Mahatma Gandhi - Capitalist?

I don’t know of a better story of people completely missing the point. A guy has just bought a bunch of Gandhi’s possessions for $US 1.8 million.

The buyer was one of India’s richest men. The chairman of United Breweries, Vijay Mallya had been on the phone all along, talking to his representative Toni Bedi – a sharply dressed man in an immaculate white turban, sitting near the front.

Afterwards, as the scrum pressed forwards towards him, Mr Bedi asked for “a little breathing room”.

Were the items really worth $1.8m I asked him?

“Absolutely. I think it’s well worth it, and a lot more. If you look at the heritage of Mahatma Gandhi and what Mahatma Gandhi was teaching it is well worth it.”

via BBC News | World | South Asia | High Drama at NY Gandhi auction

Worth it?!If you look at what Mahatma Gandhi was teaching it was well worth it?!?! Which teaching? How do you idolise the man to the point of wanting to spend that much money on owning his stuff, without actually having any real grasp of what the man taught, and lived for?

Well – that does sound a little familiar.