Trusteeship and Economic Ethics

5.1 The Trusteeship Doctrine

Gandhi developed Trusteeship as a third way between predatory capitalism and revolutionary communism. The argument:

1. God (Truth) is the true owner of all wealth
2. Wealthy individuals merely hold wealth in trust for God/society
3. Trustees must use wealth for social welfare, not personal accumulation
4. In return, the state should not forcibly confiscate wealth (contra communism) but educate industrialists toward voluntary trusteeship

Gandhi's letter to industrialists: He urged Tata, Birla, and other Indian industrialists to be trustees, not mere profit-maximisers. The Birla family's support for Gandhi's causes (including his residence in Delhi at the time of his assassination) reflected partial acceptance.

Philosophical basis: Influenced by John Ruskin's "Unto This Last" (1860), which Gandhi read on a train journey to Johannesburg in 1904 and immediately resolved to act upon. He translated it as "Sarvodaya" (welfare of all).

5.2 Sarvodaya

Sarvodaya (Hindi/Sanskrit: sarva = all, udaya = rise) is Gandhi's social ideal derived from Ruskin — the good of all, especially the weakest:

Utilitarianism	Sarvodaya
Greatest good of greatest number	Good of each — especially the weakest
Can sacrifice minority for majority	No sacrifice of any individual acceptable
Aggregative — totals matter	Distributive — worst-off matter most
Similar to Bentham/Mill	Similar to Rawls' difference principle

Sarvodaya in practice: Gandhi insisted that economic growth should be measured by the condition of the poorest and most marginalised citizen — not GDP averages. This anticipates Amartya Sen's capability approach and the UNDP's Human Development Index focus on the poor.

Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan Movement extended Sarvodaya through land distribution — voluntary gift of land by wealthy to landless — as a Gandhian economic programme.

---