Guest Report

John Passant on Einstein's Brain

A few weeks ago there was a bit of rubbish in some of the press about Einstein's brain. The articles roused my interest, not in phrenology but in Einstein and his social thought.

Social thought? But Einstein was a scientist, wasn't he? Obviously. But he understood his work in the context of the society in which he lived. And he was deeply critical of that society.

Einstein was a socialist, but not a Stalinist.

Like many others, Einstein's politics are conveniently forgotten or hidden. The time has come to reclaim Einstein for the socialist tradition.

50 years ago in May, Einstein published Why Socialism? in a left-wing magazine in the US called Monthly Review. In a world today of war and economic crisis, his arguments are worth revisiting.

What follows is an edited version of his longish article. The full text can be found at http://www.westegg.com/einstein/

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Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. The individual is able to think, feel, strive, and work by himself; but he depends so much upon society-in his physical, intellectual and emotional existence-that it is impossible to think of him, or to understand him, outside the framework of society. It is "society" which provides man with food, home, the tools of work, language, the forms of thought, and most of the content of thought; his life is made possible through the labour and the accomplishments of many millions past and present who are all hidden behind the small word "society".

It is evident, therefore, that the dependence of the individual upon society is a fact of nature which cannot be abolished -just as with ants and bees. However, while the whole life process of ants and bees is fixed down to the smallest detail by rigid, hereditary instincts, the social pattern and interrelationships of human beings are very variable and susceptible to change. Memory, the capacity to make combinations, the gift of oral communication have made possible developments among human beings which are not dictated by biological necessities. Such developments manifest themselves in traditions, institutions and organisations; in literature; in scientific and engineering accomplishments; in works of art.

The time- which, looking back, seems so idyllic- is gone forever when individuals or relatively small groups could be completely self sufficient. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that mankind constitutes even now a planetary community of production and consumption. The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. 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. I shall call "workers" all those who do not share in the ownership of the means of production.

The owner of the means of production is in a position to purchase the labour power of the worker. By using the means of production, the worker produces new goods which become the property of the capitalist. 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 labour 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. 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 labour encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of the 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 organised political society. The members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists. Moreover, under existing conditions private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education).

Workers, through long and bitter political struggles, have succeeded in securing a somewhat improved form of the "free labour 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 instability in the accumulation and utilisation of capital which leads to increasingly severe depressions. Unlimited competition leads to a huge waste of labour 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. In such an economy the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilised 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 able to work and would guarantee a 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 as such 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 view of the far reaching centralisation 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 a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?

******

Einstein raised these questions in the context of a world which in general regarded the USSR as socialist. The lack of workers' democracy - an essential element in socialism - indicates that Einstein was asking the wrong question. The democratic control of society, in particular the means of production, can prevent the rise of a bureaucracy.

But this an issue for another day.

Einstein. Just one of the many whose socialism our rulers hide.

John Passant is a Canberra-based writer

   contact John

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