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  • FAQ#058 Could you respond to the 1949 essay I sent you from Albert Einstein regarding his views on socialism?

    Socialism as regarded by Einstein was based on the times in which he lived. Socialism, updated, would no longer be concerned with employing millions of people. Its major concern would be the production of goods and services by the best means available in the present. This would call for automation and new, more efficient arrangements of the social complex no longer based just on the opinions and ideals of social radicals. The new direction would be based on the carrying capacity of the earth which is to say, the availability of resources and technical personnel. Even this approach would be transitional.

    We must consider the drawbacks of an established social arrangement and evolve toward an emergent social system based on the latest social innovations that will eliminate scarcity and provide for the needs of all.

    Rather than decentralizing I now believe it is possible, through computer technology and advanced cybernetics, to return to centralization with some advantage. That is to say, from a centralized point of view, we can now observe conditions worldwide and make corresponding adjustments to meet human needs. The old concept of centralization used the governing bodies of social systems to benefit only those in positions of differential advantage. With centralization today, it would be possible to provide the governing body, whether machines or personnel, with information on a global scale.

    In future production technology, designs of machinery and industrial plants would no longer be based upon sales or monetary gain. Instead, production facilities would make the most efficient use of resources to provide human needs on a global scale. This changes all previous concepts of production facilities. And also, in this new emergent global society, newer technologies would be applied in all areas in the most efficient manner.

    The objectives of this new global social system would be the well being and education of all people.

    The new technology would not monitor people; this would be considered socially offensive and non-productive. The purpose and use of advanced technology is to free people from boring and dangerous tasks. It will enable them to pursue their own interests in arts and sciences which would be directed toward social improvement.

    A society based upon limitless and continual innovation has no final frontiers.

    Created on 22/07/2012 in TVP FAQ

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