Interestingly, Einstein made a declaration at a speaking engagement in the U.S. in 1930 that if 2% of the citizens called to compulsory active duty would simply refuse to serve that there would be nothing that authorities could do about it because, by his reasoning, there would be no way that so many people could be incarcerated. This, in his mind, would be civil disobedience on the grounds of conscientious objection that could cripple the worlds' Military Industrial Complex and severely thwart their ability to wage war.
This prompted me to wonder about the assertions made in that statement. From my own experience with "Corrections" I am aware of the Capitalistic pursuit of monetary gains to be garnered from the warehousing of "criminals". Now, this is a phenomena that had not come to fruition in the time of Albert and I am sure that he would have been appalled by the growth of that industry.
According to recent statistics, a record 6.9 million adults were incarcerated or on probation or parole in 2003, nearly 131,000 more than in 2002, according to a Justice Department study. Put another way, about 3.2 percent of the adult U.S. population, or 1 in 32 adults, were incarcerated or on probation or parole at the end of 2003. Think about that. Chances are that every time you leave your home, you will come into contact with a "criminal" in some manner.
I am quite sure that Albert would be shocked at these statistics. But more to the point, it is obvious that Capitalist Imperialism not only has the ability to incarcerate over 2% of American population but are also inclined to do so.
One of the prisons that I was in had a federally imposed maximum capacity of 850 men. During the great flood of 1993 several prisons in the state of Missouri were rendered inoperable due to flood waters. Over night the population of the institution in which I was housed jumped to over 1600 inmates. And they had no qualms whatsoever about violating the federally imposed maximum capacity mandate nor about the obvious danger to the safety of inmates and prison staff that was imposed on them all by the over crowded situation. And in spite of any federal sanctions placed upon them, they took two years to begin to address the unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
This experience highlights the ability and willingness of Capitalist Imperialism to DOUBLE their capacity over night! And the seemingly mind boggling figure of 2% of the American population is really just a drop in the bucket in their minds.
So, while considering Civil Disobedience one should keep in mind that despite the good company of some of the greatest thinkers that mankind has ever produced (Albert Einstein, Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Ghandi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., etc.), one should always bare in mind that the likelihood of incarceration for disobedience is greater than could once have even been imagined and is a probable inevitability.
But as many of these great minds observed, freedom is more a state of mind than a physical manifestation. And if we are true to our selves, our ideals and to humanity, incarceration in the name of "freedom to choose" is preferable to bowing to the will of the masters. And we must be prepared to stand in solidarity, even if in chains, if we are to overcome the will of the criminal Corporate Bourgeoise.
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