What Would Gandhi Do?
Mon Apr 14, 2008 at 11:13:02 AM PDT
There's a lot of populist rhetoric going on these days. There's a lot of smoke being blown about who has "regular guy/gal" credentials and who is and elitist. It reminds me that populism and a genuine relationship with people is little more than a political football in America, at least at the national level. When Barack Obama speaks of bitterness and frustration in the small towns of America, and its inner cities, he's painting a picture of an environment in which government has drifted away from the "common" person and toward the corporate establishment.
Is Barack Obama a populist? I don't think so. Is Hillary Clinton? C'mon. John McCain? Should I dignify this with an answer?
That brings me to Mahatma Gandhi.
I recently had the pleasure of watching the brilliant Richard Attenborough film "Gandhi" and was taken by the speech the fictional Gandhi made before the Indian National Congress where he said:
Since I returned from South Africa, I have traveled over much of India. And I know that I could travel for many more years and still only see a small part of her. And yet, I already know that what we say here means nothing to the masses of our country. Here, we make speeches for each other, and those English liberal magazines that may grant us a few lines.
But the people of India are untouched. Their politics are confined to bread and salt. Illiterate they may be, but they're not blind. They see no reason to give their loyalty to rich and powerful men who simply want to take over the role of the British in the name of "freedom."
This Congress tells the world it represents India. My brothers, India is 700,000 villages, not a few hundred lawyers in Delhi and Bombay.
Until we stand in the fields with the millions that toil each day under the hot sun, we will not represent India -- nor will we ever be able to challenge the British as one nation.
We know the history of Gandhi's Satyagraha campaigns, or we should, and regardless of the accuracy of the film depiction of this speech and his life, it paints a better picture of what it means to be a populist. Gandhi not only talked the talk, he walked the walk...all the way to the Indian Ocean. He lived with the poorest of the poor and wore their clothing. He stood in the fields with the millions that toiled each day under the hot sun. His brand of social justice depended on his intellect, publications, political connections, and his devotion to living among the people and feeling their pain as his own.
I don't mean to suggest that we all need to live as Gandhi or that we should expect our political candidates to live up to that impossible standard. I do believe that we, as citizens, need to remember the lengths to which the truly great leaders of human society have gone in their quest for social justice. You need only turn to Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example of a flawed person, who transcended his own weaknesses to stand among the oppressed and walk into the teeth of hatred. King had the luxury of being a minister, rather than a politician. He didn't have to run for election, or reelection. It begs the question, "Can a politician ever be a populist?"
Truth be told, populism in America is a brand. It's a style of presentation that helps the media establishment fit messages into easily digested streams of information. As time goes on, this message is increasingly defined in terms of the "regular guy" and the elitist, as I wrote recently here. By this definition, Gandhi would certainly fail the test. He came from a privileged family, attended university in London, became a member of the British bar, and hardly shared the physical or cultural characteristics of his brothers and sisters toiling in the fields. He chose to live amongst them and use his advantages to champion social justice.
If the American media establishment were present during the Satyagraha, one can only imagine what spin the punditry would put on his campaign. I shudder to think of it. It occurs to me as I type this to ask, "How cynical have we become?"
I don't expect these candidates to live up to the highest standards of populism. Each of them is a member of the elite. Each of them fails the populist test on a number of levels. We need to consider carefully, which of these politicians is best equipped to represent the people in the cause of social justice, whether they live up to the example of Gandhi or King or not. As Barack Obama is the target of the most recent "elitist" smear, it's noteworthy that he followed his university degree with work on the streets. His tenure as the president of the Harvard Law Review ended in a PhD and a job at law firm developing cases for social justice. His presidential campaign is funded by over one million unique donors, largely in small dollar amounts. I won't speak on the other candidates, but among them it's clear that Obama is the closest to the ground.
In the end, it's important for us to remember that populism doesn't live in Washington and it never will. Populism lives in the streets and fields of America and must work in partnership with Washington. That's not to say that populism can't stand in stark contrast to Washington or in powerful opposition, but it must find a way to shape Washington via democracy and the power of a collective will that cannot be denied. Remember that we, the people, carry all the power if we choose to take it and act. At this moment in history there is no Gandhi on the American scene. There is no King. There is a collective sentiment, however, and that moment of broad populism can be used to shape Washington. I believe that the opportunity is being seized at the grassroots level in the astounding popular support of Barack Obama, and I embrace it.
I will never stop hoping for another Gandhi, or another King, but I won't wait. I will seize the moment and use my voice, my wallet, and my energy to affect change in the political process and that starts with a candidate who shares that commitment. Let's ask ourselves how we can stand in the fields with our brothers and sisters who toil each day in the 700,000 villages of our own great society. It's starts with the simple belief that Yes. We. Can.
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