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Introduction Gandhi was an advocate of using non-violent methods to solve problems in the world. He believed that non-violence was the greatest weapon. “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. ” He applied his theories to many problems facing India and the world in his time. There are many problems that face our world today such as human rights, the environment, poverty, hunger, and many others. Gandhi’s beliefs can be applied to many of these problems. Three problems that I feel are very important are poverty and hunger, human rights, and terrorism. I will discuss how Gandhi’s thoughts are relevant to these problems facing us today. Poverty and Hunger Poverty and hunger is a huge problem throughout the world. In the year 2002, with a world population just over 6.2 billion, 1.5 billion people were living in poverty and 830 million were malnourished . Almost one quarter of the world’s population is living in poverty and close to fifteen percent are hungry. Meanwhile obesity is quickly becoming one of the biggest health problems facing our nation. Approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, 60 million obese, and 9 million severely obese . In the US the average daily caloric intake is 3603; this is more than twice the average daily caloric intake in the nation of Mozambique, 1678 . I n India and Bangladesh, the percent of children that are malnourished tops 50 percent . In some of the poorest nations in the world, as much as 68 percent of the population is living below the poverty line of 1 US dollar per day . These people live in absolute poverty. They don’t have access to education or healthcare, they die from illnesses that we have vaccinations for. They spread disease, because they are not educated on how to prevent the spread of those diseases. It would seem to me that the wealthier nations in the world need to do more. There should be enough food to feed the staggering percent of the world population that is starving. Gandhi’s beliefs on how to live life could help the problems of poverty and hunger. “Live simply that others may simply live .” Gandhi believed in living a simple life without too many material things. He believed that there was enough food to feed the whole world. “I venture to suggest that it is the fundamental law of nature, without exception, that nature produces enough for our wants from day to day, and if only everybody took enough for himself and nothing more, there would be no pauperism in this world, there would be no man dying of starvation in this world. ” If everyone took just a little less, and gave a little more, it would make a huge difference. If the average caloric intake in the United States was only 3000 calories a day, which is still above the recommended daily calories, instead of 3603, think of all the extra food there would be. Corporations could manufacture food for poorer nations, instead of overflowing US supermarkets. The amount of food wasted in this nation alone could probably feed millions. “The rich have a superfluous store of things which they do not need, and which are therefore neglected and wasted, while millions are starved to death for want of sustenance. ” Gandhi believed that if everyone took only what they needed, no one would be starving.
Approximate Word count = 2311
Approximate Pages = 9.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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