E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

211 Contextualising Gandhian Thoughtinstitution and spirit of trusteeship which virtually alter themeaning of property, delinking it from personal profit, andlinking it to use, and social profit, taking society in thedirection of a mutualist socialism; and (c) the corrective ofnonviolent non-cooperation within the industrial system as wellas the political system.Now let us have another look at Trusteeship with thesethree elements in mind, even if it means some recapitulation ofwhat has been stated earlier in a different context.In the economic field, ownership or private property isthe source of power and inequality. Private property and thesocial sanction for inheritance lead to the perpetuation andaccentuation of inequality. Private ownership of instruments ofproduction leads to exploitation and appropriation of surplusvalue, leading to the accumulation of capital and wealth, andthe concentration of the ownership of the instruments ofproduction in the hands of a few. The use of highlysophisticated technology leads to centralisation of the system ofproduction and distribution, and the ownership of capital.Capitalism sanctifies the system of concentration and centralisationin the name of the liberty of the individual, the right toprivate property, the right of inheritance, and the right to pursueprivate profit without concern for the resultant cost to society.Gandhi held that true liberty of the individual wasinconsistent with these 'rights'. To him rights flowed fromduties. 63 He therefore rejected these rights as unilateralabstractions that neither recognised the nexus between dutiesand rights, nor reconciled the social consequences of theindividual exercising these rights without social control. Theunilateral exercise of these rights without self-restraint or socialconscientiousness had only resulted in inequality, injustice,exploitation, suffering and conflicts. No man who believed in