Mohan-Mala - Mahatma Gandhi

Mohan-MalaAugust 16The supreme consideration is man. The machine should not tend to makeatrophied the limbs of man.YI, 13 Nov. 1924August 17What I object to is the craze for machinery, not machinery as such. The craze isfor what they call labour-saving machinery. Men go on 'saving labour', tillthousands are without work and thrown on the open streets to die ofstarvation.Ibid.August 18But why not, it is asked, save the labour of millions, and give them more leisurefor intellectual pursuits? Leisure is good and necessary up to a point only, Godcreated man to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, and I dread the prospectof our being able to produce all that we want, including our food stuffs, out ofa conjuror's hat.H, 16 May 1936August 19I want to save time and labour not for a fraction of mankind, but for all. I wantthe concentration of wealth, not in the hands of a few, but in the hands of all.Today machinery merely helps a few to ride on the backs of millions. Theimpetus behind it all is not the philanthropy to save labour, but greed. It isagainst this constitution of things that I am fighting with all my might.YI, 13 Nov. 1924www.mkgandhi.org Page 62