Gandhi makes many points to the fact that wealth takes from morality. I think what he means by this is that when you are given so much riches, it is easy to forget the needs of other people above one’s selfish desires. This then makes oneself a poorer person in the sense of morality. Gandhi believes that real progress is seen, not by wealth, but by humanity. Treating any individual of this earth with kindness and respect is worth much more than any amount of money, and if you have money to give you are not to spend it feverishly, but to give it to someone in need so that they can maintain their precious life as well.
Gandhi has named nine men who he believes to be “the greatest teachers of the world.” These men include Jesus, Mahomed, Buddah, Nanak. Kabir, Chaitanya, Shankara, Dayanand, and Ramkrishna. Gandhi believes these men to be the best because they have given to the world, and the world is “richer” because they have lived. These men lived a poor life but gave to people gifts much richer than any sum of money.
Gandhi believed that having money and power can only lead to a decline in human spirit and the feeling of kinship between your fellow neighbors. “In South Africa, where I had the privilege of associating with thousands of our countrymen on most intimate terms, I observed almost invariably that the greater the possession of riches, the greater was their moral turpitude.”
The “real economics” that Gandhi refers to in the last sentence of his speech speaks more to the wealth of morals than to the wealth of money. Gandhi states, “Let us first seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and the irrevocable promise is that everything will be added with us.” By choosing these words, I believe that Gandhi is attributing to the fact that you cannot achieve richness with money, but only with kind acts. If you succeed in bettering yourself as a person of this earth you will be rewarded in much better ways than anything money can buy you.
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