Albert Einstein warned that there would come a time when the very wealthy would control the means of communication so much that it would be nearly impossible for ordinary people to make informed decisions.
Many social media posts paraphrase what Einstein wrote in an essay published in the independent socialist magazine Monthly Review in May 1949. What Einstein wrote means the same thing in many different ways, but he didn't write anything at all. It's something that will happen in the future, but what was happening in 1949.
Albert Einstein once warned in social media posts for years that there would come a time when billionaires would control so much communication that it would be nearly impossible for ordinary people to make informed decisions. It has been claimed.
For example, we found a Facebook post posted on the social media platform on February 18, 2020, containing Einstein's purported warning.
It included a screenshot of what appeared to be a post on X (formerly Twitter) from two days ago, and read as follows:
Albert Einstein warned in 1949 that a time was coming when the very wealthy would control the means of communication so much that it would be nearly impossible for ordinary people to make informed decisions, resulting in the collapse of democracy.
We live in the era that Einstein warned about.
I found a social media post that attributed this quote to Einstein. tick tockin addition to other posts made on Facebook. X Regarding that claim. Variations of this claim have appeared on these social media platforms. For example, Einstein is said to have said on Facebook, “There will come a time when the rich will own all the media, and it will be impossible for the general public to express an informed opinion.'' . I also received an email from a Snopes reader asking about this claim.
Einstein wrote: essay The title is “Why Socialism?'' Contributed to the first issue of the independent socialist magazine Monthly Review. This work, published in May 1949, contained the following sentences (sentences in bold for emphasis):
Private capital tends to be concentrated in a few hands, partly because of competition among capitalists, partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor have led to the increase in the production of larger units of production at the expense of small units of production. This is because it promotes formation. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital whose enormous power cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true. This is because members of the legislative body are elected by political parties, most of which are funded by or influenced by private capitalists, and the parties effectively separate voters from the legislature. It is from. The result is that the representatives of the people do not in fact adequately protect the interests of the disadvantaged sections of the population. Moreover, under the existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control the main sources of information (press, radio, education), directly or indirectly. It is therefore extremely difficult for individual citizens to reach objective conclusions and to use their political rights wisely, and indeed in most cases it is completely impossible.
The bold quote in the paragraph above has the same meaning as the various paraphrases we found on social media. This means that the sources of information are controlled by private capitalists, making it difficult for people to make informed and objective decisions.
But the important thing is that Einstein was not writing about something in the future, but what was happening in 1949. This is an important detail that various paraphrases got wrong.
Therefore, we gave the claim — Einstein once warned that there would come a time when millionaires would control so much communication that it would be nearly impossible for ordinary people to make informed decisions. — “Mixed” rating.
We previously fact-checked other quotes attributed to Einstein. here.
