Supreme Consideration Is Man, by Gandhi

What I object to is the "craze" for machinery, not machinery as such. The craze is what they call labor-saving machinery. Men go on "saving labor" till thousands arewithout work and thrown on the open streets to die of starvation. I want to save time and labor not for a fraction of mankind but for all; I want the concentration of wealth not in the hands of a few but in the hands of all. Today machinery merely helps a few to ride on the backs of millions. The impetus behind it all is not the philanthropy to save labor but greed. It is against this constitution of things that I am fighting with all my might. [...]

The supreme consideration is man. The machine should not attend to make atrophied the limbs of man. [...] I want the millions of our land to be healthy and happy, and I want them to grow spiritually. As yet, for this purpose we do not need the machine. There are many, too many, idle hands. But as we grow in understanding, if we feel the need for machines, we certainly will have them. We want industry, let us become industrious. Let us become more self dependent; then we will not follow other people's lead so much. We shall introduce machines if and when we need them. Once we shape our lives on nonviolence, we shall know how to control the machine.

-- Mahatma Gandhi

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1 Past Reflections

Mikhael Loo

Nov 7, 2017

Or, "The supreme consideration is people." to be more gender friendly. Even a machine as simple as a knife can be used to kill someone or lovingly cook a meal for your children. Love people by meeting their needs using machines toward that end. Do your best to see beyond the camouflage of "save people time" and truly consider all the needs of the person your machine affects. It's a controversy we will never be able to adequately legislate in the abstract. You need to focus on a specific machine and a specific person you are affecting with it. With careful observation, you'll see that your machine helps some people and truly hurts other people. Just do the best you can on a case by case basis because their aren't any blanket solutions. Use machines to love people you know to the best of your ability. When we do that, we will find the spiritual benefit of using machines. People will tell us, each in their own way, your ma... View full comment