Relevance of Gandhian Thought to Evaluate

Global Problems of 21st Century

Dr. Anjna Agarwal

Asst. Professor, Dept. of Economics
Dau Dayal Mahila P.G. College
Firozabad (U.P.)
WHATSAPP 9760005456
Amidst the atmosphere of tension, violence, differences of opinion,
unemployment and inflation globally, today the relevance of Gandhian philosophy which
is based on truth and non-violence can not be ignored. The reason behind this is that the
world is finding itself involved in violence, economic meltdown, starvation,
unemployment and hatred. And the need for adopting Gandhian philosophy is being felt
more eagerly everywhere. Gandhi was unique as a man of thought and action, industry
and acumen, conviction and commitment. A man of highest commitment and integrity, he
himself tried his best to experiment his philosophical ideas. Einstein rightly said that
"generation to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood,
walked upon this earth." Paying homage to Gandhi, Sir Stafford Cripps observed, "I
know of no other man of any time or indeed recent history, who has so forcefully and
convincingly demonstrated the power of spirit over material things.
As we enter into twenty-first century, we face the problem of pollution, ecological
decay, poverty due to industrialization and high technology. There is also a growing
threat of arms race and terrorism pushing the entire mankind to a state of unrest. Gandhiji
has unmistakably foreseen this predicament the incoming disaster as early as 1909 in his
"Hindi Swaraj". Throughout his life, he continued to warn against it and showed the way
to avert it through truth and non-violence. He had characterized modern civilization as a
disease. Two weeks before his death, he had made a prophetic statement that, "this
modern civilization is such that one has only human wants still holds the key to the
removal of poverty and economic hazards from the society.”
Evolution of Gandhi philosophy becomes a global necessity for peace, prosperity,
freedom, harmony and survival of the whole human race. Gandhism is a new hope, new
force and above all a new challenge in the modern world. Gandhi’s books and actions
inspired a lot of other people that did extraordinary things to help the world such as
Martin Luther King jr., Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and Barrack Obama.
In this paper an attempt has been made in brief to highlight the relevance of the Gandhian
way of problem solution, likely to appear in 21st century with special reference to the
above mentioned major problem areas.
The Predicament

Violence become a cult in contemporary world, whether it is east or west. We are

living under the shadow of violence and no life is safe on this earth. The developed
countries in the name of national security spent twenty times as much on military
expenditure as they provided for economic aid. According to the SIPRI report, the
nuclear weapons currently in the world arsenals have a total explosive roughly equivalent
out that of about a million Hiroshima type atomic bombs. Near about 424 nuclear
reactors are operating world-wide and many more are planned for future, which are
neither safe nor friendly with environment. The nuclear waste generated from these
reactors are dumped into sear is posing a serious environmental threat not only to coastal
people but to entire humankind. The progress in areas like health, education and housing
is slowed by the diversion of precious human resources for national security, military
purposes and in combating terrorism, and separatist movement. Most of the major
problems facing humanity today like, economic disparities, inflation, over population,
unemployment, terrorism, pollution, malnutrition, illiteracy and hunger are due to mal-
development. Uncontrolled, unplanned and un-regulated industrialization and
urbanization have led to many disastrous consequences.

Over the past two decades, we have witnessed conflicts over development and
conflicts over natural resources, mutate into communal conflicts, and into extremism and
terrorism. Globalization is contributing to the Talibanisation of the World. Economic
globalization is fuelling economic insecurity, eroding cultural diversity and identity, and
assaulting political freedoms of citizens. It is therefore, providing fertile ground for the
growth of fundamentalism and terrorism. The survival of people and of democracy needs
a simultaneous response to the double fascism of globalization – the economic fascism
that destroys peoples lives, economic freedoms and economic security and the fascism of
fundamentalism that fees of people’s economic insecurities and fears. Gandhiji said
“Industrialism is, I am afraid, going to be a curse for mankind. Exploitation of one nation
by another cannot go on for all time. Industrialism depends entirely on your capacity to
exploit, on foreign markets being open to you, and on the absence of competitors.” There
is a perfect awareness that irrespective of all our economic planning, social philosophy,
scientific discoveries, we have contributed to a situation which make the life impossible
now on this planet earth. The water we drink is becoming poisonous and scarce too. It is
estimated that in the next 20 years several cities & towns of many countries will not have
sufficient surface or underground water sources. Large-scale technology requires huge
organization which in turns adds to hierarcy, alienation, exploitation and
bureaucratization. As the terrorism and violence are widespread in the world today, there
seems relevance of Gandhian principles everywhere.

Gandhi’s ideas are relevant to us in the 21st century because they ultimately
motivate us to cancel wars and fight for peace. “Peace is the most powerful weapon of
mankind. It takes more courage to take a blow than give one. It takes more courage to try
and talk things through than to start a war.” This is one example where Gandhi’s ideas of
peace are extremely relevant to the 21st century. He’s suggesting that weapons of mass
destruction are things that people are hiding behind as they’re too afraid to show courage
and be peaceful. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world” said by Mahatma.
As the foundation of the Gandhian or nonviolent social order is religious or
spiritual, economic and political questions are seen from the moral or humanistic
perspective. The welfare of human beings, not of systems or institutions, is the ultimate
consideration. Materially, it centres on the following concepts and ideals:

 Political decentralisation, to prevent massive concentrations of political

power in the hands of too few; rather, to distribute it in the hands of many. The
Gandhian political order takes the form of a direct, participatory democracy,
operating in a tier structure from the base village-level tier upward through the
district and state levels to the national (and international) level.
 Economic decentralisation, to prevent massive concentrations of economic
power in the hands of too few, and again, to distribute it in the hands of many.
Therefore villages, which are anyway geographically decentralised, become the
 basic economic units. However, where unavoidable, certain industries may be
organised on a more centralised basis, and their ownership and control come
under the umbrella of the State.
 The minimisation of competition and exploitation in the economic sphere,
and instead, the encouragement of cooperation.
 Production on the basis of need rather than greed, concentrating where
India is concerned first on the eradication of poverty (and on the worst extreme of
poverty).
 Recognition of the dignity of labour and the greater purity of rural life.
 The practice of extensive self-reliance by individuals, villages, regions and
the nation.
 Absence of oppression on the basis of race, caste, class, language, gender
or religion.
 A deep respect for mother nature, necessitating an economic system based
upon the preservation rather than destruction of the natural environment.

Such concepts clearly represent pillars for a new social order. In this materialistic
age, where economics has become all important and nuclear power a must, the post
independence generation has begun to consider Gandhi and his principles more relevant
today and his ideas more urgently needed than ever before. The world’s present status of
developmental picture is dark and likely to be further deteriorated and put the coming
generation in more trouble. The area in which world is going to suffer most can be in the
direction of Peace, Non-Violence, socio-economic growth and pollution free atmosphere.
In fact we have eaten up the coming generations of 21 st century’s bread by way of over
utilization of forest, water, land and air etc. Looking to the present way of solution of
these problems faced by the world, one can hardly have optimistic view for the better
solution of these problems. In such a situation only ray of hope lies in the Gandhian way
of solution of the problems.

Seven Social Sins

Mahatma Gandhi has suggested “Seven Social Sins” which are to be avoided. Of
course, these are ideals, but they are more relevant in the present era of desperation and
could easily be accepted. Gandhi reminds us that no one can escape from one sin and be
part of the other. The “seven social sins” according to Gandhi are :

(1) Consumption without conscience : The means and symbols of

consumption are the 3ps, i.e. property, power and prestige. Without conscience or
moral responsibility, consumption always turns to evil, in other words, eating food
is consumption, but without conscience it leads to sickness; similarly, sex is a
biological gift, but without conscience it turns to disorder. Consumerism is one of
the basic root causes of social conflict.

(2) Knowledge without character : Knowledge is power, but without morality

it is hypocrisy. With a lack of morality knowledge becomes a heavy burden on
humanity.

(3) Wealth without labour : In the modern era, wealth is the highest symbol of
projecting the level of personality and status. The ideology that “Money is
everything, so everything is just for money”, is now part of the culture. This
promotes the tendency of the “rich becoming richer and the poor becoming
poorer”. Accumulation of wealth by all possible means is the path to success for
the majority of people. These rich people never realize their social responsibility;
this leads to social crisis.

(4) Business without morality : According to the philosophy of welfare

economics, the basis of economic success is morality. However, at present,
‘morality’ has no place in business. The proverb that ‘everything is fair in love
and war’ is also applicable to business. The speedy encroachment and expansion
of industries on our fertile land is one example. Gandhi said, “Economics that hurt
the moral well-being of an individual or a nation are immoral and, therefore,
sinful”

(5) Religious duty without sacrifice : Compassion, service, sacrifice, and

altruism are the basic rules of dharma (religious-moral duty). Lacking the sense of
sacrifice promotes individualism, egocentricity and selfishness. Serving the poor
is service to God.
 (6) Science without human sense : Science has both the power of creation and
destruction; its nature depends the way in which it is used by man. Misconception
of science as to and technique for the use of resources has promoted the
philosophy of consumerism, which finally resulted in environmental disorder,
pollution and loss of peaceful life. The misuse of power of government with the
support of science converges into satanic actions that will finally destroy the
world. This power has promoted inhumane behaviour, desperation and cultural
crisis. Today, we have reached the stage where science becomes the master of
making instead of its assistant. Remember science is the means, but the end is the
human kindness.

(7) Politics without principles : Politics without principle is the cause of the
global crisis. Whatever direction and ways concerning science, international
relation or trade, war, education and ideological acceptance one proposes or
selects are motivated by politics. And if it follows the track of immoral principle it
destroys the social harmony. Gandhi has emphasized the need of spirituality as the
first step of politics and governance.

The four words, truth (Satya), nonviolence (ahimsa), Sarvodaya (welfare to all)
and Satyagraha constitute the four pillars of Gandhian thought are enough to solve
contemporary problems.

Satyagrah

Satyagraha means that you should be kind and equal with your neighbour, and solving
conflicts non-violently. Satyagrah is action-oriented search for and adherence to truth and
a non-violent fight against untruth. Gandhi extended this concept of satyagraha to
resolving conflicts within nations and between nations. Gandhi made many of us realise
that we need to work together and to fight the real fights that are meaningful to all of us.
Today we see conflicts starting because individuals and some nations want more
economical power, more natural resources, and more territory. Also we see nationalistic
motives, religious and racist motives (e.g. Hitler wanting to destroy Jews). You can’t stop
these things. We are humans. We always want power, more territory, more natural
resources and etc. We are greedy. But, many of these conflicts could be solved with
Gandhi’s teachings of Satyagraha.

Sarvodaya

Gandhian concept of Sarvodaya will be very useful for solving the social
problems of today and of 21st century. The concept can be interpreted as the “awakening
of one and all”. Sarvodaya is also related to achieving the highest level of self- realization
in which one sees one’s manifestation in all others. The main theme of the Sarvodaya in
the 21st century is “Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah, Sarve santu niramayah, Sarve Bhadrani
Pashyantu, Ma Kaschit Dukh-Bhag Bhavet.” Sarvodaya is related to the ‘universal
welfare’ stresses duty of individuals to themselves and beyond their immediate families
to the entire world. Sarvodaya will be very useful for establishing ideal society i.e., free
from evils like Politics without Principle, Wealth Without Work, Pleasure Without
Conscience, Knowledge without Character, Commerce without Morality, Science without
Humanity, Worship without Sacrifice. The Sarvodaya ideal, apart from standing for the
meaning of the integrated development of all. As a universal ideal it aims at no only
fulfilling the material needs but also developing the ethico-spiritual aspects of all people.
Such concepts clearly represent pillars for a new social order.

Trusteeship

A theory closely linked to the concept of Sarvodaya, also developed by Gandhi, is

that of Trusteeship. Its fundamental objective is to create nonviolent and non-exploitative
property relationships. Gandhi believed that the concepts of possession and private
property were sources of violence, and in contradiction with the Divine reality that all
wealth belongs to all people. However, he recognised that the concept of ownership
would not wither easily, nor would the wealthy be easily persuaded to share their wealth.
Therefore a compromise was to encourage the wealthy to hold their wealth in trust, to use
themselves only what was necessary and to allow the remainder to be utilised for the
benefit of the whole society.

Swadeshi
 The most important concept of Gandhiji namely Swadeshi finds its revival today
in Indian Polity especially after the incoming of multinationals and monopolization of the
entire Industrial Products. Gandhi wanted the strengthening of the village economies on
the basis of self-reliance which he called Swadeshi. The new spirit of Swadeshi is to
fight against new colonialism with increasing grip over Indian economy and creating
cultural erosion. It is a reflection of Gandhian Swadeshi. Because Gandhiji has developed
this concept first as the greatest tool for solving the economic problems of the 21 st
century. Swadeshi means self-reliance in every field. Gandhi delineated the modus
operandi of Swadeshi in terms of limited wants and the capacity of local surroundings
and resources to meet the need of the people. In his famous sentence he laid down his
dictum : “Nature produces enough to meet the needs of all the people, but not
enough to satisfy the greed of anyone”. A life of simplicity with self-respect is anytime
better than the life of luxury for the few bought with loss of self-esteem and
independences to other nations. This is the appropriate time for us to understand the
concept of Swadeshi and implement it in every possible manner and we will be doing this
progress by making ourself self reliant and self-sufficient in every field and we would be
free from moral degradation, economic exploitation, and political subjugation.

Non-Violence

Gandhi had said,” Non-Violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind.
It is mighter than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man”.
There will always be conflicts and arguments. But we shouldn’t spend time solving these
conflicts and arguments with violence. Instead we should use the quiet method of
negotiating and agreeing on things. “The principle of an eye for an eye will make the
whole world blind,” said Gandhi. We should compromise together so we can save the
world form dangers such as global warming, world destruction and etc. The tremendous
advancement of nuclear technology in the world has infinitely increased the risks of a
violent change. This has added considerably to the dilemmas of the new status we find in
many old societies in, what is now commonly called, the Third World. Compulsions of
industrial development and the dictates of political stability have, if only, further
complicated the choice of many nation in Afro-Asian region for bringing about political
and social transformation. The Technique of violence, nevertheless, creates more
problems than it solves. There is enough evidence in human affairs against an
indiscriminate belief in violence. Non-violence does ensure the requisite change in the
social order without sacrificing the cherished values of humanity.

In fact, he advocated – “man has no power to create life, therefore has no right
to kill any life also.” Gandhiji also believed that – Non-violence and compassion are not
to be practiced only towards living beings, but also towards inanimate materials. Gandhi
was in favour of using the thoughts against the arms and not the arms against the arms, to
fight injustice and inequality. In a world steeped in the culture of violence justice has
come to mean revenge – an eye for an eye, Gandhi said, only makes the whole world
blind. We need to examine the causes and reasons that result in extremist activities.
According to Gandhi any system that failed to take care of the basic necessities of the
people will be a sin to society in particular and humanity in general. Empty stomach dont
know any morals, values, ethics. To a hungry man God appears only in the form of bread.
Once, when asked for a message to humanity, Gandhiji said, "my life is my message".
We can find everything we want, provided we go through his writings, his speeches and
his life. Man's progress and the road to development has led to the deterioration of nature.
In his quest for fulfilling his needs, he has exploited nature to its maximum. This is
development that is ecologically not sustainable. In the words of James Mc hall, the
human being has become the most dangerous organism that the planet has ever hosted.

In short, today we need resolution of human conflicts without violence. And

Gandhi’s technique is to timely answer to the challenge of our times. It is the non-
violence of Gandhi that must prevail as the lasting method of conflict-resolution if
mankind is to survive in the present age. "Permanent good can never be the outcome
of untruth and violence."-Mahatma Gandhi Our approach to development and
economic growth must be harmonized with human value. Our aim should be to have
worth living place and worth living life which can be achieved through change of our life
style and controlling our unlimited needs and greeds. "The earth has enough resources
for our need, but not for our greed." We must follow the Indian tradition of self-
sacrifice. We require a proper synthesis of science and spirituality to usher in an era of
welfarism in 21st century i.e., Bhahujna, Hitaya, Bahujana Sukhaya.

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