Power to the People: Mahatma Gandhi’s Key to Change

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Power to the People: Mahatma Gandhi’s Key to Change
According to Indian social activist Mahatma Gandhi, selfless service is the foundation for creating change throughout the world. “Action is one’s duty”, and one’s duty is actuated by “the spirit of service” (9) which one must take on in order to understand humility and selflessness, strengthen himself, and become an advocate for ahimsa, nonviolence (9). Like so many other social activists, Gandhi had a vision for the future: a vision of peace, independence, and equality for all. To Gandhi, nonviolence is essential if one ever wishes to see this change that he envisioned for the world. Gandhi fought relentlessly for India’s independence from Britain, but he did not fight in the way many people today think of when they hear the word “fight”. Gandhi fought without fists but with courage, heart, empathy, and, most importantly, with love – love for self, love for others, and love for his country. Gandhi confirms that one who loves himself, others, and his country enough to sacrifice himself and devote himself to ahimsa has the power to change the world. If an individual wants to make a difference he should follow the ways in which Mahatma Gandhi lived his life; Gandhi led a life of nonviolence in his everyday life, in the form of civil disobedience, and as a foundation for independence. As Gandhi did, when one reaches a full understanding of nonviolence and acts upon it, he alone can make a difference.
Gandhi advocated nonviolence as a way of life because it is the foundation for furthering ahimsa onto a greater scale. The individual is the gateway to universal reform and once he recognizes and understands selfless action he, too, can become an advocate for ahimsa as he practices i...

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...dependence, and chaos that violence brings with it. By seeing these ideals, even if they are never reached, one is doing something beneficial. Having the ideal or the ultimate goal in mind is what truly matters to Gandhi. Completely aware that not everyone will ever be able to fully devote himself to ahimsa, Gandhi confirms that it is okay to never reach these things, as long as one strives for them and makes a positive difference in the process. Gandhi himself was not the ideal individual that he described for people to strive to be, but he was real and he too strived, just as others should. He, by himself, changed so much for so many people and is the prime example of his own philosophy that one person is enough to change the world. With his firm and unabating commitment to making a difference he empowered people worldwide and his influence continues to this day.

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