E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

219 Contextualising Gandhian Thoughtaccumulate wealth without the cooperation of the poor insociety.” 87Now, to recapitulate what has been stated in the earlierparagraphs: Gandhi did not believe in private property, or theright of inheritance. Inheritance belonged to the nation. Hewould examine every title to ownership and dispossess anyonewhose title was found to have been acquired by injuring theinterests of the masses. He may not even give compensation tothose who are so dispossessed. He believed that instruments ofproduction should be owned by those who use them to producewealth, in the field of agriculture as well as in the field ofindustry. He would, therefore, prefer such instruments ofproduction as could be owned by the workers themselves. Thiswould eliminate the distinction between employer andemployee; thus, preventing the rise of one class of employersand another of employees, and the consequent syndrome ofcompetition and conflict. Wherever it was difficult to achieveefficiency in production without the use of instruments that theself-employing individual could not own, he would wantcooperative ownership of all those who worked on themachinery and organised production or distribution. Such anundertaking would work on the basis of equality, equal interest,equal responsibility, equal partnership in management, equalbenefit and equal power. Where the nature and cost of themachinery did not permit even this type of ownership, hewould vest ownership in the State. But the State was aconcentration of violence, and therefore he was wary ofincreasing its power. A state that concentrated both politicalpower and ownership in its hands would be a titanicconcentration of power that would reduce the citizen to thestatus of a wage-earner and at the same time attenuate hisability to exercise control over the political or economic:activities of the State. Gandhi would therefore favour a systemwhich takes one nearest to the elimination of the differentiation