The world as I see it - Albert Einstein (easy books to read .txt) 📗

glorification, and, equally,
that portion of the Press which is controlled by heavy industry and the
soldiers. Without disarmament there can be no lasting peace. Conversely, the
continuation of military preparations on the present scale will inevitably
lead to new catastrophes.

That is why the Disarmament Conference of 1932 will decide the fate of
this generation and the next. When one thinks how pitiable, taken as a
whole, have been the results of former conferences, it becomes clear that it
is the duty of all intelligent and responsible people to exert their full
powers to remind public opinion again and again of the importance of the
1932 Conference. Only if the statesmen have behind them the will to peace of
a decisive majority in their own countries can they attain their great end,
and for the formation of this public opinion each one of us is responsible
in every word and deed.

The doom of the Conference would be sealed if the delegates came to it
with ready-made instructions, the carrying out of which would soon become a
matter of prestige. This seems to be generally realized. For meetings
between the statesmen of two nations at a time, which have become very
frequent of late, have been used to prepare the ground for the Conference by
conversations about the disarmament problem. This seems to me a very happy
device, for two men or groups of men can usually discuss things together
most reasonably, honestly, and dispassionately when there is no third person
present in front of whom they think they must be careful what they say. Only
if exhaustive preparations of this kind are made for the Conference, if
surprises are thereby ruled out, and an atmosphere of confidence is created
by genuine good will, can we hope for a happy issue.

In these great matters success is not a matter of cleverness, still
less of cunning, but of honesty and confidence. The moral element cannot be
displaced by reason, thank heaven ! It is not the individual spectator's
duty merely to wait and criticize. He must serve the cause by all means in
his power. The fate of the world will be such as the world deserves.

America and the Disarmasnent Conference

The Americans of to-day are filled with the cares arising out of
economic conditions in their own country. The efforts of their responsible
leaders are directed primarily to remedying the serious unemployment at
home. The sense of being involved in the destiny of the rest of the world,
and in particular of the mother country of Europe, is even less strong than
in normal times.

But the free play of economic forces will not by itself automatically
overcome these difficulties. Regulative measures by the community are needed
to bring about a sound distribution of labour and consumption-goods among
mankind; without them even the people of the richest country suffocate. The
fact is that since the amount of work needed to supply everybody's needs has
been reduced through the improvement of technical methods, the free play of
economic forces no longer produces a state of affairs in which all the
available labour can find employment. Deliberate regulation and organization
are becoming necessary to make the results of technical progress beneficial
to all.

If the economic situation cannot be cleared up without systematic
regulation, how much more necessary is such regulation for dealing with the
problems of international politics! Few people still cling to the notion
that acts of violence in the shape of wars are either advantageous or worthy
of humanity as a method of solving international problems. But they are not
logical enough to make vigorous efforts on behalf of the measures which
might prevent war, that savage and unworthy relic of the age of barbarism.
It requires some power of reflection to see the issue clearly and a certain
courage to serve this great cause resolutely and effectively.

Anybody who really wants to abolish war must resolutely declare himself
in favour of his own country's resigning a portion of its sovereignty in
favour of international institutions: he must be ready to make his own
country amenable, in case of a dispute, to the award of an international
court. He must in the most uncompromising fashion support disarmament all
round, which is actually envisaged in the unfortunate Treaty of Versailles;
unless military and aggressively patriotic education is abolished, we can
hope for no progress.

No event of the last few years reflects such disgrace on the leading
civilized countries of the world as the failure of all disarmament
conferences so far; for this failure is due not only to the intrigues of
ambitious and unscrupulous politicians, but also to the indifference and
slackness of the public in all countries. Unless this is changed we shall
destroy all the really valuable achievements of our predecessors.

I believe that the American nation is only imperfectly aware of the
responsibility which rests with it in this matter. People in America no
doubt think as follows: "Let Europe go to the dogs, if it is destroyed by
the quarrelsomeness and wickedness of its inhabitants. The good seed of our
Wilson has produced a mighty poor crop in the stony ground of Europe. We are
strong and safe and in no hurry to mix ourselves up in other people's
affairs."

Such an attitude is at once base and shortsighted. America is partly to
blame for the difficulties of Europe. By ruthlessly pressing her claims she
is hastening the economic and therewith the moral collapse of Europe; she
has helped to Balkanize Europe, and therefore shares the responsibility for
the breakdown of political morality and the growth of that spirit of revenge
which feeds on despair. This spirit will not stop short of the gates of
America--I had almost said, has not stopped short. Look around, and look
forward.

The truth can be briefly stated: The Disarmament Conference comes as a
final chance, to you no less than to us, of preserving the best that
civilized humanity has produced. And it is on you, as the strongest and
comparatively soundest among us, that the eyes and hopes of all are focused.

Active Pacifism

I consider myself lucky in witnessing the great peace demonstration
organized by the Flemish people. To all concerned in it I feel impelled to
call out in the name of men of good will with a care for the future: "In
this hour of opened eyes and awakening conscience we feel ourselves united
with you by the deepest ties."

We must not conceal from ourselves that an improvement in the present
depressing situation is impossible without a severe struggle; for the
handful of those who are really determined to do something is minute in
comparison with the mass of the lukewarm and the misguided. And those who
have an interest in keeping the machinery of war going are a very powerful
body; they will stop at nothing to make public opinion subservient to their
murderous ends.

It looks as if the ruling statesmen of to-day were really trying to
secure permanent peace. But the ceaseless piling-up of armaments shows only
too clearly that they are unequal to coping with the hostile forces which
are preparing for war. In my opinion, deliverance can only come from the
peoples themselves. If they wish to avoid the degrading slavery of
war-service, they must declare with no uncertain voice for complete
disarmament. As long as armies exist, any serious quarrel will lead to war.
A pacifism which does not actually try to prevent the nations from arming is
and must remain impotent.

May the conscience and the common sense of the peoples be awakened, so
that we may reach a new stage in the life of nations, where people will look
back on war as an incomprehensible aberration of their forefathers!

Letter to a Friend of Peace

It has come to my ears that in your greatheartedness you are quietly
accomplishing a splendid work, impelled by solicitude for humanity and its
fate. Small is the number of them that see with their own eyes and feel with
their own hearts. But it is their strength that will decide whether the
human race must relapse into that hopeless condition which a blind multitude
appears to-day to regard as the ideal.

O that the nations might see, before it is too late, how much of their
self-determination they have got to sacrifice in order to avoid the struggle
of all against all! The power of conscience and the international spirit has
proved itself inadequate. At present it is being so weak as to tolerate
parleying with the worst enemies of civilization. There is a kind of
conciliation which is a crime against humanity, and it passes for political
wisdom.

We cannot despair of humanity, since we are ourselves human beings. And
it is a comfort that there still exist individuals like yourself, whom one
knows to be alive and undismayed.

Another ditto

Dear friend and spiritual brother,

To be quite frank, a declaration like the one before me in a
country which submits to conscription in peace-time seems to
me valueless. What you must fight for is liberation from universal
military service. Verily the French nation has had