Quote:
Originally Posted by whell
Einstein was a pacifist...until he was witness to, and then escaped from, the rise of Nazism. In the early '30's, he renounced pacifism and urged western powers to take a stand against Nazi Germany.
Seemingly, the "stupid liberal' evolved....  |
He made the unenviable and rational selection between two nightmarish eventualities after his "fight or flight" response mechanism selected the latter,with the USA being his optimal choice of destination.
The ever increasing weight of the first hand accounts of concentration camp survivors and witness to those and other atrocities pushed him off center, but, he remained a pacifist. He reached the tipping point upon learning of the intensity of pursuit, and tangible progress of, the Nazi pursuit of nuclear weaponry. To a degree that few, (if any) others alive, he could grasp and foresee the immense destructive potential of such weaponry. He had intimate knowledge of the barbaric mindset of Hitler and his blind following, hence he knew they would use them with impunity, and would surely succeed in conquering the entire planet, and catastrophically contaminate it in the process.
Einstein persuaded the USA to create nuclear weapons before the Axis powers obtained them and seized total world control, something they had already made some serious headway doing without nukes.
Einstein did not "evolve". He remained a pacifist. He was brilliant enough to comprehend the gravity of the situation, and noble enough to compromise his own core beliefs for the good of mankind. He never advocated the use of force or violence.
03-12-2012, 08:16 PM
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