"If a flying bird is caged for long, it loses its ability to fly. If the door of its cage is unfastened accidentally, it thinks, 'What benefit will I derive from flying in the distant blue sky? Let me pick up seeds, sitting on the perch of my little cage.' Now, if people have been educated in a distorted manner and their minds crippled, they are unable to stand independently. If their minds have been molded by propaganda for a long period, they cannot utilize the opportunity [for freedom] even if it is presented to them. Common people have been taught for ages that they belong to a low caste or class. Even if you offer these downtrodden people a chair to sit by you, they would murmur, 'No sir, I am alright - let me sit on the ground.' That is to say, their minds cannot function properly, just as a bird's wings become totally inactive in a cage. People have been accustomed to such repressions for thousands of years - the exploiters have injected fear-complexes in their minds to control them."
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"In economic life there is extreme inequality and exploitation. Although colonialism no longer exists openly in the political and economic sphere, still it persists indirectly, and this should not be tolerated... In this respect you should remember that in economic life, we will have to guarantee the minimum requirements of life to one and all... There cannot be any sort of adjustment as far as this point is concerned. The minimum purchasing requirement must be guaranteed to all. Today these fundamental essentialities are not being guaranteed. Rather, people are being guided by deceptive economic ideas like outdated Marxism, which has proven ineffective in practical life and has not been successfully implemented in any corner of the world. Why do people still believe in such a theory, which has never been proved successful? The time has come for people to make a proper assessment of whether they are being misguided or not." |
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"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |