Einstein vs. Einstein

on socialism, capitalism, the individual and the State

(…he changed his mind sometimes)

The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules.

~ Albert Einstein, Why Socialism? (1949)

vs.

It is no accident that Capitalism has brought with it progress, not merely in production but also in knowledge. Egoism and competition are, alas, stronger forces than ‘public spirit’ and ‘sense of duty.’ In Russia they say it is impossible to get a decent piece of bread. Perhaps I am over-pessimistic concerning State and other forms of communal enterprise, but I expect little good from them. Bureaucracy is the death of achievement.

~ Albert Einstein, The World As I See It: Culture and Prosperity (1954), p.88-89

An autocratic system of coercion, in my opinion, soon degenerates. Force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels. … The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the State but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; the individual alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.

~ Albert Einstein, The World As I See It: Culture and Prosperity (1954) p.13

Every individual should have the opportunity to develop the gifts which may be latent in him. Alone in that way can the individual obtain the satisfaction to which he is justly entitled; and alone in that way can the community achieve its richest flowering. For everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom. Restriction is justified only in so far as it may be needed for the security of existence.

~ Albert Einstein, Out of My Later Years (1950), p.19

(As I’ve said here before, “capitalism” is a broken word and I avoid it for that reason and think most everyone else should too. However I am not an anti-capitalist and I argue that what most people call anti-capitalism is irrational and counterproductive.)

So who is anti-capitalism?

Quick answer: people who are in favor of increasing state-forced redistribution of wealth.  …But what kind of people tend to be in favor this?

Well, the sociologist James Lindgren, currently professor at Northwestern University, has a forthcoming article that comprehensively reviews all the evidence on exactly that question: “What Drives Views on Government Redistribution and Anti-capitalism?”

Inter alia, people who are anti-capitalism and pro-government redistribution are:

• less educated
• less likely to give anything to charity
• less likely to engage in altruistic behavior
• less likely to support free speech
• more racist
• more intolerant of gays
• more intolerant of atheists
• more angry, revengeful, and pessimistic

To quote Lindgren’s conclusion [emphasis mine]:

Those who support capitalism and freer markets and oppose greater income redistribution tend to be better educated, to have higher family incomes, to be less traditionally racist, and to be less intolerant of unpopular groups. Those who oppose greater redistribution also tend to be more generous in donating to charities and more likely to engage in some other altruistic behavior.

These sociological statistics are not themselves arguments for free markets (“capitalism”) or against statist redistribution, however they do give plausible insight into the social psychological motivations of anti-capitalists. And they’re interesting!

Well first, I’m never sure exactly how someone is using the word capitalism. Capitalism means different things and I have differing views on it depending on how people define it.

I am going to assume you are using “capitalism” in the economic sense of a modern economy with money and private ownership and production based on capital investment (which comes from savings) in firms predominantly operating for profit.

If I had to choose between trade-&-barter vs. gift-only for the economy as a whole, I would choose trade-&-barter in a second. The reason is that a gift-only economy cannot coordinate production beyond a few people who personally interact with each other. Historically, gift economies were very very small groups of hunter-gatherers and the like. At least in a barter system, there will arise goods that many people accept and can measure and thus use to productively coordinate economic activity beyond small groups of people (and this coordination of economic activity beyond people you can personally know is what gets us all of the great benefits of modern civilization). Plus in a barter economy, you can have smaller pockets of gift-only groups too.

My ideal for the global economy is a pluralistic free market society based on individual rights with pockets of voluntary commune and gift economy and private businesses and voluntary charity and everything in between.

 overflown asked:

Views on capitalism?

Capitalism is one of those confusing words that different people use to mean completely different things. Because of this, many debates about “capitalism” are not actual arguments about ideas, but misunderstanding and miscommunication. Thus, whenever someone talks to me about “capitalism,” I usually ask them to define their terms.

There seem to be ~four different mainstream definitions of capitalism:

1. Capitalism: An economic system based on market competition and private ownership (as opposed to collective, state, or public ownership) of the means of production. This definition is the one usually used to contrast capitalism with socialism, communism, syndicalism, and left-anarchism.
2. Capitalism (Free Market Capitalism): A political economy based on individual rights and voluntary individual interaction. This definition is the one used to contrast capitalism with statism.
3. Capitalism (Cultural Capitalism): A socioeconomic norm that encourages/results in selfishness, greed, materialism, social alienation, and conformism… especially in people’s personal lives. This definition is usually used to contrast capitalism with community or cooperation.
4. Capitalism (State Capitalism): The current, worldwide “mixed economy” approach where the state subsidizes corporations, banks, big hospitals, big pharma, RIAA, no-bid military contracts, central banks, government unions, AMA, etc.

1. I am in favor of capitalism #1 with regards to the economy at large, but not necessarily in anyone’s personal life. Capitalism #1 is the naturally emerging economy and produces numerous real benefits like longer life expectancy, modern technology, innovation, less poverty, and so on.(I should note that I have no problem with voluntary syndics, communes, etc. but I wouldn’t want to live in one and I  don’t think they turn out well. However, I am also very much in favor of mutual aid societies, fraternal organizations, voluntary charities, and other things that do not fit into definition #1.)

2. I am very much in favor of capitalism #2. It’s libertarianism. It’s beautiful and what makes the world work.

3. I am very much opposed to capitalism #3. I believe that in our personal lives (as opposed to in society at large or in economic transactions), our interactions should not usually be based on prices, profits, market competition, etc. Social alienation is real and sad, and I certainly am not in favor of prescriptive greed or selfishness or conformism.

4. I believe we can do better than capitalism #4 - we can eliminate state subsidies for corporations (anti-statism, ideally eliminate the state altogether). This will address many of the problems of capitalism #3, be the fulfillment of the ideal of capitalism #2, and increase all the real benefits of capitalism #1.