Why do people love to hate Gandhi today ?

Why do people love to hate Gandhi today ? Is it because he tabled the old fashioned value of austerity , and said the earth was finite, and for one person to indulge was to cause another elsewhere to starve ?

In losing Gandhi, we lose maybe our last chance to save ourselves, this country, this earth.

Raghurama Rao Suswaram I am not much bothered about people who hate Gandhi. These are typically the right wing supporters. I am actually worried about the rest who IGNORE Gandhi. If some one is serious about changing the lives for better on this planet, then ignoring what Gandhi said is the worst thing one can do.

 

Kapileswar Boyapati Who told you guys that right wingers oppose Gandhi. Yes, some feel he can better handled the partition situation. No one can deny and make small the sacrifices of Gandhi

Abraham Thomas Austerity and Modesty and savings are not virtues these days :( they are mocked at by most ppl, if not they are considered low

 

Aparna Krishnan And for that, maybe more than anything else, we need Gandhi today.

 

Ram Mohan Could it be because we often detest what we fail to understand?

 

Arnab Karfa Coz people are prone to propaganda

 

Raghunandan Tr I don't think they read him. So the question of understanding does not arise.

 

Aparna Krishnan Some like Smt Roy write elaborate notes on Gandhi and villages, and it is rather clear that she has understood neither.  

Raghunandan Tr I actually think that Arundhati Roy makes sense. She does read Gandhi. The point is to meet her points substantively, not to criticise her criticising Gandhi. If you read the preface she has written for Ambedkar's Annihilation of Caste, its a pretty good read.

 

Raghunandan Tr I am not pained by criticism of Gandhi. I am more worried about the dumbification of his message. For example, what does the current government make of Gandhi, except to use his spectacles as the logo for Swachch Bharat Abhiyan?

 

Mark Johnston Aparna, it strikes me that the reasons you gave for why some may hate Gandhi are precisely the reasons why we need to consider his views, analysis and actions and to try to integrate them into whatever individual and societal circumstances we find ourselves in.

 

Aparna Krishnan yes, but is that why he is not cool today ??

 

Mark Johnston I've never been any good at judging or following what is 'cool' :)

 

Mark Johnston The people of Cuba did not move to more sustainable organic and urban farming because it was in any way fashionable or ethical. They moved to it because the US enforced embargo and the withdrawal of supplies caused by the collapse of the USSR meant they could no longer import enough food, fuel the tractors or manufacture agrochemicals. Whilst I would prefer us to make changes by choice now I suspect that we need malnutrition, disease and water shortages to hit far more people before we come to our senses.