From: the.wise.one@abel.co.uk   
      
   Symptoms of Cultural Decay   
      
   Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Vol. VIII, No. 7, October, 1952.   
      
      
        The free, unhampered exchange of ideas and scientific conclusions   
   is necessary for the sound development of science, as it is in all   
   spheres of cultural life.  In my opinion, there can be no doubt that the   
   intervention of political authorities of this country in the free   
   exchange of knowledge between individuals has already had significantly   
   damaging effects.  First of all, the damage is to be seen in the field   
   of scientific work proper, and, after a while, it will become evident in   
   technology and industrial production.   
      
        The intrusion of the political authorities into the scientific life   
   of our country is especially evident in the obstruction of the travels   
   of American scientists and scholars abroad and of foreign scientists   
   seeking to come to this country.  Such petty behavior on the part of a   
   powerful country is only a peripheral symptom of an ailment which has   
   deeper roots.   
      
        Interference with the freedom of the oral and written communication   
   of scientific results, the widespread attitude of political distrust   
   which is supported by an immense police organization, the timidity and   
   the anxiety of individuals to avoid everything which might cause   
   suspicion and which could threaten their economic position -- all these   
   are only symptoms, even though they reveal more clearly the threatening   
   character of the illness.   
      
        The real ailment, however, seems to me to lie in the attitude which   
   was created by the World War and which dominates all our actions;   
   namely, the belief that we must in peacetime so organize our whole life   
   and work that in the event of war we would be sure of victory.  This   
   attitude gives rise to the belief that one's freedom and indeed one's   
   existence are threatened by powerful enemies.   
      
        This attitude explains all of the unpleasant facts which we have   
   designated above as symptoms.  It must, if it does not rectify itself,   
   lead to war and to very far-reaching destruction.  It finds its   
   expression in the budget of the United States.   
      
        Only if we overcome this obsession can we really turn our attention   
   in a reasonable way to the real political problem, which is, "How can we   
   contribute to make the life of man on this diminishing earth more secure   
   and more tolerable?"  It will be impossible to cure ourselves of the   
   symptoms we have mentioned and many others if we do not overcome the   
   deeper ailment which is affecting us.   
      
   -- Albert Einstein   
      
      
   from:   
   "Ideas and Opinions: Albert Einstein"   
   Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1982   
   ISBN 0-517-55601-4   
   pages 166-167   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)