Hind Swaraj

To Gandhi, the Indian civilization is “not to be beaten in the world” (36). The great classical civilizations fell, yet Europeans still study them, believing “that they will avoid the mistakes of Greece and Rome” (36). Ancient Egypt is long gone, while Japan is westernized, but “[i]n the midst of all this India remains immovable and that is her glory” (36).

Civilization is simply “good conduct” (36), a blend of duty and morality. In that respect, India “has nothing to learn from anybody else” (36). With the advent of modern conveniences, though, desires multiply and get out of control: “It was not that we did not know how to invent machinery, but our forefathers knew that if we set our hearts after such things, we would become slaves and lose our moral fibre” (37).

Cities are to be avoided, as they are “a snare and a useless encumbrance” that the forefathers warned would house “gangs of thieves and robbers, prostitution and vice flourishing in them and that poor men would be robbed by rich men” (37). Instead, “[t]he common people lived independently and followed their agricultural occupation. They enjoyed true Home Rule” (37).

The old ways do contain elements that are bad, including child brides, religious prostitution, and the sacrifice of sheep and goats.