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This recent trend of taking down past figures because they do not meet current criteria for acceptable behavior in society is disturbing. It's like people are trying to erase lessons from the past.
We laude past figures with our current criteria for acceptable behavior. Why not criticize?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because we laud them for their undeniable achievements. Criticizing with current criteria of acceptable behavior is just an ad hominem.
I think it's quite healthy to be able to discuss say, a person's legacy, from different angles rather than restrict discussion to only the good parts.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is hardly recent. I remember hearing this exact conversation about Gandhi at least 25 years ago.
Yeah some of his earlier stuff was never very PC eg. >At a speech in Mumbai in 1896, Gandhi said that the Europeans in Natal wished “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.”
There are lot to hold Gandhi accountable for - things he believed and did after he became the mahatma/saint. His own fundamentalist believes (religious and other unscientific irrational backward believes), his tolerance of islamic fundamentalism even when it was killing thousands for restoring the caliphate that British eliminated post WW1(for the sake of unity against british), his actions that worsened the hindu-muslim relations that resulted in even more riots and deaths, him considering and treating his wife as his personal property and denying her life saving meds due to his belliefs in quack science, his belief in the caste system (even though he fought for the rights of the lower castes, he believed in the varna system and held on to the theory that it's misused), how he acted like a dictator and sidelined anyone who didn't toe his line, his irrational believes in life after death resulting in misplaced advices on taking ones on life when faced with genocide/murder (he gave the same advice to jews facing nazis and the poor hindus facing mass murder in noakhali - apparently non violence is so important, even self defense should not be), his decisions (such as quit india movement) that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of poor indian nationalists while he just watched away unmoved with their deaths/suffering - many more. I would start with Ambedkar's writings/exchanges on/with Gandhi to get details.
As an Indian, he is no saint to me, but I see why people consider him one. Having said that, it's beyond laughable to condemn him for what he said in his twenties when he was loyal servant to the british and compare that to what he became later.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Soul:_Mahatma_Gandhi_and...
Kind of amusing that Gandhi was attacked from the establishment, imperialist side by Churchill, and is now under attack from the opposite side. Poor Gandhi can't win.
Kind of amusing that Gandhi was attacked from the establishment, imperialist side by Churchill, and is now under attack from the opposite side. Poor Gandhi can't win.
https://www.amazon.com/Annihilation-Caste-Annotated-B-R-Ambe...
This recent trend of taking down past figures because they do not meet current criteria for acceptable behavior in society is disturbing. It's like people are trying to erase lessons from the past.
Their failings don't remove their achievements. In the case of Gandhi it's not just the current criteria. Even during his time people saw him as a shitty person. It's good that we stop worshiping great men. Rabindranath Tagore saw him as a nihilist with fierce joy of annihilation. Many Dalits (untouchables) saw Gandhi as the enemy. While he worked alongside them in some aspects, he was patronizing towards them. Ambed…
This recent trend of taking down past figures because they do not meet current criteria for acceptable behavior in society is disturbing. It's like people are trying to erase lessons from the past.
Their failings don't remove their achievements. In the case of Gandhi it's not just the current criteria. Even during his time people saw him as a shitty person. It's good that we stop worshiping great men. Rabindranath Tagore saw him as a nihilist with fierce joy of annihilation. Many Dalits (untouchables) saw Gandhi as the enemy. While he worked alongside them in some aspects, he was patronizing towards them. Ambed…
I mean, sometimes you'd rather have a wrong, but more peaceful picture of the world, than live with the impression that literally everyone out has a very dark side to them...