Was Ghandi...rascist?!!

[Anarchocommunaltoad]

Thanks to cracked.com and sadly stormfront (i went there through google to copy and paste) i now know this

"Ours is one continued struggle against degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the European, who desire to degrade us to the level of the raw Kaffir, whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness."

"We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do, only we believe that they would best serve these interests, which are as dear to us as to them, by advocating the purity of all races, and not one alone. We believe also that the white race of South Africa should be the predominating race."

For this discovery you all owe me

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8bdrxBO9o1roc7alo1_250.gif

[Ostrinski]

This is pretty well known.

[Anarchocommunaltoad]

This is pretty well known.

I knew he bought into the class and caste system but i didn't know he was vocal about it.

[Ostrinski]

He was also an admirer of Hitler.

[Grenzer]

It's no secret that Gandhi was a reactionary, even a brief look on wikipedia can tell you that.

[Conscript]

What's that scooby? Fascists are afoot?

[Aurora]

Ya this is reasonably well known here, theres also that quote where he says the jews in Germany should jump off a cliff. He was rather sex obsessed and thought that not ejaculating gave him powers or some such.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Yeah, he was openly racist in the 1910s, before he became anybody of significance, because he wrongly believed that he could help Indians in Africa against discrimination from Europeans by disparaging black Africans and trying to associate British and Indian values. It's a stupid way of discrediting Gandhi completely however. All sorts of thinkers have had reactionary views (as seen in this revleft discussion (http://www.revleft.com/vb/karl-marx-sexist-t176264/index.html)), and I've never seen any evidence that he continued to hold these positions in particular after becoming an anti-colonialist activist.

IMO there are better critiques of Gandhi, in particular the strong idealistic tendencies in this thought and his belief that social contradiction could only be cured by non-violent confrontation of the authorities. Taking some statements from the 1910s out of context and implying that these views necessarily continued into his later life is not a good method however. Idolizing Gandhi is the kind of silly move which is common among people of our era ... he should be viewed critically, and his racist arguments in South Africa are a part of that, but it's silly to use this as some kind of moralistic club to discredit him without at least putting the views in context.

[jookyle]

Ghandi was to busy sending people into machine gun fire, telling them not to fight back, while he was safe in a room not eating for the cause.

[Philosophos]

I don't know if this is true but I once read at a site that ghandi ordered his wife to not take a medicine because the spirituality or something will cure her while he took a medicine for one illness he had.

[Althusser]

He was also an admirer of Hitler.

So is a large portion of India today, unfortunately.

Hitler's Strange Afterlife in India (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/11/30/hitler-s-strange-afterlife-in-india.html)

[Comrade Marxist Bro]

Gandhi's peace letter to Germany was an epic fail:

http://static02.mediaite.com/geekosystem/uploads/2011/08/3fe750d5-410x550.jpg

[prolcon]

Oh, Gandhi, you lol me so.

[Beeth]

India, Persia etc. are ancient civilizations, and are therefore going to be primitive. So people conditioned by primitive cultures are going to subscribe to reactionary politics - no surprises there. It is in this connection that events and people (Gandhi or hitler worship etc.) are to be understood.

[prolcon]

India, Persia etc. are ancient civilizations, and are therefore going to be primitive. So people conditioned by primitive cultures are going to subscribe to reactionary politics - no surprises there. It is in this connection that events and people (Gandhi or hitler worship etc.) are to be understood.

It figures the most racist thing I've read in a long time would come from a Trot.

[ind_com]

So Gandhi was a primitive racist reactionary asshole.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Gandhi's peace letter to Germany was an epic fail:


He was right about one thing - that Hitler would end up paying a huge price if he started the war. In particular, ending up killing himself and having his corpse burned in the face of the annihilation of his special German nation by the Red Army and Allied bombing runs.

He wrote letters to all sorts of people. This one to Churchill is interesting too:


Dear Prime Minister,
You are reported to have the desire to crush the 'naked fakir', as you are said to have described me. I have been long trying to be a fakir and that, naked - a more difficult task. I therefore regard the expression as a compliment though unintended. I approach you then as such and ask you to trust and use me for the sake of your people and mine and through them those of the world.

Your sincere friend,

M. K. GANDHI
It's a fair response to Churchill's insult but it shows Gandhi's exuberant naivete about the moral character of world leaders.


India, Persia etc. are ancient civilizations, and are therefore going to be primitive. So people conditioned by primitive cultures are going to subscribe to reactionary politics - no surprises there. It is in this connection that events and people (Gandhi or hitler worship etc.) are to be understood.

Umwhat? Ancient =/= Primitive. Every society has pressures which influence people into accepting reactionary viewpoints. Indians and Persians were not sailing the seven seas, colonizing other people and imposing religious views.

Now, some views which Gandhi holds can be traced to his cultural heritage - in particular, his strong belief in nonviolence was grounded on ancient Hindu and Jain thinking. That has nothing to do with being "primitive" or "ancient" however, nor does that relate to any uniquely reactionary beliefs. As explained earlier by myself, his racism has to do with his advocacy for Indians in South Africa in the early 1900s and did not stem from 3,000 year old Indian culture.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Gandhi was also obsessed with poop. Detailed reports about the consistency of one's poop was supposedly a favorite topic of conversation of his. He also liked routine enemas and, if he offered to give you an enema, it meant that he liked you a lot.

[ind_com]

He was a pervert in every way.

[prolcon]

Gandhi was also obsessed with poop. Detailed reports about the consistency of one's poop was supposedly a favorite topic of conversation of his. He also liked routine enemas and, if he offered to give you an enema, it meant that he liked you a lot.

I'm a better person for having learned this.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Gandhi was also obsessed with poop. Detailed reports about the consistency of one's poop was supposedly a favorite topic of conversation of his. He also liked routine enemas and, if he offered to give you an enema, it meant that he liked you a lot.

I think a lot of Gandhi's "eccentricities" can be explained by his detailed knowledge and interpretation of traditional Indian intellectual thought.

www.niam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106&Itemid=1 (http://www.niam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106&Itemid=1)

Significance of Stool Color in Ayurveda

In Ayurveda, examination of the stool (purisha) is a diagnostic tool used to understand the health of the digestive and excretory systems in the body. If digestion and absorption are functioning normally, the stool is well-formed resembling a soft, ripe banana with a light mucous coating and it will generally sink in water (though this is variable and is a minor diagnostic feature). Although many aspects of stool can be discussed in great detail (color, shape, consistency, color, odor, volume and frequency), this article will deal with stool color.
So, what exactly is feces? About 75% of feces is water, and the remaining 25% is made up of a variety of waste that is being eliminated from your body: undigested food pieces, bacteria (both dead and live), fiber, mucous, proteins and mineral salts.

Brown
What is the normal color of stool? The typical color is medium to dark brown. This brown color occurs because of bilirubin, which is formed when red blood cells break down in the liver. Bilirubin is initially green as it is secreted into bile and turns brown by the time it enters the large intestine.

But there are a number of other factors that influence the color of your feces, the most influential of which is your diet. Below are some reasons for color changes. If the change in color occurs in more than one bowel movement, it’s important to see your physician because it may signal the presence of a medical condition.
Red or Black
Red or black coloring in your stool can be alarming to see because it may be due to bleeding, which may come from the upper (black) or lower (red) gastrointestinal tract, a bleeding ulcer, hemorrhoids or due to straining because of constipation. Because bleeding is a possible cause, red or sticky black stool should prompt a visit to your doctor, but don’t panic; there are also several dietary causes for these colors; but “stickiness” should raise a concern. Anyone who has had the pleasure of gathering cow dung cakes to build a traditional furnace for kajjali or other metallo- or mineral Ayurvedic preparations, knows that healthy cow stool never sticks to your hand because it is never sticky. Neither is healthy human feces.
Eating a significant amount of food with red coloration, such as beets, cherries, red jello, red Kool-Aid and tomato soup, can cause reddish stools. Black stools may occur in response to certain medications, such as iron pills or bismuth (e.g. Pepto Bismol), or foods such as licorice, grape juice, blackberries or blueberries.
Green
Green stool may be caused by excess iron in your diet. If not digested properly digested, iron actually stains the poop green. Green, leafy vegetables contain chlorophyll that also could be coloring the stool green, as could green gelatin.

Sometimes green stool occurs when the child has diarrhea. If stool passes through the large intestine too fast for bilirubin to change color, it may result in green poop.
Yellowish
When stool is yellowish, it’s sometimes because of antacids or excessive milk consumption. However, it may also indicate problems with the gallbladder or liver. If yellowish stool is also shiny or greasy, floats and has a strong odor, it may be caused by undigested fat.

Remember, if you experience a prolonged change in the color of your stool (more than three bowel movements), it’s important to talk to your doctor. It could be caused by a giardia infection or other medical conditions.
Orange
If your stool shows orange coloring, it can usually be attributed to foods or medications that you may be taking. Preparations with beta-carotene (such as a form of vitamin A) can cause orange coloring of your stool. Antacids containing aluminum hydroxide can also cause orange stool.
Foods that are high in beta-carotene can have the same orange effect on your stool. These include: carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, spinach, turnip greens, winter squash, collard greens, cilantro and fresh thyme. Lastly any foods that have orange artificial colorings (e.g. jellybeans) can also sometimes cause orange colored stool.
If you can't attribute your orange stool to things you’ve ingested, then it may be caused by a reduced exposure to bile salt. Stool starts out as green, and then turns to a yellow-orange in color before being exposed to bile and colonic bacteria which turns the stool brown.
Low exposure to bile salt can be caused by a couple different factors. First, your transit time is so fast that your stool is being pushed through your digestive system too quickly. This quick movement of stool reduces the exposure to bile salt resulting in orange stool.
Second, your liver may not be producing enough bile salt or its bile glands may be obstructed. If it's the latter, you may want to consider liver cleansing, panchakarma treatment or liver de-obstruent herbal medicines (e.g. bhumi amalaki, arogyavarhini, kutki, or milk thistle).


fascinating.

[Beeth]

People are products of culture and environment, but leftists seem to forget that and indulge in personal attacks whenever it's convenient.

[hetz]

It figures the most racist thing I've read in a long time would come from a Trot.
Tendency-flaming/baiting much?
Is it really necessary to bring that into everything?

[Jimmie Higgins]

Yeah, he was openly racist in the 1910s, before he became anybody of significance, because he wrongly believed that he could help Indians in Africa against discrimination from Europeans by disparaging black Africans and trying to associate British and Indian values. It's a stupid way of discrediting Gandhi completely however. All sorts of thinkers have had reactionary views (as seen in this revleft discussion (http://www.revleft.com/vb/karl-marx-sexist-t176264/index.html)), and I've never seen any evidence that he continued to hold these positions in particular after becoming an anti-colonialist activist.

IMO there are better critiques of Gandhi, in particular the strong idealistic tendencies in this thought and his belief that social contradiction could only be cured by non-violent confrontation of the authorities. Taking some statements from the 1910s out of context and implying that these views necessarily continued into his later life is not a good method however. Idolizing Gandhi is the kind of silly move which is common among people of our era ... he should be viewed critically, and his racist arguments in South Africa are a part of that, but it's silly to use this as some kind of moralistic club to discredit him without at least putting the views in context.

I think the consistant thread between this and his later politics though is his accomodationism: his inability to consistantly push an independant path to colonial liberation. The middle class is too weak by itself to create its own force and so he had to try and find patrons and ruling supporters.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Tendency-flaming/baiting much?
Is it really necessary to bring that into everything?
Sometimes it's hard not to when you read some of that racist, baseless and downright ignorant shit the guy he replied to was spewing out.


India, Persia etc. are ancient civilizations, and are therefore going to be primitive. So people conditioned by primitive cultures are going to subscribe to reactionary politics - no surprises there. It is in this connection that events and people (Gandhi or hitler worship etc.) are to be understood. India too archaic, Persia the land of 'primitive culture'. kill yourself, pig.

I mean, Persia, a state which originally harboured some of the earliest progressive cultural movements (atheism/secularism, massive contribution to philosophies, feminism, egalitarianism, etc.) is just so damn primitive considering how it's under the control of a theocratic minority for the past thirty years. So underdeveloped compared to proud, British history, what with a history of women's oppression, racialism and some of the most fucked up, downright insane laws to ever exist!

[#FF0000]

People are products of culture and environment, but leftists seem to forget that and indulge in personal attacks whenever it's convenient.

He had a western education in South Africa, though.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Now why didn't Attenborough cover more of this racist / poop stuff in his film? Instead he made me like the weird fucker (or rather, Ben Kingsley's depiction of him).
I'm so confused, up is down etc

[hetz]

He's definitely right about India being "archaic", the caste system is still in place there. And all that comes with that.
Read what some other Indian posters wrote here.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

He's definitely right about India being "archaic", the caste system is still in place there. And all that comes with that.
Read what some other Indian posters wrote here.

In that respect, Europe and America are equally archaic considering the fact that racism remains a consistent force in dividing the labor force here.

[Beeth]

Just for clarification, I didn't use the word primitive in a negative sense. I meant more like this: ancient civilizations have too much history, too much experience, which they won't let go. So they may still cling to certain outdated modes, calling it tradition and so on. Hence, even other progressive people may find it hard to break the shackles of a centuries old culture.

[l'Enfermé]

Sinister Cultural Marxist, maybe in America, but not in Europe.

[prolcon]

Tendency-flaming/baiting much?
Is it really necessary to bring that into everything?

You're right, especially when I complain about the exact same thing constantly.

Oh, prolcon, you might be a hypocrite or something...

[Pelarys]

Just for clarification, I didn't use the word primitive in a negative sense. I meant more like this: ancient civilizations have too much history, too much experience, which they won't let go. So they may still cling to certain outdated modes, calling it tradition and so on. Hence, even other progressive people may find it hard to break the shackles of a centuries old culture.

That's why the US is the most progressive progressive place in the world... right?

[Beeth]

He had a western education in South Africa, though.

I don't care for Gandhi but consider what Marx said about hindu culture being sadistic and brutual. In this context, Gandhi's insistence upon non-violence, truth etc. seem like a welcome departure from the norm. That's all I am saying, not defending the man.

[Captain Ahab]

When Marx says something not up to our modern standards he is considered a man of his time but when Gandhi says something not up to our modern standards he is a reactionary asshole. Now I could try to be cheap and claim some sort of imaginary racism but I suspect this double standard is a result of people not liking the pacifism advocated by Gandhi.