The poor must reclaim power while the privileged win applause by renouncing it
Evidence
The battle of the poor and the powerless is one of reclamation, not renunciation. But Gandhi, like many successful godmen, was an astute politician. He understood that the act of renunciation by someone who has plenty to renounce has always appealed to the popular imagination. (Gandhi would eventually discard his Western suit and put on a dhoti in order to dress like the poorest of the poor. Ambedkar, on the other hand, born unmoneyed, Untouchable, and denied the right to wear clothes that privileged-caste people wore, would show his defiance by wearing a three-piece suit.) — Ambedkar, B R, Annihilation of Caste_ The Annotated…, 234
Categorization
Category: Contrarian or Surprising Claims
- XREF: The dhoti vs three-piece suit contrast epitomizes the Gandhi–Ambedkar divide central to this book.
Related
- Gandhi donned poverty while Ambedkar defied caste by dressing richly (similarity 0.93)
- Renunciation only appeals when performed by someone with plenty to renounce (similarity 0.88)
- The powerful gain popular appeal by renouncing what they can afford to lose (similarity 0.88)
- Poverty is defined by powerlessness and cannot be simulated by renunciation (similarity 0.82)
- Gandhi’s innovation was fusing spiritual renunciation with mass political theater (similarity 0.78)