Why Socialism?

By Eugene E. Ruyle

Socialism is essential for human survival and the preservation of our Mother Earth.

Albert Einstein, a charter member of AFT Local 552 at Princeton University in 1938, later wrote an essay entitled "Why Socialism?" Einstein saw "that human society is passing through a crisis, that its stability has been gravely shattered." Drawing on the economic ideas of Karl Marx, Einstein wrote: "The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil." Einstein goes on to say: "I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils [of capitalism], 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 utilized 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." (Einstein's article is on the Peace & Freedom Party website.)

Einstein's views remain as true today as in 1949 when they were written. Socialism is necessary and will come to America when the American people want it. Socialism cannot and should not be imposed on Americans against their will. By the same logic, however, the United States does not have the right to prevent other nations from adopting socialism or any other economic system they chose. Yet this has been the dominant aim of our foreign policy since WWII. This has not benefited the American people, protected our freedom, or made us more secure. Americans are less free and less secure because of our government's meddling in the internal affairs of other nations to make the world safe for capitalism and U.S. corporations.