Whispering Ashes

In the poetic spirit of swaraj, or self-governance, I, a simple mother raising children with my husband in Los Angeles, propose we labor towards resurrecting the spectre of philosophical anarchism.

It is time to revive the idea that the State lacks moral legitimacy. This anarchist school of thought advocates peaceful evolution to surpass it, instead of violence to eliminate it. Philosophical anarchism does not necessarily imply action or desire for elimination of the State. It is only that people oriented to this way of thinking believe they are under no obligation or duty to obey the State, or conversely, that the State has a right to command.

Recently, Arundhati Roy pondered the existence of life after democracy, a question as threatening as reincarnation to many. We might be better served remembering Mahatma Gandhi’s notion of self-governance, or swaraj. Gandhi did not even accept good government as substitute for self-government. In 1917, he asked Indians nationwide to sign a petition demanding swaraj. Conceived as an integral revolution, he equated self-rule with self-restraint, and ultimately, moksha or salvation. For the people to possess moral authority, they must strive tirelessly to speak the truth and live simply.

All forms of domination would need to be eliminated In order to achieve swaraj. Unsurprisingly, Gandhi’s vision for this classless, stateless, direct democracy was rejected by an Indian National Congress who treated the cause more as a politically inclined goal demanding complete political independence from Britain. Dignity of labor, equitable distribution of wealth, communal self-sufficiency and individual freedom were the tenets forming Gandhi’s ideals. They are not evident in India, or the rest of the world for that matter.

Gandhi’s birthday of October 2nd has been adopted by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Day of Non-Violence. What better moment to re-imagine his vision for people self-governing by mutual responsibility.

I hereby pledge to be my own ruler.

"Independence begins at the bottom... A society must be built in which every village has to be self sustained and capable of managing its own affairs... It will be trained and prepared to perish in the attempt to defend itself against any onslaught from without... This does not exclude dependence on and willing help from neighbours or from the world. It will be a free and voluntary play of mutual forces... In this structure composed of innumerable villages, there will be ever widening, never ascending circles. Life will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose center will be the individual. Therefore the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle but will give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it." M.K. Gandhi