"Albert Einstein. The world as I see it (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

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.