Friday, February 17, 2012

Quote of the Day: Albert Einstein on Prohibition Laws

The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.

Albert Einstein, "My First Impression of the U.S.A.", 1921 (deoxy.org).

Updated to add:

Albert Einstein was a professed socialist. But the comment above was made during his first trip to the US where he received the Nobel Prize in Physics, perhaps when politics was of least interest to him. However as Mr. Einstein's popularity grew, so with his political views, which became elaborate in the middle of the 20th century and which was highlighted by his article "Why Socialism?"

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