
“The very domain of human activity most crucial to the fate of nations in inescapably in the hands of wholly irresponsible political rulers….In our time, the intellectual elite does not exercise any direct influence on the history of the world.” This was written by Albert Einstein in a letter sent to another great intellectual, Sigmund Freud. This was at the beginning of what we now look back on in history as the Great Depression. Einstein understood the course of events that was about to take place with regards to the leaders of the world. In times of economic strife, it is not the intellectuals that the masses turn to. It is the intellectuals who called for a liberal democratic system that was leaving millions starving around the world. This quote was written just before two of the most “wholly irresponsible” leaders in the history of mankind were going to take power, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. These two men promised their nation’s order, and order is what they achieved. At what cost? At the cost of leading their nations into a brutal world war that led to the slaughter of millions and millions of their people. For these leaders, order and stability were breathed in the same breath with war and conquest. World War two would not have taken place if it wasn’t for these irresponsible rulers, but more importantly without depression and hunger, these men would have never gained their great power in the first place. “Man has within him a lust for hatred and destruction.” Does man have within him such a lust? Or is it just a propensity to react a certain way under extreme duress. There are many reasons nations of people resort to warfare to settle issues. Surely some people do have such a lust for destruction, yet more people have a lust for happiness and security. It is when this security is threatened that a man lacking a lust for destruction will resort to killing and violence. “Conflicts of interest between man and man are resolved, in principle, by the recourse to violence. It is the same in the animal kingdom, from which man cannot claim exclusion.” This quote was part of Freud’s response to Einstein’s letter. Einstein had a tough time coming to terms with the idea that such an intellectual, rational species could still be killing themselves off by the millions. Freud thought it was necessary to remind him in the very beginning of his letter that even though humans are a magnificent species, they are still part of the animal kingdom. You would not ask a pack of wolves to come to terms to make an agreement. The same intellect and reason that makes our species so great may also be our downfall. Einstein believed that humans should be able to use their reason to stop violence, while the reality is that we use our intelligence to create more efficient ways to kill. When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the human race proved that they have the intelligence to completely wipe themselves out. “It is the communal, not individual violence that has its way.” War is fought by nations. War calls for the individual to give up his rights, and sacrifice everything for the good of the nation. War between men cannot be stopped until every individual in this world puts down his weapon. This will be a day when Nationalism, religion and economic troubles are put aside and humans can realize that every person on earth deserves the right to live freely. “There is but one sure way of ending war and that is the establishment, by common consent, of a central control which shall have the last word in every conflict of interests.” At the time this was written by Freud, a worldwide committee to solve disputes between nations was a new and exciting idea. A committee like this, like the United Nations today, can have a profound impact on the events of the world. Yet such a committee does not quite have the effect that men like Freud and Einstein would have hoped. If there is just one nation that chooses not to follow the decisions made by the rest of the world, war is still inevitable. The pressure in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians will never be solved by a western committee such as the United Nations. Their hyper-nationalism and undying faith in their religious beliefs are in such striking contrast to one another, it seems that they can do nothing but fight each other to the death. Over the past few centuries it seems as if humankind is in a steady march towards its own annihilation. Time will tell if intellectual men, the Freud’s and Einstein’s of our time, will be able to convince us to put aside their “lust for destruction” for a lust for life.
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