Renaissance Experience

In my renaissance experience I enjoyed learning about the foundations of business

especially in Gandhis writing Man and Machine. Gandhis ideas were inspired by Karl Marx
who was a German philosopher. Marxs works established the basis of understanding labor and
its relation to capital. Gandhi applies Karl Marx for the sake of saving India from becoming
industrialized by the British. Through Gandhis inspiring words he influenced a whole nation to
become independent by eliminating exploitation and to concentrate on the villages to become
self-contained.
Mahatma Gandhi was a distinguished leader in the Indian Independence Movement. India
became a colony of the British Empire as they started the East India Company. They set up
factories and trading posts in several locations along the coastal of India without any permission.
The British were much powerful so they use their authority to start trades and build factories in
India with the consent of Moghul emperors. Then, the British East India Company destroyed the
Moghul Empire because they werent generating efficient amount of profit toward India. The
Moghul didnt have as much power to control such high profitable company that eventually, it
destroyed them because more people got involved with trading with the British.
In his efforts to eliminate industrialization for India Gandhi writes, I dont believe that
industrialization is necessary in any case for any country. It is much less so for India. Indeed I
believe that independent India can only discharge her duty towards a groaning world by adopting
a simple but ennobled life by developing her thousands of cottages and living at peace with the
world. Machines that are as powerful as the east Indiamen were used for the wrong reasons and
misused as the British took advantage of this machine and used it to conquer India at will.
Gandhi wants to eliminate all machines that take away wealth or jobs away from India.
Gandhi describes how the responsibility for world crisis is caused because of the mania
of mass production. Machinery might supply the needs for humanity but, it will only concentrate
production in certain areas. Distribution in certain areas causes consumers to go about and take
the long way to adjust distribution causing the chance for fraud. Gandhi argues that mass
production takes no note of the real requirement of the consumer. As mass production
multiplicates indefinite numbers, its vital that it carries its own limitations. Gandhis main
purpose was to avoid the use of bad machinery as hes struggles to save India make him the ideal
figure and voice for all.
In this chapter, I was most intrigued when Gandhi described the difference between a
good machine and a bad machine. Gandhi described an interesting story that made me realize
and understand the importance of using machines for the benefit of the employees. The moral of
the story describes how a bad machines not only does the labor for the employee but also takes
away hes job leaving them with nothing to gain. On the other hand, a good machine provides

support to save the employees from labor. In other words, a good machine is a machine that
helps people with unnecessary labor adjustments in the action of daily labor task. For example,
the sewing machine as instead of eliminating employees job it only made production faster and
helped labor more than anything. Before Ive read this specific concept from Gandhi I never
considered if there was even a difference between a good or bad machine. The main object
Gandhi describes is to save the labor of the individual; this is motive, the honest humanitarian
discussion. However, with the technology in the business world today, the majority of big
businesses are now applying more machines to provide the labor. This causes a major drawback
for the employees as there being laid off. Gandhi argues that the absolute attention is man and
how he desires to save time and labor for all.
The purpose of machines is to serve man, and the purpose of man is to serve his fellow
man, therefore, the supreme goal is to reach accomplishments within a society that would benefit
everyone in it. Gandhis voice helped create massive non-violent protests against the British and
eventually provided the separation between India and the British East India Company. Gandhis
words inspired me to become a leader of my own by providing a voice in the workforce and in
everyday situation.