"We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive." - Albert Einstein
By Albert Einstein, in Monthly Review, May 1949
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.
Let us first consider the question from the point of view of scientific knowledge. It might appear that there are no essential methodological differences between astronomy and economics: scientists in both fields attempt to discover laws of general acceptability for a circumscribed group of phenomena in order to make the interconnection of these phenomena as clearly understandable as possible. But in reality such methodological differences do exist. The discovery of general laws in the field of economics is made difficult by the circumstance that observed economic phenomena are often affected by many factors which are very hard to evaluate separately. In addition, the experience which has accumulated since the beginning of the so-called civilized period of human history has--as is well known-- been largely influenced and limited by causes which are by no means exclusively economic in nature. For example, most of the major states of history owed their existence to conquest. The conquering peoples established themselves, legally and economically, as the privileged class of the conquered country. They seized for themselves a monopoly of the land ownership and appointed a priesthood from among their own ranks. The priests, in control of education, made the class division of society into a permanent institution and created a system of values by which the people were thenceforth, to a large extent unconsciously, guided in their social behavior.
But historic tradition is, so to speak, of yesterday; nowhere have we really overcome what Thorstein Veblen called "the predatory phase" of human development. The observable economic facts belong to that phase and even such laws as we can derive from them are not applicable to other phases. Since the real purpose of socialism is precisely to overcome and advance beyond the predatory phase of human development, economic science in its present state can throw little light on the socialist society of the future.
Second, socialism is directed toward a social-ethical end. Science, 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. But the ends themselves are conceived by personalities with lofty ethical ideals and - if these ends are not stillborn, but vital and vigorous - are adopted and carried forward by those many human beings who, half-unconsciously, determine the slow evolution of society.
For 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. Innumerable voices have been asserting for some time now that human society is passing through a crisis, that its stability has been gravely shattered. It is characteristic of such a situation that individuals feel indifferent or even hostile toward the group, small or large, to which they belong. In order to illustrate my meaning, let me record here a personal experience. I recently discussed with an intelligent and well-disposed man the threat of another war, which in my opinion would seriously endanger the existence of mankind, and I remarked that only a supranational organization would offer protection from that danger. Thereupon my visitor, very calmly and coolly, said to me: "Why are you so deeply opposed to the disappearance of the human race?"
I am sure that as little as a century ago no one would have so lightly made a statement of this kind. It is the statement of a man who has striven in vain to attain an equilibrium within himself and has more or less lost hope of succeeding. It is the expression of a painful solitude and isolation from which so many people are suffering in these days. What is the cause? Is there a way out?
It's nothing new that humans act irrationally. Not new to economics anyway.
Academics tend to have the belief that you can engineer society by applying math, etc. They strive to control it using rules and laws from logic and math the same way they try to understand and tame atoms. Whether this works in practice is another issue. Human behavior tends to have far more significant variables than, say, atoms. They tend to fall into the trap of applying techniques for one discipline into another.
This was the whole idea around socialism, at least in the 20th century - that capitalism was extremely inefficient, and that a group of smart people organized by the government could, say, give a good vacuum cleaner using scientific methods much more efficiently than competing companies could.
{That idea has mostly fell by the wayside. Now the main criticisms with (heavy) capitalism generally fall into these categories:}
Volatility, such as bubbles. While some blame these on financial regulators, bubbles have been happening long before financial regulators. Volatility can also happen on a personal career level, such as watching your specialty be offshored to a lower-wage country.
Inequality - There is no guarantee of a roughly equal distribution, and lately distribution has been growing lopsided in western countries.
Gluttony - When it's easier to buy what we want instead of what we need, consumers tend to make foolish choices, such as unhealthy foods and dangerous products.
{Few propose pure socialism as the solution, but rather adding more to the mix.}
See also: Government Versus Private Sector
See original on c2.com 