Arun Gandhi, fifth grandson of celebrated Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, spoke on the role of materialism in capitalist society, particularly in business, at a roundtable discussion last week
Addressing an audience of over 100 people at the Cable Center, Gandhi used his grandfather’s theory of nonviolence to explain how society could decrease its materialistic tendencies and return to basic values.
Nonviolence is “not just about not using violence,” said Gandhi. “It’s a philosophy about life. It’s about how we live our lives and how we relate to each other.”
Business, too, is “about people,” but today we have a tendency to find people “irrelevant,” said Gandhi.
He added that there is an “inverse relationship between materialism and morality” because the more materialistic we become, the less moral we become.
Every individual needs to find a “balance,” said Gandhi. This balance can be found by returning to the simple values taught by his grandfather. These values include “love, respect, understanding, appreciation and acceptance,” according to Gandhi.
In the “culture of violence” we are experiencing today, these values have disappeared and “we have allowed the negative values [discrimination, oppression] to dominate us,” causing us to “sink morally,” said Gandhi.
Gandhi’s solution is to cease creating relationships based on self-interest. Instead, communities need to be built through a return to those values.
Connecting his ideas with business, Gandhi said, “People who do business should make profit, but that shouldn’t be the only purpose.” They need to be cognizant of the people and the societies they are affecting.
We need to use our talents “for others as much as for ourselves,” he said.
Gandhi’s keynote address was followed by a roundtable discussion featuring four panelists representing different religious groups, David Trickett, president of the Iliff School of Theology, Rabbi Selwyn Franklin, Rev. Cynthia James and Imam Ibrahim Kazerooni.
The panelists spoke about whether ethics and basic moral values can be infused into today’s business environment.
There is a “mistaken assumption that we own ourselves,” that we are not part of a social environment, said Trickett.
James mirrored this, saying that people need to recognize that what one person does affects the whole.
“As long as the bottom line shows profit,” we forget all else, said Kazerooni, echoing James. Kazerooni believes that this is where our worldview needs to change because “we really don’t appreciate human life.”
Employees need to be regarded as human beings, with “dignity,” said Franklin.
This idea of respect also applies to the treatment of the environment.
Society’s tendency to over-consume deprives both nature and other people. This, according to Gandhi, is violence against humanity.
The violence caused by materialism can be redefined, however. “It’s all a social construction,” said Trickett. The “system” is a human creation.
He added, “What has been built can be rebuilt.”
Kazerooni paralleled the idea that positive change is possible: “We are the agents to deconstruct [the current system] and reconstruct something else.”
This change must start with individuals. Trickett quoted Mahatma Gandhi, stating, “If you want to change the world, change yourself.”
The panel was part of the Voice of Experience lecture series hosted by the Daniels’ College of Business. The program resumes next fall. To find out more, visit http://daniels.du.edu/about/VOE.cfm.
