While doing research, I came across this Wikipedia article about Gandhi's Seven Blunders of the World. I had never heard of this before and it really caught my attention!
The Seven Blunders of the World is a list that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi gave to his grandson Arun Gandhi, written on a piece of paper, on their final day together, not too long before his assassination. The seven blunders are:
- Wealth without work
- Pleasure without conscience
- Knowledge without character
- Commerce without morality
- Science without humanity
- Worship without sacrifice
- Politics without principle
This list grew from Gandhi's search for the roots of violence. He called these acts of passive violence. Preventing these is the best way to prevent oneself or one's society from reaching a point of violence.
It's fascinating because I can see most of the major problems currently in the headlines today as tied to one or more of the Seven Blunders (like over-consumption could be filed under the blunders "pleasure without conscience" or "commerce without morality"). I think that if some of the major players of our country taped to their bathroom mirror and read it every morning while they brushed their teeth, we might have a much different world to live in. Don't you agree?
- Rights without responsibilities
Now this is one that I think many people in our country need to meditate on. Often Americans take for granted the rights we've been given and think that they are owed to us. While they're really something we need to be responsible for and take care of.
What would you write as the ninth blunder? Or do you agree with these blunders at all?
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