Some thoughts by Mr. Einstein

[Shadow Nexus]

OK, this is a translation from a Spanish translation, so I am sorry if it is inacurate:

To speak with property, the State can't be the most important thing: it's the creator individual, sensible. The personality. Only from it comes the creation of what's noble, of what's sublime. The massive is mantained indifferent to thought and feeling.

With this I come to speak of the worst monstrosity that has appeared from the spirit of the masses: the army which I hate. The fact someone is capable of parading proudly to the rythm of a march is enough for that person to deserve all my scorn; as he has recived a brain for error: he would only need a spinal cord. Such stain should be made dissapear quickly from civilization. How much do I hate the stories of the generals, the acts of senseless violence, the damn patriotism. How cynical, how despicable wars are to me. I would rather be cut in pieces before than taking part in such a vile action!

Even though I have a good opinion on humanity, I believe this ghost would have dissapeared a long time ago if it wasn't for the sistematic corruption to the one the straight sense of the people is submited through the school and the press, for the acts of peoples and institutions politically and economically interested in war.

- Albert Einstein, "My vision of the world", Tusquets ed. Barcelona, 1981, pag. 12


Any thoughts?

[nik0tine]

I could not agree more with Einstein. What a great man he truly was.

[CloudSquallandZidane]

Einstein was a great mathematical mind, no doubt. And I assume after all that problem solving he beileved that there was a way to handle every problem with logic and reasoning. This is where i break away from what he says, because some people wont/dont want to listen. Some problems have to be stopped before they become more than problems, and they become tragedies. I also dont think he would never parttake in a war, I heard someone say once "I cant make u fight, but i can take u to where the fighting is, from there its ur choice."

Also unlike Einstein i have a bad opinion of humanity.

[DeBlayde]

The translation is off a little, but still pretty good.

It would be so great if the world worked on reason. If every person behaved as would be reasonable. That decisions made in governance were made using reason.

The world don't work that way. The most reasonable person in the world will be shot and shoved outta the way by an ambitious moron with a gun who says becuz I gots me dis gun, I kin ki-ll you and so that makes me better than you.

The world don't work that way also because this is not a world of individuals. It is a world of societies. People behave in fundamentally different ways when they're in a social setting than when it's just the individual.

Individuals can behave in reasonable manners. Societies cannot. or at least, they do not. I, however, admire people who sacrifise their own freedom to protect that of others. "But DeBlayde. Nobody's fool enough to attack the US." true. but take away the military power we have, and will those compunctions remain? Nobody likes the US. But everybody wants our money. Thus, soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines all protect our freedom in a very real sense.