E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi’s Philosophy of Swadeshi 248quality. The temptations and dazzling presentations of theconsumer goods that are paraded before him and the spell thatis cast on his mind by the insidious and persistent propagandato which he is exposed by the mass media, in many casesowned or pressed into service by the very concerns that areseeking to entice him, — lead him into a trance in which hebecomes oblivious of the effect that his action as consumer isbound to have on the producer in his own house or hisneighbourhood. Women and the vulnerable and impressionableminds of children are the special targets of this propaganda.The targeting is patent. Yet one does not know whether oneshould describe it as brazen or as artful.One of the specious arguments that have beensedulously floated, and echoed by innocents or the infatuated isthat the concepts of Swadeshi has no value in a world in whichthe concept of nationalism and the nation-state is getting outdatedand people are moving towards a global society. Thequestion that immediately comes to mind is whether all nationshave begun to dismantle national frontiers and give upnationalism, whether the powerful and industrially advancedcountries have opened their frontiers to goods and humanbeings from other areas. Or is it that the advice and call toconfirm to futuristic ideas and patterns are meant only for theweak and exploited nations of the world? Competition betweenthe weak and the strong will lead only to increase in disparity,and to exploitation, whether it takes place within nations orbetween nations.Gandhi believed that humanity would evolve towards aworld community. But he also believed that such an evolutionwould depend on our ability to extend the Law that holds thefamily together to wider and wider units till it ruled allinterpersonal, inter-group and inter-national relations. The Lawthat governs the family is the Law of Love, and humanity canbecome one community only when love substitutes greed, and