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letra de why socialism by albert einstein (edited for length) - hobo johnson

“is it advisable for someone 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 methodological differences between astronomy and economics. scientists in both fields attempt to discover laws of general acceptability for a circumcised group of…circumc—?scribed–oh, sorry–group of phenomena in order to make the interconnection of these phenomena as clearly understandable as possible. as clearly understandable as possible.”

[chorus]
ayo, einstein’s problem
aye, h-lla’ f-ckin hard, even he couldn’t solve ’em
that’s einstein’s problem
ayo, einstein’s problem

“for example, most of the major states of history owe their existence to conquest. the conquering people establish themselves, legally and economically, as a privileged class of the conquered country. they seize for themselves a monopoly of the land ownership and appointed a priesthood from among their own ranks. the priest, 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.”
man
yeah, that’s f-cked up
“but historic tradition is, so to speak, of yesterday, nowhere have we really overcome what thorstein veblen called ‘the predatory phase of human development.’ the observable economic facts belong to that phase, and even such laws as we can derive from them are not applicable to other phases, since the real purpose of socialism is precisely to overcome and advance beyond the predatory phase of human development. economic science in its present state can throw little light on the socialist society of the future.”
yeah
yeah
yeah, f-ck yeah

[chorus]
ayo, einstein’s problem
ayo, h-lla’ f-ckin hard, even he couldn’t solve ’em
boy, that’s einstein’s problem
ayo, that’s einstein’s problem

“i’ve now reached the point where i may indicate briefly what, to me, constitutes the essence of the crisis of our time. it concerns the relationship of the individual to society. the individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. but he has not experienced this dependency as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even his economic existence. moreover, his position in society is such that his egotistical drives of his makeup are constantly being accentuated, while social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. all human beings, whatever their position in society are suffering from this process of deterioration. unknown, only prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naïve, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.”
yeah
yeah, f-ck yeah
[chorus]
einstein’s problem
ayo, h-lla f-ckin’ hard, even he couldn’t solve ’em
boy, einstein’s problem
boy, that’s einstein’s problem

“the economic anarchy of the capitalist society as it exists today, in my opinion, is the real source of the evil. we see before us a huge community of producers, the members of which are unseasonably striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor. not by force, but on the whole, and faithful compliance with the legally established rules. in this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production, that is to say the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods, as well as additional capital goods, may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals.”

[chorus]
einstein’s problem
ayo, h-lla f-ckin’ hard, even he couldn’t solve ’em
boy, einstein’s problem
yeah, einstein’s problem

“the 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’m 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 towards social goals. in such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. a planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those who are able to work, and would guarantee the livelihood to every man, woman, and child. the education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society. nevertheless, it is necessary to remember that a planned economy is not yet socialism. a planned economy may be accompanied by the complete enslavement of the individual. the achievement of socialism requires the solution of some extremely difficult sociopolitical problems. how is it possible, in the view of the far-reaching centralization of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all powerful and overweening? how can the rights of the individual be protected, and therewith the democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured? clarity about the aims and problems of socialism is of the greatest significance in our age of transition, since, under present circumstances, free and unhindered discussion of these problems has come under a powerful taboo. i consider the foundation of this magazine to be an important public service, and that magazine is monthly review.”

- hobo johnson

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