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Tesla’s Opposition to Authoritarianism and the War Machine

“There can be no doubt that, of all the frictional

resistances, the one that most retards human movement is

ignorance. Not without reason said that man of wisdom,

Buddha: “Ignorance is the greatest evil in the world.”

The friction which results from ignorance, and which is

greatly increased owing to the numerous languages and

nationalities, can be reduced only by the spread of

knowledge and the unification of the heterogeneous

elements of humanity. No effort could be better spent.

But however ignorance may have retarded the onward

movement of man in times past, it is certain that,

nowadays, negative forces have become of greater

importance. Among these there is one of far greater

moment than any other. It is called organized warfare.

When we consider the millions of individuals, often the

ablest in mind and body, the flower of humanity, who are

compelled to a life of inactivity and unproductiveness,

the immense sums of money daily required for the

maintenance of armies and war apparatus, representing

ever so much of human energy, all the effort uselessly

spent in the production of arms and implements of

destruction, the loss of life and the fostering of a

barbarous spirit, we are appalled at the inestimable loss

to mankind which the existence of these deplorable

conditions must involve. What can we do to combat best

this great evil?” -Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla
—Read the full article by Tesla on PBS.

[from THE ONWARD MOVEMENT OF MAN–THE ENERGY OF THE MOVEMENT–THE THREE WAYS OF INCREASING HUMAN ENERGY]

 

Read from the collection of articles on the Tesla index at PBS.

Photograph by Alvaro Tapia

 

 


 

Written in response to Smithsonian article Tesla the Eugenicist

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