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58
NONVIOLENCE
wealth and economic standards has resulted in a conflicting ideologies of capitalism and communism. This undesirable conflict and struggle would not occur if the world were based upon the healthy economic principles of limited personal possessions and surrendering all the surplus to society as a whole. The concept of socialism as propounded in Jainism by observing the fifth vow of limited possessions offers a via-media between two extremes. The vow of limited possessions aims at establishing social justice without resorting to violence by advising every house-holder to voluntarily restrict his property to that needed by him. Might is right may be the law of the jungle. It cannot be the foundation of human relationships. “Live and let live” should be the basis of civilized society. This principle is applicable between various nations just as it is between individuals. Jainism lays stress on the purity of conduct of an individual and enjoins him to refrain from committing violent acts intentionally or knowingly. Every individual should behave to wards others sympathetically and bonafidely. If the ruling party in a country and persons in authority behave malafidely, and become unscrupulous, it results in the demoralization of society and the Nation.
In the history of nations as in the lives of institutions and individuals, there is an imminent moral law which cannot be broken with impunity. Evil doers and tyrants may appear to thrive for a while, but it is always instructive to watch their sad end. Jainism asserts that what is true of the individual is true of nations also. Nations cannot break moral laws or act selfishly for long, any more than can individuals.
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