I recently read a book written by Dada Dharmadhikari, a member of the Sarvodaya Movement, about the Gandhian idea of trusteeship. While I scanned through the dusty compartments of the village library, I came across a set of books which had no takers for the last twenty years. It had a strange word in its title— one that I had never heard of. It is safe to say that these books found themselves lost in the pages of history. No one talks about trusteeship these days, but it is important that this idea finds a resurgence today. Substack and most importantly, internet, gives us the opportunity to fine tune these ideas and use them all over the world.
Let me take you back to the Gandhian or rather post-Gandhian India. Things were different back then. The main question on everyone’s mind was, how do we bring together an India which is fragmented and separated due to caste, religion and economic disparity. Landlords, regional monarchs had engulfed huge amounts of land leading to hunger and poverty among the economically backward lower caste and tribal people. Leaders of the independence movement were searching for a way to bring these people together in order to further the idea of democracy and equality. Here, Gandhiji, with his visionary thoughts, merely propagated an idea which he experienced and encountered as he traversed through the Indian villages.
In an age which has seen both the capitalist and ideologically oriented economics having failed to provide a fuller life for everybody, Gandhiji’s ideas on trusteeship show an alternative that could lead to an ideal society. While being involved in the freedom struggle, Gandhiji devoted some time to propound ideas for organising the economy of India on the basis of love and co-operation. I increasingly believe that these ideas are not merely for India, but universal and they can help us all to move forward collectively with love and compassion.
Capitalism means an order of things in which the basis of distribution is purchase or barter. Unless you have the purchasing power you are unable to get anything that you need, even food for the hungry. It is the man with purchasing power who can purchase food, the man with the cudgel who can snatch or rob you, and the man with the political power who can acquire. It is the irony of fate that things can only be bought , forcibly snatched or requisitioned, but never got because they are needed. This is why, in the present social order, all around the world, so many people, more often than not, are deprived of the primary amenities of life.
Gandhiji had foreseen that the unchecked growth of the power of the state would lead to increasing bureaucratization of society — people would be reduced to mere units manipulated by politicians and bureaucrats. This is sadly the state of not just India, but the entire world today. He always therefore wanted the State to act on the wishes of the people and to him they were supreme and the individual most sacred. He firmly believed that the initiative must come from the individuals or a group of individuals and not from the State. He further believed that the uncontrolled technology, the training etc. of ideology and the supremacy of the State over the people were the principal dangers to human freedom in the modern age. His remedy was voluntary action on the part of the people. It is daunting that even 75 years after his death, Gandhiji’s ideas are most relevant to-day in spite of the world having changed so much.
In this age of wonders no one will day that a thing or an idea is worthless because it is new. To say it is impossible because it is difficult is again not in consonance with the spirit of the age. Things undreamt of are daily being seen, the impossible is ever becoming possible. We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of non-violence.
-Harijan, Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhiji’s idea of Trusteeship
So what really is trusteeship? It is not merely a principle not even a philosophy. Some witty philosopher has long back defined ‘philosophy’ with withering humour, “It is a labyrinth of dead-end streets and blind alleys leading from nothing to nowhere.” This is certainly not that.
To promote relationship
Trusteeship is the very stuff of life, the material with which life is made because life ultimately consists of relationships. There is no life without relationship. It is the essence of life and trusteeship is calculated to promote relationship among men and women whose interests and whose roles seem to be conflicting. That is the very fundamental truth about trusteeship. So, trusteeship is the very condition of our existing together.
Suppose that I have a fair amount of wealth — whether by inheritance, or by means of trade — I must know that all that wealth does not belong to me; what belongs to me is the right to an honourable livelihood, no better than that enjoyed by millions of others. The rest of my wealth belongs to the community and must be used for the welfare of the community.
I see coming the day of the rule of the poor, whether that rule be through force of arms or of non-violence. Let it e remembered that physical force is transitory even as the body is transitory. But the power of the spirit is permanent, even as the spirit is everlasting.
-Harijan, Mahatma Gandhi
Neighbours in all walks of life
In the story of Cain and Abel in the Old Testament, Cain kills Abel, and when asked why he killed his brother, he answers “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The answer to this question comes much later when St. Paul says, “We are all keepers of one another.”
That’s the basic idea on which the scheme of trusteeship has been based. It is not neighbourliness in certain walks of life, because in Gandhiji’s concept, life should not be divided into water-tight compartments. Life has been conceived as a whole, which cannot be divided into compartments. So trusteeship is not merely for business relations, but for all relationships of men and women as they go in everyday affairs of life.
As we go along, you shall realise that this idea does not come out of thin air, in fact it is based upon the very essence of all religions and philosophies that have prevailed through history.
A means of radical social change
Trusteeship is a means of revolution or ‘radical social change’. In the Marxist theories, there is a method of confiscation of all property by the state. Then there is the method of taxation which has been universally accepted even in the democratic countries. But all these methods agree in not bringing men and women closer to each other. We all know what disasters the Russian people and the Chinese people have gone through in the attempt to confiscate property. Similarly, we now know the errors of the later in countries like America which uses the tax system to favour the few. So, this process of social change, seems to be the process of ascent and all ascent should result in right approach. So trusteeship is designed with a view to eliminate the distance between men and women and bring them, not only in body but also in mind, as close together as possible.
Change of heart
So here is what trusteeship is, it is a peculiar technique that focuses on social change. Gandhiji called it the “technique of change of heart.” Expropriation, confiscation and taxation are not calculated to conduct a change of heart. Gandhiji often quoted that the ideal democratic state is where the status of the prince and the pauper will be the same. This is only possible when the prince is shorn of his royalty and the pauper is able to live a richer life, a fuller life. So, it is not the idea of class-collaboration, but rather the elimination of classes with co-operation of men, but one where it is collaboration of men for the elimination of classes. In Communism, you convert the whole people into a nation of government employees. That’s not the idea of trusteeship. There can be no class-collaboration as long as the employer-employee relationship continues. Trusteeship is my being responsible for my life, as well as for the life of my neighbour. This mutuality, mutual responsibility, is the real trusteeship.
Mutuality and well-being
Trusteeship does not conceive of a society in which the poor shall remain poor and the rich shall remain rich. Both poverty and affluence for the few shall be eliminated. Mutuality and well-being shall be the rule of the society, in which men live to live together in goodwill for one another. This brings up the idea that Gandhiji believed in antyadaya — ‘the coming up of the last man.’
Making the impossible possible
To whom then, to whom on earth, does this earth belong? Does it belong to the king who conquers it? Does it belong to the rich man who buys it? Does it belong to the warrior or soldier who grabs it? The man, the common man, who has neither the means of purchase not the means of snatching or grabbing, does the earth not belong to him? Is he not the inheritor of God’s earth? But he has not even 3 1/2 feet of land to lay his head on. He is hunted from pillar to post; not allowed to sleep under the bridges, not allowed to live even on the pavement. The law in its supreme majesty prevents him from begging on the street or stealing food. Unless we have the courage and the will to change this social order, top to bottom, a radical change not only in the context but also in the consciousness of men and women, a radical change on our institutions, in our way of life and in our thinking, we cannot ameliorate the condition of the neglected common man. That is the task that we have got to address ourselves which, to many, seems impossible.
Now, many have said this before, that the art of possible is politics, while revolution is the art of making the impossible, possible; the possible, probable; and the probable, feasible. Progress, after all, is the march from our grasp towards our reach. What is in our grasp is already there. From our grasp we have to progress towards our reach. But our reach should have no horizon. Did anybody in the world ever think that it would be possible for man to set foot on the moon? But that did happen. We have to forget that there is such a thing as ‘impossibility.’
Gandhiji said thus when asked about who this land belongs to, “After all, everything belonged to god and was from God. Therefore it was for His people as a whole, not for a particular individual. When an individual had more than his proportionate portion he became a trustee of that potion for God’s people. God who was all-powerful had no need to store. He created from day to day; hence men and women also should in theory live from day to day and not stock things.”
My final thoughts
Of course these ideas are old but do they seem old? Can anyone distinguish that these ideas were propagated some 75 years in the past? That is the reality of what we live in. These issues have never really subsided. Although they have been put under a cloak and people are being actively brainwashed to forget that they are the real owners of this collective land, time and again a ray of light shines forward when people realise their place on earth. Take for example the covid pandemic, for a tiny moment people actually forgot their conditioning and realised that they too were a people, not separated by nationalities, languages and class but a living breathing part of the eco-system. That is what we have to remind ourselves once again.
In this age, we have new rulers and kings, the extremely powerful corporations, a few men who hoard up most of the wealth on this planet and the organisations/parties and their elected representatives who are acting like kings. The idea is still the same. We still have class divide, caste divide and we still face problem of extreme poverty in many countries. We have a tendency to alienate a certain community and show no thought when we send them to other countries by organising their flights. It may sound like we have progressed but we have only draped ourselves in new words and find it amusing that we no longer relate to the old ones. Yet, the problem remains, exactly where these old people left it.
Gandhiji’s foresight that the unchecked growth of power of the state will lead to increased bureaucratization of the society — where individuals will be merely units manipulated by the politicians, has come true. One thing that he did not think of was the rise of technology that could enhance this process. We are increasingly becoming puppets of the state and the ones in powerful enough positions, manipulate us. If we can use this idea of trusteeship in our daily lives, as we transition from being efficient robots to individuals, we hold a chance to create a world that is not based on greed but rather on love and compassion; a planet that is more aware about its nature, which is conscious of its surroundings and one that looks after its fellow beings as its own. We might also bring forward all the age old doctrines of saints and monks to enrich our own lives and live a life away from misery. The choice is ours to take; a humanized society or an indoctrinated one…
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I love this article for its essence. This approach to living can already be applied on an individual level, with first finding genuine care and compassion for oneself, because once that happens, naturally care for another would pass on in an authentic manner.
In the current scenario, there is such lack of true care for self that it is hardly possible for people to care for their neighbour. But one can really start at home and build from there.
Thanks for the article! I enjoyed reading it.