Beyond Einstein:
From “Why Socialism?” to
Why not Egalitarianism?
After the catastrophe of World War 11 in 1949, the brilliant Albert Einstein wrote a famous article that everyone should read, “Why Socialism?”. https://monthlyreview.org/articles/why-socialism/
He was concerned then that “the threat of another war would seriously endanger the existence of mankind.” Following in Einstein's steps, many people today are turning to socialism as the catastrophe of world capitalism is again leading to world war.
The recent article “The American Hitler and the morality of the ruling class”, describes the recent decent into barbarism, war, genocide, and fascism. It concludes that the survival of humanity depends on abolishing capitalism and establishing socialism. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/04/03/dghx-a03.html
Einstein agreed that we must advance beyond the predatory phase of human development. He wrote, “The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil.” He argued that socialism is the path towards a more ethical society.
Einstein continues, “Capital tends to become concentrated in few hands,” thus creating inequality and developing into oligarchy whose “enormous power over all of society cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society.”
Einstein does not call for the abolition of money and the profit system as crucial to ending the economic cause of unequal power obstructing the will of the majority.
Egalitarians go beyond Einstein and call for the abolition of money and the profit system as a necessary foundation for an egalitarian society.
Einstein explains that under capitalism, “Production is carried out for profit not for use… a socialist economy would be oriented toward social goals.” In an Egalitarian society the economy would be organized exclusively toward social –ethical needs. Einstein does not explicitly state this as his goal.
Einstein explained that socialism would need “to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all powerful and overwhelming.” He believed this issue had to be resolved. Recent anthropologists have addressed the issues of hierarchy and domination.
Social hierarchy is clearly a danger to the goal of socialism and a more equal society. Social hierarchy “open the door for a plethora of injustices and cruelties that come with warfare, slavery, and other types of exploitation by unchecked power wielders” (The Human Potential for Peace, Douglas P. Fry, 2006)
How then did egalitarian societies maintain equality and resist domination? The anthropologist Christopher Boehm documented how members of egalitarian societies exert “intentional behavior that decisively suppressed hierarchical relations among adults as political actors.” “Differences between individuals are only permitted…, insofar as they work for the common good. Such equality can only persist as long as followers remain vigilantly egalitarian because they understand the nature of domination, the innate tendencies of individuals to dominate their peers”. ("Egalitarian Behavior and Reverse Dominance Hierarchy", Current Anthropology, 1993)
Both the historical record regarding human nature and modern psychiatric texts support this innate tendency of human beings. https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm
“If an egalitarian ethos is present, abusive leadership is, by definition, deviant” … "it is a war of the great majority who are willing to settle for equality against the occasional dominator who is not… Upstarts who think they can get away with it.” After extensive study, Boehm concluded that humans consciously maintain egalitarianism by “constraining and controlling upstarts”. Such societies resist domination by ensuring that decisions are made by all, in the interest of all.
Egalitarians seek to dismantle dominance status hierarchies, such as the divisive ideologies that do not serve the common good of humanity. Some of the more well known are: class, nation, color, race, ethnicity, religion, and tribe.
Explicitly embedded in US foreign policy is the scourge of dominance hierarchy. The United States planned and waged wars of aggression against Venezuela and Iran. This supreme international crime is only one aspect of the US government’s savage strategy to dominate the world. For over three decades, US foreign policy has been to make the US “the world’s paramount power to preclude the emergence of any potential future global competitor.” This policy includes strategies to “win” a nuclear war.
https://nuclear-news.net/2024/02/05/1-a-the-u-s-quest-for-nuclear-primacy/
Going beyond Einstein means that dominance hierarchies, governmental bureaucracies, hierarchical political parties and social status hierarchy must be abolished and all political and economic power must reside in the hands of the rank and file, the vast majority.
We must accept the need for eternal political vigilance and the need for force in the hands of the rank and file, to identify, expose, constrain, or punish those who wish to dominate, manipulate, or exploit us.
Can we go beyond Einstein?
It is possible to eliminate money, profit, social-status dominance hierarchies, and create a cooperative, egalitarian world order: social, political, and economic equality for all. Moving beyond Einstein can help us escape from the relentless horrors of war, exploitation, and inequality. Humanity has the potential to move beyond the predatory phase of human development and build a cooperative, egalitarian, and peaceful world?
Why not Egalitarianism?
Nayvin Gordon 4/15/26
Nayvin Gordon writes about politics and health, and his articles have appeared in: The Mercury News, Counterpunch, Z Magazine, Countercurrents, Scoop Independent News, Anderson Valley Advertiser, Socialist Viewpoint, Multiracial Unity Blog, Scientific American, The Oakland Tribune, The Journal of Family Practice, American Family Physician, LA Progressive, and Dissident Voice. He may be reached at gordonnayvin@yahoo.com