To bring this ideal into being, the entire social order has got to be reconstructed A society based on nonviolence cannot nurture any other ideal. We may not, perhaps, be able to realize this goal, but we must bear it in mind and work unceasingly to come close to it. To the same extent as we progress toward our goal, we shall find contentment and happiness; and to that extent too we shall have contributed to bringing into being a nonviolent society.
2. Individual Action. It is perfectly possible for an individual to adopt this way of life without having to wait for others to do so. And if an individual can observe a certain rule of conduct, it follows that a group of individuals can do likewise. It is necessary for me to emphasize the fact that no one need wait for anyone else in order to adopt a right course. Men generally hesitate to make a beginning if they feel that the objective cannot be had in its entirety. Such an attitude is a bar to progress.
Now let us consider how equal distribution can be brought about through nonviolence. The first step toward it is for him who has made this ideal part of his being to bring about the necessary changes in his personal life. He would reduce his wants to a minimum, bearing in mind the poverty of India. His bearings would be free of dishonesty. The desire for speculation would be renounced. His habitation would be in keeping with the new mode of life. There would be self-restraint exercised in every sphere of life.
When he has done all that is possible in his own life, then only will he be in a position to preach his ideal among others.
3. The Role of the Wealthy. Indeed at the root or this doctrine or equal distribution must lie that of the trusteeship of the wealthy for the superfluous wealth possessed by them. For according to the doctrine they may not possess a rupee more than their neighbors.
How is this to be brought about? Nonviolently? Or should the wealthy be dispossessed of their possessions? To do this we naturally have to resort to violence. Violent action cannot benefit society. Society will be poorer, for it will lose gifts of men who know how to accumulate wealth.
Therefore, the nonviolent way is evidently superior. The rich man will be left in possession of his wealth, of which he will use what he reasonably requires for his personal needs and will act as a trustee for the remainder to be used for society. In this argument honesty on the part of the trustee is assumed.
4. Servant of Society. As soon as man looks upon himself as a servant of society, earns for its sake, spends for its benefit, then purity enters into his earnings and there is ahimsa (nonviolence) in his venture. Moreover, if men's minds turn toward this way of life, there will come about a peaceful society – without bitterness.
5. Ahimsa (to refrain from harming any living being). It may be asked whether history at any time records such a change in human nature. Such changes have certainly taken place in individuals. One may not perhaps be able to point to them in a whole society. But this only means that up till now there has never been an experiment on a large scale in nonviolence. Somehow or other the wrong belief has taken possession of us that ahimsa is preeminently a weapon for individuals and its use should therefore be limited to that sphere. In fact, this is not the case. Ahimsa is definitely an attribute of society. To convince people of this truth is at once my effort and my experiment.
In this age of wonders no one will say that a thing or 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 undreamed of are daily 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 undreamed-of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence. The history of religion is full of such examples.
6. The Law of God. To try to root out religion itself from society is a wild-goose chase. And were such an attempt to succeed, it would mean the destruction of society. Superstition, evil customs, and other imperfections creep in from age to age and mar religion for the time being. They come and go. But religion itself remains; because the existence of the world, in a broad sense, depends on religion. The ultimate definition of religion may be said to be obedience to the law of God. God and His law are synonymous terms. Therefore God signifies an unchanging and living law. No one has really found Him. But avatars and prophets have, by their "tapasya," given to mankind a faint glimpse of eternal law.
7. Nonviolent Cooperation. If, however, in spite of the utmost effort, the rich do not become guardians of the poor in the true sense of the term and the latter are more and more crushed and die of hunger, what is to be done? In trying to find the solution to this riddle, I have lighted on nonviolent cooperation as the right and infallible means. The rich cannot accumulate wealth without the cooperation of the poor in society. Man has been conversant with violence from the beginning; for he has inherited this strength from the animal in his nature. It was only when he rose to the state of a man that the knowledge of the strength of ahimsa entered into his soul. This knowledge has grown within him slowly but surely. If this knowledge were to penetrate to and spread amongst the poor, they would become strong and would learn how to free themselves by means of nonviolence from the crushing inequalities, which have brought them to the verge of starvation.