[R]eal Swaraj will come, not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused. In other words, Swaraj is to be attained by educating the masses to a sense of their capacity to regulate and control authority. ~ Gandhi, Young India, January 29, 1925, p. 41

Voting alone does not guarantee a healthy democracy. It is one way that the populace asserts its control over authority, at least symbolically, by letting those in power know that they’ve been elected, not appointed by Divine Right. Why should democracy do with voting alone, Gandhi urges us to consider. Let’s work for that great day when nonviolence and civil disobedience is “mandatory education” for those who consider themselves to be living in democratic nations. What would it take for our nation to realize that we “regulate and control” the government?

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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.

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