VILLAGE SWARAJ AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Mahatma Gandhi

VILLAGE SWARAJ AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Mahatma Gandhi.s Ideas as Seen through the Eyes of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru TodayPlease visit Dr. Rookmin Maharaj's article at:http://www.advaitaashrama.org/pb_archive/2006/PB_2006_September.pdf
Posted by Dr. Rookmin Maharaj at 9:00 AM
2 comments:
Anonymous said...
If Ghandi was alive today what are some comments,in your opinion, would he have made pertaining to global warming?
February 7, 2008 8:00 AM
Dr. Rookmin Maharaj said...
Global warming is a term used very loosely today, according to wikipedia.org, “the term "global warming" is a specific example of climate change, which can also refer to global cooling. In common usage, the term refers to recent warming and implies a human influence. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) uses the term "climate change" for human-caused change, and "climate variability" for other changes. Human influence in this case refers to our influence on the earth due to our everyday activities as humans. Our everyday activities as humans are influenced by our needs, however, in 2008 our needs are overshadowed by our WANTS. Our WANTS as humans are dictated by big business, marketing enterprises and the invisible hand(s). Let us take a look at what are some of the causes of global warming:Carbon Dioxide from Power Plants In 2002 about 40% of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions stem from the burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. Coal accounts for 93 percent of the emissions from the electric utility industry. (US Emissions Inventory 2004 Executive Summary pg. 10).Carbon Dioxide Emitted from Cars About 33% of U.S carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engines of cars and light trucks (minivans, sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks, and jeeps.)(US Emissions Inventory 2006 pg. 8)The United States is the largest consumer of oil, using 20.4 million barrels per day.If Mahatma Gandhi was alive today I do not think his comments with regard to global warming would be any different to his advise in 1947 as mentioned in the Journal article VILLAGE SWARAJ AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Mahatma Gandhi noted that we as humans, fail to ask a fundamental question which the Mahatma used as a benchmark to determine the viability of progress, the question is:“Does moral progress increase in the same proportion as material progress?Mahatma Gandhi believed, if we use this gauge when initiating any technological advancement we may avoid reaping the negative or adverse effects of development in the long term. Like the business of poverty or the business of the reintroduction of once eradicated diseases or the business of the sale of weaponery, the business of global warming is now the new fad. One person has even won the nobel prize for mass producing a sophisticated power point presentation about this topic. I conclude my answer to your question “If Ghandi was alive today what are some comments,in your opinion, would he have made pertaining to global warming?” with the conclusion in my Journal article VILLAGE SWARAJ AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:Conclusion:Bapu, it would be foolish to assume that we have all the answers to our current global problems in the form of Purna Swaraj and sustainable initiatives. However, you once advised another discouraged soul saying, .Please do not carry unnecessarily on your head the burden of emancipating India [or the world]. In your emancipation is the emancipation of India [and the world]. All else is make-believe. Additionally, your prophetic words echo our woes today: It is not the British [or globalization] that are responsible for the misfortunes of India [or the world] but we who have succumbed to modern civilization [marketing ploys of big multinationals]. And the solution: It is not an attempt to go back to the so-called ignorant Dark Age. It is an attempt to see beauty in voluntary simplicity, poverty and slowness. (xvi). Extrapolating the words of the Bhagavadgita to this context, being able to discriminate between what is truth and what is untruth with respect to honouring our sacred earth is of prime essence. It was because of our inability to discriminate that India was lost to the British in the first place. Are we to lose our earth in the same way? This means, of course, that as consumers each one of us can effect positive changes. We can compost our vegetable waste in our gardens We can plant vegetables. We can try to encourage manufacturers to reduce packaging (they will change if we as consumers do not buy over-packaged products). We have to stop following the Jones’s or Singhs and carpool and reduce our carbon emissions. We can refuse to change our cars only for the sake of getting the latest model. We can look into the viability of using wind power or solar power. It is amazing how much electricity can be generated from one windmill. These are just some small steps, but I truly believe like you, Bapu, that when others see the positive tangible results in small initiatives, bigger things can happen. As you said, India [the world] was once looked upon as a golden land, because Indians [people] then were people of sterling worth. The land is still the same but the people have changed and that is why it has become arid. To transform it into a golden land again we must transmute ourselves into gold by leading a life of virtue. The philosopher .s stone which can bring this about consists of two syllables: satya (truth). If therefore every Indian [person] makes it a point to follow truth always, India [the world] will achieve swaraj as a matter of course. (xlii). Make no mistake if the West does not outwardly look polluted, as for example Calgary. We just need to drive a few miles to Caroline, Alberta, where sour gas wells are emitting volumes of toxic waste in the air. In Fort Mc- Murray, the oil sand complexes emit thousands of pounds of raw toxic waste both in the air and in the rivers and streams (refer to endnote 6). Today it is essential for each one of us to know that governments can sustain geographical borders, but there are no borders that can contain toxins spreading from one part of the earth to the other by air or water. We have to adhere to satya; we have to know that we are all abusing our earth and find ways to reduce our footprints that we will all leave on this very sacred earth. Yours,Jawaharlal (Maharaj, R. 2006)
February 12, 2008 8:16 AM
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