Einstein on capitalism

Einstein the socialist
Einstein the socialist

Extract from an article written by legendary physicist and socialist Albert Einstein in 1949 explaining the capitalist system and its inherently flawed nature.

Submitted by Steven. on March 15, 2017

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.

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.

The situation prevailing in an economy based on the private ownership of capital is thus characterized by two main principles: first, means of production (capital) are privately owned and the owners dispose of them as they see fit; second, the labor contract is free. Of course, there is no such thing as a pure capitalist society in this sense. In particular, it should be noted that the workers, through long and bitter political struggles, have succeeded in securing a somewhat improved form of the “free labor contract” for certain categories of workers. But taken as a whole, the present day economy does not differ much from “pure” capitalism.

Production is carried on for profit, not for use. There is no provision that all those able and willing to work will always be in a position to find employment; an “army of unemployed” almost always exists. The worker is constantly in fear of losing his job. Since unemployed and poorly paid workers do not provide a profitable market, the production of consumers’ goods is restricted, and great hardship is the consequence. Technological progress frequently results in more unemployment rather than in an easing of the burden of work for all. The profit motive, in conjunction with competition among capitalists, is responsible for an instability in the accumulation and utilization of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions. Unlimited competition leads to a huge waste of labor, and to that crippling of the social consciousness of individuals which I mentioned before.

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.

I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.

Excepted from Why socialism? By Albert Einstein, published in Monthly Review, May 1949

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Comments

Chilli Sauce

6 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Chilli Sauce on June 8, 2017

Wow, that was a lot more Marxist than I expected it to be!

Steven.

6 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on June 10, 2017

Chilli Sauce

Wow, that was a lot more Marxist than I expected it to be!

I know right it's pretty good!

Khawaga

6 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on June 10, 2017

Yeah, dude must have straight up read some Marx.

sarda

6 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by sarda on June 26, 2017

Capitalist society is like a temple with three main pillars supporting it, these pillars are the schools, the industry, and the market, any of these pillars be removed or breakdown, it will eventually collapsed, but how does one get out from a collapsing temple?

The only reason why the temple is still standing up is not because the pillars are planted firmly to the ground, they are not, all these pillars remain upright because people are just holding on to them, and they they will keep on holding them until they "see" an alternative temple.

In one of the main pillars are the workers, by way of a union, establish themselves as a class of their own, by way of cooperatives, establish their own school, establish their own market, and finally their own industry, now people start to "see" this as an alternative and start going the workers' way and disregards the old pillars and start leaving. Capitalist class sees the danger and doesn't like it a bit and implement a measures to stop it, but as Marx said, rights against rights, force decide.

adri

3 years 9 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org