TLDR: Hobo Johnson did a musical rendition of some select quotes from the article. If the article is too cumbersome to read, listen to the song. It gets a lot of the point across.

  • Bonesince1997@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    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.

      • Bonesince1997@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Stood out to me for that reason, as well. Several other passages in there are like that, too, but that would have been too much to share. However, I did not read in its entirety. Sad that we cannot break out of our limitations, from what little I understand.

        • MotoAsh@piefed.social
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          1 month ago

          Because they’re not limitations. They’re jail cell bars. It’s the classic, “the system is broken” vs, “working as intended”.

          He’s right: The rich do have a massive imbalance of influence, and they like to keep it that way. It’s limited on purpose.

      • ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        That was like the third-smartest thing about Einstein. Second-smartest was the Theory of Relativity, and First-Smartest was leaving Germany in 1933.

  • Tiger@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    Cool I didn’t know he wrote a whole book about socialism. Irony alert- at that link they’re selling his 104 page essay / ebook for a capitalist-savory price of $15, wtf.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I like Einstein and Socialism! But Einstein’s opinion on politics, while interesting, carries no special weight. On matters of mathematics and physics Einstein carries the authority of his knowledge. On matters of politics he’s just another dude.

    • king_comrade@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Einstein literally addresses that in his opening statement…
      ‘Is it advisable for one 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.’.
      Give it a read, it won’t take long.

    • JustAnotherKay@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 month ago

      I honestly don’t care who wrote it. Point is an article was written 75 god damn years ago which specifically denounces the Technocracy proposed mere weeks ago. The article is well written, he doesn’t claim to be all-knowing because he’s good at math, he claims that he has opinions. They happen to be opinions that make a lot of sense.

      TLDR: Hobo Johnson did a musical rendition of some select quotes from the article. If the article is too cumbersome to read, listen to the song. It gets a lot of the point across.

      ETA: Einstein lived through the rise of Nazi Germany. He has direct experience in a situation like ours, more than most living Americans. At least in this way, he is more than just some dude on this subject. He has seen a mock-socialism be attempted and failed, and had ideas about how to handle those failures.

    • curbstickle@anarchist.nexus
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      1 month ago

      So is everyone.

      Saying “he’s just another dude” as if his opinions on politics don’t matter is that same as saying your opinion (or my opinion) doesn’t matter. Its saying only politicians opinions matter, which is about the polar opposite of reality.