Opinion What would Gandhi do today?

But with the Zuccotti Park encampment removed,and the opera closing tomorrow,is that it for Gandhi in New York? Or is it worth asking,what would Gandhi do in the world today?

Occupy Wall Street was at once political theatre,counter-cultural commune,and recruiting agent for progressive causes. I believe Gandhi would have admired the energy and community spirit in Zuccotti Park,but if he were at the protests,he would have taken up the human microphone and suggested some modifications.

First,Gandhi would reject the division between the 99 per cent and the 1 per cent. Gandhi did not believe in enemies: he worked on the premise that solutions emerged only from cooperation. This truth is often lost in discussions of his political tactics of non-cooperation and civil disobedience. Non-cooperation is best understood as an invitation to cooperate. “We are the 100 per cent” may not make for a dramatic slogan,but from Gandhi’s perspective,it is the only way to achieve true and lasting change in society.

Gandhi would underscore that social transformation requires significant responsibility on the part of each of us. The world is not a static system or an unalterable one. Society exists in a certain way when we enter it,but it is our actions or our inaction that maintain the status quo,make things worse,or transform them for the better. Gandhi explained this most pointedly when he declared that the British empire existed because Indians had let it exist. He would say the same thing about the drastic income inequality in America today: it is here because Americans collectively allow it to be here.

He would therefore encourage the protesters to focus their efforts on direct social assistance and positive political action. In regard to social work,the protesters’ eviction from their tents in the park may be a blessing in disguise. At the height of his prominence in 1930,Gandhi renounced his own home and political headquarters and later moved into the heart of rural India to set up service organisations and promote “village industries” and sustainable small-scale economies.

Although the young Gandhi focused on protest and political organising,the more mature one made his central focus “constructive work” and service. He realised that most important battles in the struggle for a just world were fought the world — in community centres,schools,shelters,charities,clinics and churches,on street corners and across the countryside in rural communities.

As for political action,Gandhi would also want a more systematic,constructive plan for the movement. While he would have been patient as objectives and tactics were debated,he would insist that eventually the protesters adopt goals,define their strategy,and communicate these to their opponents and the broader public. That is the responsibility would-be revolutionaries must assume. If you want transparency,fairness and conscientiousness from your opponent,you have to become an exemplar of those virtues yourself.

Pointing fingers and assigning blame is easy — it can even be helpful. Protesting in the park downtown can be quite useful. So,for that matter,can patronising the arts. To the extent that both help us think through the current state of our society,they contribute to a common cause of uplift and improvement. But they are most meaningful when they set the stage for constructive social action,through which we might begin to mend the world.

Desai,who will be a visiting assistant professor of history at Wesleyan University beginning in January,is writing a book about Gandhi’s library