June 08, 2024
Einstein's Blunder
Timothy Birdnow
Of course Einstein's answer was socialism, a far more oligarchic and evil and poverty-inducing system. He had no constructive alternative.
What is needed is Chesterton's Distributism, which is SMALL businesses, not huge corporations.
The marriage of corporations and the State is a form of socialism too - Fascism. Einstein assumes an either/or situation. But it's not. Like government, it can be limited or non-limited and representative of the People or not.
Chesterton put it succinctly "the difference between a socialist and a capitalist is the size of their paychecks."
The rise of the multi-national corporation has been terrible for the whole world, but the People accepted it under arguments for "free trade" and the mom-and-pop businesses all died to the giants. Now the giants are all kowtowing to the altar of statism because that kills the competition. But the corporation is an artificial entity and can be altererd, and especially these giant multi-nationals. But it is utter folly to toss out the baby with the bathwater as did Einstein here.
Of course Einstein's answer was socialism, a far more oligarchic and evil and poverty-inducing system. He had no constructive alternative.
What is needed is Chesterton's Distributism, which is SMALL businesses, not huge corporations.
The marriage of corporations and the State is a form of socialism too - Fascism. Einstein assumes an either/or situation. But it's not. Like government, it can be limited or non-limited and representative of the People or not.
Chesterton put it succinctly "the difference between a socialist and a capitalist is the size of their paychecks."
The rise of the multi-national corporation has been terrible for the whole world, but the People accepted it under arguments for "free trade" and the mom-and-pop businesses all died to the giants. Now the giants are all kowtowing to the altar of statism because that kills the competition. But the corporation is an artificial entity and can be altererd, and especially these giant multi-nationals. But it is utter folly to toss out the baby with the bathwater as did Einstein here.
"In the inaugural May 1949 edition of socialist magazine Monthly Review, Einstein argued that private capital "tends to become concentrated in few hands”, resulting in "an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society”.
"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.”
"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.”
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
10:52 AM
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