Nov

20

M GGandhi was the appropriate foil for Churchill; they were both masters of apparent transparency as public figures. They were, in fact, political schemers who would have held their own against Caesar Augustus himself. Churchill managed to be booted out of office after winning victory in World War II — surely the greatest of all electoral defeats in British history — and then become Prime Minister again.

Gandhi's successful maneuverings, both in South Africa and in India, are too numerous to mention. They were both great men, whose ultimate political achievements were failures: Churchill did preside over the dissolution of the British Empire (something he pledged never to do), and Gandhi succeeded in dividing the Indian sub-continent so disastrously that we are still living with its consequences, even though his goal was a united multi-cultural land of simple weavers and spinners. Both men were shrewd and honest enough to see the irony of their own lives: that may explain why their homilies about human character seem so vacuous, and their wisecracks remain true pearls of wisdom.

"What do you think of Western civilization, Mr. Gandhi?"

"A most excellent idea."


Comments

Name

Email

Website

Speak your mind

Archives

Resources & Links

Search