Why Socialism? (Monthly Review, May 1949)

Albert Einstein · c. 1949

The piece opens with

Science cannot create ends; at most it can supply the means to attain them

Their wordsScience, however, cannot create ends and, even less, instill them in human beings; science, at most, can supply the means by which to attain certain ends.

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Albert Einstein did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Science cannot create ends; at most it can supply the means to attain them

Their wordsScience, however, cannot create ends and, even less, instill them in human beings; science, at most, can supply the means by which to attain certain ends.
Our reading
On human problems science should not be overestimated, and experts are not the only ones entitled to speak on how society is organised

Their wordsFor these reasons, we should be on our guard not to overestimate science and scientific methods when it is a question of human problems; and we should not assume that experts are the only ones who have a right to express themselves on questions affecting the organization of society.
Our reading
People can find meaning in life only by devoting themselves to society

Their wordsMan can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.
Our reading
The economic anarchy of present capitalist society is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil

Their wordsThe economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil.
Our reading
Concentrated private capital becomes an oligarchy too powerful to be checked even by a democratic political society

Their wordsThe 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.
Our reading
The crippling of individuals is the worst evil of capitalism, and the whole educational system suffers from it

Their wordsThis crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil.
Our reading
Only a socialist economy with an education oriented to social goals can eliminate capitalism's grave evils

Their wordsI 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.
Our reading
A planned economy is not yet socialism and may come with the complete enslavement of the individual

Their wordsNevertheless, 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.

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