Gandhi, in his book Hind Swaraj, 1908, has put forward his ideas about the evils of modernity. The book diagnosis the disease that is eating away the vitals of modern civilization. Gandhi has called modernity as ‘satanic’
Gandhi was not a dogmatic opponent of mordernisation. He appreciated and valued the virtues of modernity like equality, freedom, justice, rationality, autonomy. He was apprehensive about the dependence on machines. He was not opposed to the use of machines, but their misuse and overuse.
He categorized some machines such as spinning wheel (charka), sweeing machine, etc as empowering the mares. They increased self reliance and independence. Gandhi criticized mass production, standardization, robatosation and urbanization. He felt that there revolution have allowed overproduction and made man slaves to machines.
He feared that the carat eristic feature of modern civilization was based on maximization of wants. He believed such rapid industrialization has caused the destruction of village cottage industries and contributed to the increase in urban migration and poverty.
He commented that it would be wrong to think that an Indian Rockefeller would be any different from American Rockefeller.
He believed that the gal should be to improve the standard of living of the people. He opined that technologies such as telegram, railways were not absolutely indispensable for the welfare of human race. Gandhi impressed that the cosmos with it’s so called material world did not have man at its apex, but was a series of ever expanding circles. He felt that such an understanding would legitimize and encourage man’s exploitation of the rest.
Gandhi appreciated rationality but gave importance to morality, ethics as well as spirituality in seeking the truth. He commented rationality is adorable, but rationalism is a hideous monster when it claims omnipotence. He believed that knowledge and wisdom were not for man to take charge of the world but to live with nature take control of ourselves.
Gandhi was influenced not only by Thoreau, Ruskin and Tolstoy but by Upanishads. The mantra tena tyktena bhunjita, magritha kasya sidharam, which asserts the importance of renunciation before we consume anything deeply influenced him.
“There is enough in the world to meet everyone’s need but not one man’s greed” – Gandhi
Gandhi believed that the earth, air, water, land, were not an inheritance from future generations. He advised for ‘minimization of wants’ and harmonious living with nature.
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