Trump is America's Mahatma Gandhi
Wait! Hear me out...
This week, I told my father that Trump does not drink or smoke and is against drugs. He is also against tattoos and believes his children should focus on studies. My father said Trump sounds a lot like Gandhi. I thought he meant Rahul Gandhi - and one can argue that. But he insisted that there were many similarities between Trump and Mahatma Gandhi! I was taken aback.
But it is true.
Mahatma Gandhi was against alcohol, smoking, drugs and tattoos. As is Trump. But the similarities do not end there.
Mahatma Gandhi supported Swadeshi (boycott of foreign imported goods). Trump’s MAGA policy echoes this. In fact, both Gandhi and Trump have used Swadeshi / MAGA as a tool for economic warfare.
Gandhi favoured non-cooperation, something Trump has used recklessly against supplier countries. In fact, both Gandhi and Trump have used non-cooperation against their own party. Gandhi famously sat on “fasts-unto-death” to make his Congress Party change policies and bent it to his will. Trump has unleashed RINO tags, pushing centerist Republicans into a corner.
Both were fallible to ego massaging. Gandhi famously subverted India’s first choice for PM - the upright and mince-no-words Sardar Patel and installed the charming, rose-trotting, laundry-in-Paris Nehru.
Gandhi was against wars. So is Trump. But despite their policies, both supported “their” wars. Gandhi was against only those wars that were against the British. He favoured Indians fighting FOR the British, even at the cost of losing the chance to gain independence. Trump has just renamed the Department of Defence to the Department of War!
Mahatma Gandhi was also fond of women and sexuality, as detailed in his autobiography. While Trump’s escapades are well known. Gandhi tried to add a veneer of justification using “experimenting with TRUTH”, while Trump was quite crass about this in his public utterances. If Trump has the courage to write about it, he may try to justify it too.
And finally,
Gandhi screwed the nation by accepting the partition that resulted in the death of 2 million people. His policies and ideas would subvert the rise of India for decades.
In a way, Trump is following the same path.
Thanks for the reminder that even the people we put on a pedestal are/were flawed.
Gandhi supported the partition? Gandhi and the entire congress was against partition because they wanted the country to be united. The original plan for partition was a whole autonomous zone within India that would function almost like it's own country. The fact that we ended up with a much larger share of the land mass was ultimately the best solution. Partition by that point had become inevitable because the Brits arrested Gandhi and the more moderate congress leaders during the quit India movement opening a power vaccum for Jinnah, who still remains primarily responsible for the partition. I don't understand why people blame Gandhi for something he was never in favour of.