Albert Einstein and the Problem of War

Although Albert Einstein is best-known as a theoretical physicist, he also spent much of his life grappling with the problem of war.

In 1914, shortly after he moved to Berlin to serve as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics, Einstein was horrified by the onset of World War I.  “Europe, in her insanity, has started something unbelievable,” he told a friend.  “In such times one realizes to what a sad species of animal one belongs.”  Writing to the French author Romain Rolland, read more

Tomgram: Alfred W. McCoy, A Dying American Empire, “Rotten to the Heart”?

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Once upon a time, perhaps a century ago — actually, it was probably 1959 — bored by my high school American history class, I began fiddling with a sheet of paper I had hidden inside my history textbook on which I had traced a global map. I soon found myself drawing the Chinese conquest of the world (and, of course, of my own country). At the time, as I read more

What Abolishing Militaries Includes

“Abolition” isn’t just a fun word to say.

“I want to abolish prisons,” doesn’t just mean that you think there are too many prisons and they are too horrible. “Abolish the police” isn’t just a hip way to say “I’m angry at abuse by police.” Abolishing something means eliminating it entirely, which often also means creating very different institutions that do things very differently.

Entirely means every last speck.

Abolishing war, and preparations for war, and weapons of war, read more

Tomgram: Engelhardt, A Hell-on-Earth Presidency

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The Surrender President Creating a Distinctly Declinist Power on a Distinctly Declinist Planet By

Ours would be the normal story of imperial powers rising and falling on Planet Earth — nothing new there, of course — if it weren’t for one thing: the fact that this world, too, is now falling. Unfortunately, nothing is truly normal about this planet of ours anymore, as the slow-motion read more

Tomgram: William D. Hartung, Antiwar Veterans in the Age of Trump

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Yes, all these centuries later, this planet is at war — at least, three utterly disastrous ones — in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. And it seems that isn’t faintly enough for our president who, at this point, is distinctly stirring up the waters of the Caribbean.

And if the history of this country since the name of the Department of War was changed to… no, not read more

Tomgram: Nan Levinson, Making Trump Listen

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Let’s face it: we’re now in a different country. You know, the one where, if you happen to live in a city with a Democratic mayor (as I do), then watch out. Sooner or later, you’re likely to see not just ICE agents but armed National Guard troops on the streets. Memphis happens to be the latest target of Donald Trump’s militarized wrath. (No matter that the city has read more

32% of Mass Shooters Are Veterans. 0% of Media Outlets Will Say So.

Two U.S. military veterans allegedly shot and killed at least three people each this past weekend, Thomas Jacob Sanford in Michigan, and Nigel Max Edge in North Carolina. So, it is a safe bet that they will both be added (with, almost certainly, no mention of their status as veterans) to the database maintained by Mother Jones that I have for years been using as a starting point to track statistics on mass shootings.

It’s been almost two years since I posted an update. In that time, Mother read more