“A democrat must be utterly selfless. He (or she) must think and dream, not in terms of self or of party, but only of democracy.” ~ Gandhi, Mahatma, 5.104
Would it not be safe to say that the system we have at present here, to one extent or another, in other democracies so-called has produced adherents who are the opposite of Gandhi’s definition? Of course, our two-party system in the US (which has no constitutional basis) in our violence-promoting culture guarantees that polarization and fighting, not conversation and decision-making, will be the way our political culture operates. To cite one element of our present general culture, advertising, exerts a strong pressure on us not to be selfless in the least. In my whole adult life I can remember seeing exactly one ad, of the millions we’re exposed to, that encouraged people to serve others—and that was in Germany. It follows, then, that isolating ourselves as much as possible from advertising would make us more nonviolent, happier, and better democrats.
Thanks for sharing a comment below.
About Daily Metta
Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way to share Gandhi’s spiritual wisdom and experiments with nonviolence.
Our 2016 Daily Metta continues with Gandhi on weekdays. On weekends, we share videos that complement Michael Nagler’s award-winning book, The Search for a Nonviolent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves, Our Families, and Our World. To help readers engage with the book more deeply, the Metta Center offers a free PDF study guide.
Enjoy more Daily Metta: See the archives
Get Daily Metta by email: Subscribe
-
By: Prof. Michael Nagler
As the Founder and President of Metta Center, Michael Nagler is also Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. Michael is the author of The Search for a Nonviolent Future and The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action. His latest book is The Third Harmony: Nonviolence & the New Story of Human Nature. Visit his website: michaelnagler.org.
-
-
Normandy and Pietermaritzburg
Nonviolence Report April 28, 2021
Nonviolence Report April 23, 2021
A bit of History Offers a Clue for Going Forward
A Call to Nonviolence.
I remember being horrified by a TV commercial about ten years ago. It showed beautiful young people coming together in a powerful way (there were probably a beach and a bonfire, etc). The images and music built the expectation that the people were united by a strong force. I remember wondering what in the world this could possibly be an ad for. When the end of the ad finally revealed the unifying force, it was Levi’s jeans. This brought on in me a dread that the idea of unity was being usurped, and the result could be that young people would be duped into believing that participation in consumption was the way to unity.
That’s a good observation, Karie. As time went on they became more explicit, like the picture of two rings, “This is what love looks like.” Bad stuff!