What does it mean to “Be The Change?”

A Conversation with Arun Gandhi

1) Regarding the concept of  “change” What does it mean to you to “be the change?”

ANSWER: BE THE CHANGE TO ME MEANS THAT WE MUST MAKE THE WORLD THE WAY WE WANT IT TO BE. I COULD HAVE SPENT MY LIFE HATING PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY HATED ME OR FIGHTING PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY ATTACKED ME BUT THAT WILL ONLY MULTIPLY HATE AND VIOLENCE AND HELP NO ONE. BY CHANGING MYSELF AND MY ATTITUDE I DECIDED TO SPREAD LOVE AND PEACE AND HELP MAKE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE.

2) What would you tell a young person (14-18)? What could the South Africa tour mean to a young person who is looking for change? What in the tour and in the world would help them to be the change, as your grandfather most famously said?

ANSWER: THE PURPOSE OF THE TOUR IS TO SEE HOW SOUTH AFRICA HAS CHANGED OR NOT CHANGED SINCE ITS DAYS OF APARTHEID. HOW IS IT COMING ALONG AFTER YEARS OF HATE AND VIOLENCE. WE WILL NEED TO STUDY NELSON MANDELA’S LIFE. HE STARTED OFF AS AN ANGRY VIOLENT MAN WHO BELIEVED VIOLENCE WAS THE ONLY WAY FR SOUTH AFRICA. EVENTUALLY HE REALIZED THE FUTILITY OF VIOLENCE AND CHANGED HIMSELF AND HIS THINKING TO NONVIOLENCE AND PEACE AND SUCCEEDED IN MAKING SOUTH AFRICA A RAINBOW NATION WHERE EVERYONE CAN LIVE IN PEACE AND HAPPINESS. CONTRAST THIS WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SYRIA AND OTHER ARAB COUNTRIES. SO MANY THOUSANDS HAVE DIED, SO MANY THOUSANDS ARE REFUGEES AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE NATIONS IS DESTROYED. ULTIMATELY, WHAT KIND OF A NATION WILL THAT BE?

3) Speaking of the healing side, to young person who comes from a high-risk gang and violence culture, what would you consider to be the healing side or effect of learning and practicing Gandhian philosophy? What would you advise a young person looking for a new way forward?

ANSWER: LIFE IS FULL OF RISKS AND CHALLENGES. WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES ARE WE GOING TO LET SOME STRANGERS OR GANG MEMBERS DETERMINE WHAT OUR LIFE IS GOING TO BE? OR ARE WE GOING TO DECIDE FOR OURSELVES? IF WE ARE WEAK WE WILL FLOW WITH THE TIDE WHEREVER IT TAKES US. IF WE CANNOT BE MASTERS OF OUR OWN LIVES THEN WE DESERVE WHAT WE GET.

4) The world is a violent place. But recent books and scientists have said that there is less violence today than at any previous time … do you agree with “those statistics?’

ANSWER: I DON’T AGREE WITH THIS BECAUSE THEY ARE LOOKING AT ONLY THE PHYSICAL VIOLENCE. BESIDES STATISTICS CAN BE INTERPRETED TO MEAN WHATEVER WE WANT IT TO MEAN. THE FACT IS THAT EVEN A LITTLE VIOLENCE SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED IN A CIVILIZED SOCIETY. CIVILIZATION DOES NOT MEAN MATERIAL RICHNESS, IT MEANS MORAL INTEGRITY.

5) When does violence begin, and how is it perpetuated so pervasively in the world? What drives such violence?

ANSWER: IN A SELFISH, SELF-CENTERED, GREEDY, EXPLOITATIVE SOCIETY VERY LITTLE FUEL IS REQUIRED TO SPARK VIOLENCE. THE NATURE OF HUMAN BEINGS IS TO CONTROL AND DOMINATE EACH OTHER THROUGH FEAR. WE DO THIS WITH OUR CHILDREN AT HOME WHEN WE CONTROL THEM THROUGH FEAR OF PUNISHMENT AND THAT GROWS IN SOCIETY WHEN GOVERNMENTS CONTROL PEOPLE THROUGH FEAR. FEAR CAN ONLY BE EXERTED THROUGH WEAPONS AND VIOLENCE.

6) Why do you think that governments preach nonviolence to some people while urging other people to take up arms? What is this duplicity?

ANSWER: WE ARE ALL HYPOCRITES BECAUSE WE TRY TO JUSTIFY THE WAY WE LIVE WHILE WE KNOW IT IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY. GOVERNMENTS ARE MADE UP OF PEOPLE FROM SOCIETY SO THEY REFLECT THE SAME WEAKNESSES OF SOCIETY.

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Lynnea Bylund is managing director of Gandhi Legacy Tours, Director of Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, founder of Catalyst House and has nearly three decades of experience in administration, marketing and business development. She was a nationally recognized spokeswoman for the emerging alternative video and information delivery industries. She has a degree in holistic health-nutrition from the legendary and controversial health educator and activist Dr. Kurt Donsbach, she is the founder of two not-for-profit small business-based wireless trade associations and has lobbied on Capitol Hill and at the FCC where she has spoken out strongly against the cable TV monopoly, illegal spectrum warehousing and ill-conceived congressional schemes to auction our nation’s precious airwaves to the highest bidder.

Ms. Bylund is a founder and former CEO of a Washington DC telecommunications consulting and management company with holdings in several operating and developmental wireless communications systems and companies. In 1995 Lynnea became the first female in the world to be awarded a Broadband PCS operating permit – she was one of only 18 winners, along with Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon in the biggest cash auction in world history, raising a whopping $7.7 billion. Lynnea also spear-headed the successful effort to launch the first cable TV network in the South Pacific islands.
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