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VAISHALI INSTITUTE RESEARCH BULLETIN NO. I
In the international sphere the rivalry of nations can be tempered by restraint of ambition. A powerful nation which has a superior military organization equipped with superior arms naturally feels tempted to aggrandize itself at the cost of weaker nations. This leads to war which inflicts untold suffering on the victims of aggression. And the aggressor too suffers in loss of man and materials if the resistance is sustained. The fate of Hitler's Germany should bring the lesson home to the aggressor that war is not as profitable as he thinks. There are so many risks and so many miscalculations inevitable in the prosecution of war. This shows the working of the law of anekānta below the surface. Too much of power is almost as bad as too much of weakness. The two extremes are equally detestable. The weaker nations must be stronger to foil the ambitious designs of the powerintoxicated aggressor. There must be sobering down of the pride of power on the one hand and the uplift of the weaker nations from the slough of despondency and degradation on the other. This is the significance of anekanta which denounces extremism of either.
Intellectual and moral persuation is better than physical violence. One may be cowed down by the bully but cannot be expected to entertain feelings of loyality. It is by love, friendship and provision of succour that a powerful individual or an organisation can hope to win the love of poor and weak people.
But this traffic in benevolence cannot be one-track affair. The beneficiary must appreciate the mental charity of the benefactor and free himself from moral degradation by cherishing feeling of gratitude. The present-day conflict of labour and capital is not entirely an economic problem. Without investment of capital there can be no development which means opening out new avenues of activity. The industrial enterprise is a cooperative concern. It can flourish only if the capitalist is not over ambitious and the labour is not avaricious There must be sincerity of purpose on both sides. It is extreme avarice on either side that is at the bottom of the trouble, which is as much a question of psychology as of economics. This malady can be redressed if there is appreciation of inter-dependence on the part of both, capital and labour.
The advocacy of non-violence need not be dismissed as the fad of a dreamer. Violence may be effective for the time being, but unless it is re-inforced by non-violence its success will not be enduring, Non-violence on the part of the stronger man and nation will inspire admiration for the former's forbearence. The father's admonition is
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