|
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Jarales: Albert Einstein's politics
By Fermin V. Jarales
Punto De Vista
IN THE annals of history there are those who leave imprints that cannot be blown in the dustbin of civilization. Men of gigantic stature that any informed citizen would not fail to notice.
He revolutionized the world by his science. The art of war of Sun Tzu and other great generals stood still as the Second World War changed the landscape of engagement.
Such a man was Albert Einstein, the creator of the atomic bomb and the originator of E=mc2.
He is known as one of the greatest men of science. He defied all conventions and proposed concepts that fundamentally shook to almost perfection the field of physics.
The course of history would not have followed the path that brought us where we are today if not for genius men like Albert Einstein.
In my readings on his ideas and opinions, what impressed me the most are his ideas on politics, government and pacifism. We are talking about a man of many talents. Not only would he devote himself and his time on the exacting space of the universe and the formulas, he is in fact a social activist.
Einstein wrote in the Monthly Review, New York in 1949 thoughts that up until now just like his formulas and theories are applicable as ever.
"Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society," Einstein wrote. In reading that, one cannot help but think of the present fracas the country today is trapped.
The consciousness of Filipinos in their interconnectedness to the society is rather disturbing. If Einstein's thoughts are given the weight they deserve, we are a country in a dilemma insofar as our society is concerned.
And a lot can be attributed to the kind of political structures we have that favor mostly the elites to play a vast role in the shaping of our society.
To add, this leaves the majority of our people unlettered and misinformed of the workings of their society and the real power they have in the charting of a common destiny for the country and for themselves.
It is important that in our struggle to understand the intricacies of society, as all of us should, we have to consciously see the direction the leaders of the country is leading us to.
The country needs leaders who can stand taller than their interests and ambitions. The country needs the genre that once collectively led the Meiji era Japan. Men who take principles and love of country for breakfast.
We lack that today. Sadly, despite the best education these supposed to be leaders of the country possess. With the exception of the few, majority of them are of the different category.
Yet Einstein believed that society could develop. The constant accompaniment of development is change. And so we hope that the present situation changes for the better.
He is by all indications a democratic socialist through and through, this man named Einstein.
In the political spectrum, he ascribed to that societal and economic model that the economy should be planned to benefit of the great majority of our people.
He calls evil the bastardization of the economy by the new capitalists and their low regard of labor for lustful and gainful profit.
He wrote of the "crippling of the social consciousness of individuals" which he considers the worst evil of capitalism.
More to this for those who are interested to listen to the basic tenets of social democracy in a forum at Xavier University he said: "If only men can obey the laws just like the planets obeying exactly the rules of planetary movements, there would be no chaos in society...But men are free and with their freedom they are constantly in pain and hungry for the saving power of God."
As Albert Einstein remarkably stated: "I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave ills, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals."
Such is the timelessness of veritas, the truth. People may die but "ideas unlike men are bulletproof."
For all that is said, Albert Einstein was a democratic socialist.
(The writer is a journalism graduate, a municipal administrator and a social democrat. Please send reactions to mick_jarales@yahoo.com.hk or text 0919-535-7351).
(April 18, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
|
