“I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.” — Mohandas K. Gandhi
The second of October was the 140th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, best known for leading India in its nonviolent campaign of resistance to British rule and to the independence of modern India, and for promoting the principles of ahimsa, or nonviolence, and satyagraha, or nonviolent resistance to oppression. He is revered as a national hero in India, and has had profound influence internationally as well, for example, his writings and tactics inspired Martin Luther King, Jr. during the American civil rights movement. His birthday is observed in India as Gandhi Jayanti, and is recognized worldwide as International Day of Non-Violence. And while he never received the Nobel peace prize, it is widely understood that the reason the prize was not awarded in 1948 was that it is not awarded posthumously and Gandhi had been assassinated before his selection could be announced.
Gandhi resonates with me because he understood that one cannot be truly committed to nonviolence without also being a stict vegetarian. It's not that animals should have the right to vote, or are the equal of people, and I don't see any reason why well-treated animals shouldn't be used for things like plowing, horseback riding, etc. (although there are some animal rights activists who disagree). But all of the research I've done for my dissertation has reaffirmed that there's no nutritional need for animal products, even for kids, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and others with more delicate nutritional needs. Given the lack of need, meat is nothing more than a lifestyle choice — and it's a choice of violence.
I also appreciate Gandhi for being a philosophical anarchist. He thought that the less government there was the better, hoping that people could become sufficiently enlightened to resolve conflicts nonviolently on their own, making government unnecessary. While he was famously opposed to the partition of India into Hindu and Muslim countries, he preferred largely autonomous communities to gigantic bureacracies. He had experienced firsthand the power of government to oppress, and did not wish that India would followin that tradition. I find that this too is an inspiring political philosophy, and while realization of it may seem far away, one cannot progress toward a destination, even a distant one, without knowing what it is.
To tie all of this back to my A.T. Still experience, ultimately these beliefs tipped tha balance on why I chose that institution. I was pretty firm when it came to my ethical motivation, but I wanted to be a bit stronger when it came to the health aspect of things. ATSU gave me the leeway I needed to incorporate that unusual interest within their program.
I only wish it weren't so unusual. Anyway, happy belated birthday, Bapu!
Tomorrow I'll explain what took me so long to get this particular entry online, but to give you a hint, I have come to dislike my local phone company, but the real enemy are the squirrels.