27, 2019 [3 favorites]
It is easy to raise such questions, but difficult to answer them with any degree of assurance. I must try, however, as best I can, although I am very conscious of the fact that our feelings and strivings are often contradictory and obscure and that they cannot be expressed in easy and simple formulas.
I don't think there is anyone of Einstein's stature as both a scientific or technical expert and a public figure today, but even among the lesser lights, it is hard to imagine such humility of tone and such resistance to the temptation to extend the boundaries of one's expertise to encompass the entire universe. (Even if, as in this case, one had a better claim than most to regard oneself as an expert on the entire universe.)
posted by a certain Sysoi Pafnut'evich at 11:50 AM on May 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
I don't think there is anyone of Einstein's stature as both a scientific or technical expert and a public figure today, but even among the lesser lights, it is hard to imagine such humility of tone and such resistance to the temptation to extend the boundaries of one's expertise to encompass the entire universe. (Even if, as in this case, one had a better claim than most to regard oneself as an expert on the entire universe.)
posted by a certain Sysoi Pafnut'evich at 11:50 AM on May 27, 2019 [6 favorites]
it is hard to imagine such humility of tone and such resistance to the temptation to extend the boundaries of one's expertise to encompass the entire universe
This is the Age of Glibness. There have always been and always will be various forms of intellectual arrogance, but I'm not familiar with another period with such an undertone of "smart people can understand everything, and everything can really be boiled down to a TED Talk."
posted by praemunire at 1:32 PM on May 27, 2019 [8 favorites]
This is the Age of Glibness. There have always been and always will be various forms of intellectual arrogance, but I'm not familiar with another period with such an undertone of "smart people can understand everything, and everything can really be boiled down to a TED Talk."
posted by praemunire at 1:32 PM on May 27, 2019 [8 favorites]
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posted by The Toad at 9:28 AM on May 27, 2019 [4 favorites]