The relevance of Gandhi's Social Philosophy in today's time.

According to Gandhi, the new state is the product of a new man. The “new man” is a
product of one that achieves perfection we call “self-realization”. Self-realization is realization of
God within man. It is the pursuit of the good that paves way for self-realization. This entails self-
sacrifice for there is no self-realization without sacrifice. Self-realization requires one to identify
himself with all that lives. With this, one has to sacrifice his/her egoistic and selfish ways in
order to realizes God’s presence in and around one’s self. Non-violence and self-sacrifice have
become the core of Gandhi’s social philosophy.
We are now living in a digital world where information is fast and accessibility to other
parts of the world is a possible. We can reach out to people near and far by the use of the
internet. We are social beings and we interact with each other. For Gandhi, it is Interaction of
people that creates society. When we start building relationships to other people, we curtail our
own selfishness. We, then create society. According to Gandhi, the origin of society lies in man’s
realizations that complete selfishness has no place in society. With this, a person transcends
his/her egoistic and brutish ways in order to share the world he/she lives. Man desires to live in
harmony with each other and thus avoid violence. For the egoistic ways of the people are the
roots of violence. Here, Gandhi can justify that non-violence creates an idea of society. For
Gandhi, That is why one should practice “Ahimsa” or non-violence because there is the practice
of love and it connotes selflessness and goodwill to others. Our interdependence comes in when
we engage ourselves with others.
For Gandhi, it is work that distinguishes us from animals. That is why we work in order
to improve our social life and boost our economy. For Gandhi, the basis for work is Love and
cooperation. We might not sometimes love our work but we may learn to love it. A healthy
social life must be based on Cooperation and division of work. There is no man that all kinds of
work. That is why most companies and business have different job positions and everyone in the
society has his/her right field of expertise. Gandhi says that, “your work is also to for fulfill
others” and this is true. For example, delivery man delivering a package to me. It fulfills me.
Gandhi also states that work is the basis for social organization. And this this clearly seen in our
society today. No wonder there are many people with distinct jobs and roles in society;
engineers, teachers, politicians, leaders, businessmen/women, factory line workers, craftsmen,
farmers, etc. that would keep society and economy in shape.
With regards to work. Gandhi asserts first, the dignity or importance of labor. Work is
work no matter how high or low the salary is. Work gives dignity to a person. Work uplifts a
person in the social status because work gives us value whether you are a fisherman, a farmer, a
janitor, a jeepney driver etc. as long as you give contribution to a community or to the society.
Work enables a person’s mind and skill to grow. Mental work is never superior to manual work.
There is Equality between the manual and mental work. For Gandhi, all kinds of work are
mentally sacred. The basis for distribution of work is based on a person’s aptitudes and abilities.
Love and willing cooperation is the basis for work. For Gandhi this is a voluntary act. It
necessarily follows that there must be equality of wages. With this we can achieve social
efficiency because one is not motivated by wages but by abilities. Gandhi puts more importance
on the person doing the job than the capital because the person is the one given dignity by his/her
job.
Gandhi believe that the society must be based on love and mutual trust. That is why we
must not do immoral acts that could harm others like killing, stealing, or acts of dishonesty so
that we would not be suspicious of others. We also have banks and cooperatives derived from
Gandhi’s principle of Trusteeship of the rich were they would keep our surplus of wealth in trust.
The dignity of human life is always above. That is why we are against death penalty
because it degrades the value human life. Only God has the right to take someone’s life. The
state should serve human life. If man achieves his moral life, then there is no need of a state. The
state would serve man’s end.
We often dream of a non-violent state, no crimes no evil and no hate. And it is only
possible when one achieves the moral height of the person that is self-realization. Because one
has already practiced love and self-sacrifice. There is no more violence in each of every person.
But looking at our situation, it might be impossible to achieve this kind of utopia knowing that
we have one of the worst government systems. But for me, it really starts with the right
education. I always hope that students are educated not only to work for hungry capitalists but to
enable to create themselves an instrument for change.
Change doesn’t have to be fought by war. War is just a product of man’s pride and
dumbness. Man, according to Gandhi must aim at non-violence self-sacrifice in order to reach
self-realization and thus, creating a new man for the new state.