What is ideology? Explain Gandhi’s critique of socialism and communism
While articulating Gandhi’s views on socialism and communism, it is important to point out that Gandhi criticised them at the levels of both as a political philosophy as well as an economic strategy to reorder the economic contours of a society. What Gandhi found appreciable in socialism and communism was their concern for the masses in terms of making provisions for fulfillment of the basic needs of the people. But beyond that, Gandhi happens to be a staunch critic of socialism and communism.
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied primarily to economic, political, or religious theories and policies, in a tradition going back to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, more recent use the term as mainly condemnatory.
The term was coined by Antoine Destutt de Tracy, a French Enlightenment aristocrat and philosopher, who conceived it in 1796 as the "science of ideas" to develop a rational system of ideas to oppose the irrational impulses of the mob. In political science, the term is used in a descriptive sense to refer to political belief systems.
What is ideology? Explain Gandhi’s critique of socialism and communism
That is why, despite having
declared Nehru as his political heir, he quite often entered into fierce debate
with Nehru on the merits of socialism as an appropriate ideology to pattern the
future course of activities of the country on the same. Indeed, most, if not
all, of the major socio-economic, political, religious and moral formulations
of socialism and communism appeared antithetical to the ideological
orientations of Gandhi. Given the basis of Gandhi’s socio-economic, political
and religious ideas in the moral emancipation of the masses, it was quite
natural that they ran counter to the formulations of socialism and communism as
they seek to ensure socioeconomic emancipation of the people. For instance,
while the notion of equality of Gandhi was apparently the provision of equal
ethical and moral independence to all in order to secure the development of
their soul and spirit, it was the primary concern of the socialism and
communism to afford economic and material equality to all in such a way that
the basic needs of each individual in society could be fulfilled.
As such, a collectivist conceptualisation of the individual
and his or her role in society would have been unacceptable to Gandhi; it was
thus natural that Gandhi emerged as one of the staunchest critics of the theory
and practice of socialism and communism in various parts of the world.
What is ideology? Explain Gandhi’s critique of socialism and communism - As a political philosophy, socialism and communism earned the critique of Gandhi right from their conceptualisation of the nature of men to their ideal of establishing a classless and stateless society. Gandhi criticised them, like his critique of liberalism, for devaluing the basic essence of human personality by taking it as essentially selfish and driven by motivated pursuits for material gains in society. In a way, Gandhi discredited the entire philosophy of historical materialism of socialism as it was thought to draw its sustenance from a fallacious notion of human beings. Conceptually, socialism and communism sought to explain the evolution of human civilisation over the centuries with the formulation of historical materialism. These philosophies apparently tried to establish that the basic pursuits of each and every human being in society are to gain material resources and physical comforts. However, the departure of human life from the state of nature to that of man-made system led to the creation of two distinct classes in society: the haves and have nots.
Moreover, in accordance with the changing nature of relations
between the haves and have nots, the nature of socioeconomic relations also
underwent subtle transformations as well, whose latest incarnation could be
seen in the form of the capitalism. The underlying argument of this classic
Marxist formulation was that human nature was inherently materialistic and
selfish which led to the perpetuation of the exploitation of one class of
people at the hands of other. But given the moralist and religious overtones of
Gandhian thought, it would have been obvious that Gandhi would have rejected
such a description of human nature. He argued that taking human being as
fundamentally selfish and materialist was a patently wrong preposition that
would have produced equally wrong conclusions.
Therefore, in place of Marxist characterisation of human
being as selfish and materialist, Gandhi argued for the selfless and spiritual
nature of human personality. He firmly believed that human beings inherently
carried a positive orientation rooted in his or her spiritual outlook to life
as a result of which material considerations had only limited role to play in
determining the course of the human life. Thus, to seek plausible and lasting
solutions to the difficulties being faced by the human beings in present times,
it was important that the positive moralist and spiritual instincts of human
personality needed to be invoked.
Politics
Some significant aspects of socialist life that came on the
radar of Gandhi’s critical examination appeared to be the politics and
religion. To Gandhi, politics was not a means of appropriating power and
wielding authority over the other unwilling mass of people. To him, politics
was an instrument of mass mobilisation, service, concern, participation and
moral regeneration of the moribund majority of people. Moreover, it would give
the people an option to branch out of their stipulated economic and
materialistic life as was found in the socialist countries.
At the same time, it ingrained in the people a sense of
self-respect, dignity and value for the noble principles of equality, justice,
fraternity etc. But, by negating the importance of politics in society, the
socialist societies do great injustice to their people. They not only made them
a subservient group of atomistic entities, but also their sense of perceiving
the moral goodness or just and unjust in social relations got blunted as a result
of which there did not exist any critique of the wrongdoings of the rulers.
Moreover, the positive energies of the society remained unutilised for the
purposes of moral and spiritual regeneration of the people.
Religion
Another point of discord between Gandhi and socialists
existed on the issue of place of religion in society. While Gandhi took
religion as the basic force to ingrain the sense of morality, spirituality and
self-regulation for the people in society, the socialists labelled religion as
the opium of the masses on the ground that it intoxicated them to be blind to
the exploitation and oppressions perpetrated on them by the forces of
capitalism and other vested interests of society. Therefore, in almost all the
socialist countries, the public practice and propagation of religion and
religious sermons were prohibited in order to dissuade the people to be
religious and spiritual.
Gandhi asked for free and voluntary invocation of religious
and moralistic teaching and preaching in society so that human beings could attain
spiritual salvation through self-regulation and service and care for other
distressed and miserable people in their neighbourhood.
What is ideology? Explain Gandhi’s critique of socialism and communism
Mahatma Gandhi's View on Communism and Socialism!
Gandhi was additionally never for communism propounded by
Nehru, which accentuated for enormous scope creation. This gigantic creation,
Gandhi dreaded, would prompt more noteworthy double-dealing and urbanization.
This accentuation on decentralization charmed Gandhi to Vinoba Bhave and
Jayaprakash Narayan, and not to industrialists. As indicated by Gandhi, for a
genuine Swaraj to be laid out, it isn't so much that that one class rule be
subbed by the other. It is considerably more than that.
The towns must be fortified. He further accepted that is a
lot more straightforward to change a foundation than a man. However Gandhi had extraordinary
confidence in establishments and their working, he had more prominent
confidence in the perfectibility of the person. Gandhi unequivocally accepted
that Western communism and socialism had major areas of strength for an of
self-centeredness.
What is ideology? Explain Gandhi’s critique of socialism and communism
Taking everything into account, however he appreci¬ated its
capacity to arrange masses, he was disheartened that it prompts the
establish¬ment of fascism. For a Gandhian, an option in contrast to socialism
is to lay out a general public wherein the instruments of creation are basic
and that the everyday person could play them in the towns.
In such a general public, there would be no grouping of
financial power, thus state would wilt away and the Marxian dream wouldn't be
satisfied. Notwithstanding, scholars like M. N. Roy unequivocally reprimanded
the thoughts communicated by Gandhi and expressed that he lamented that Gandhi
showed his laborers not to view their bosses as exploiters but rather trust
them as their senior siblings and that property managers were glad that Gandhi
viewed them as legal administrators of the interests of the workers.
He condemned Gandhi for his frail and watery reformism.
Gandhi was additionally condemned for not having an ever-evolving financial
philosophy that could give him a legitimate lead to the majority. In short.
Socialists countered any movement attempted by Gandhi inferable from their
reservations against the financial and social way of thinking of Gandhi. This
antago¬nism was reflected in their disavowal to help Gandhi's Stopped India
development. Regardless of their analysis of Gandhian way of thinking.
What is ideology? Explain Gandhi’s critique of socialism and communism
Socialists had incredible sees for Gandhi as an extraordinary
humanist. Remarking on Gandhi's optimism E. M. S. Namboodiripad in one of his
books. The Mahatma and The Ism, expressed that virtues like truth,
peacefulness, renunciation of the joys of life, political goals like
opportunity, a majority rules system, emancipa¬tion of ladies, solidarity of
every single strict gathering and networks, and so on, were trouble indissoluble
pieces of his life and lessons. However, tragically, Gandhi viewed the
specialists and laborers as siblings and accomplices of the classes that abused
them.
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