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“He who cannot protect himself or his nearest and dearest or their honor by non-violently facing death, may and ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor. He who can do neither of the two is a burden.”-Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Even today Mohandas Gandhi remains an icon for those who believe all human beings can live together in peace and harmony, and that violence is a bad habit that we all need to abandon to save the world.  While we should all strive to get along with our fellow man at least until we get away from them it isn’t always practical, and there will always be wolves out there that prey on the sheep.  Take Nathuram Godse for example who killed Gandhi a fellow Hindu, because he believed Gandhi was working to hard to appease Muslims in India.  It’s a safe bet that Gandhi would have been more than willing to talk with the man, and explain his position, but instead Godse fired three shots from a semi-automatic pistol into him while he was praying.  Some people you can’t reason with, and when that is the case you have to be ready to defend yourself, and even the great man of peace understood that.

Now Gandhi was a wise and great man for a number of reasons, and his efforts to end British Colonial rule in India should be applauded, but like all great men he wasn’t perfect. During his time in South Africa when he fought for full citizenship he had no problem stepping on the native African population to do so, and his racist views at the time are well documented. Granted racism was the norm around the world, and he did come from a society that has a rigid caste system, but it’s a chapter many of his supporters would like to forget.

During his time in Africa though he supported the British in their war against the Zulus, and lobbied the government to create all Indian units to fight in the conflict.  The British only allowed Indians in support units though and Gandhi served in an ambulance unit, because it was the only assignment available, not because he wasn’t willing to fight.  It seems though his views did change and by World War I he was willing to recruit Indians to fight, but made it clear he wasn’t going to take part in any of the fighting which puzzled friends and colleagues.

During the dark days of World War II Gandhi only pledged "non-violent moral support," to the British who were in a life and death struggle with the Axis powers.  If there was ever a time to fight it was than, but even in the face of slaughter Gandhi held firm to his principals, but it is safe to say he learned from his experiences, and  changed his views accordingly.

Sure Gandhi preached non-violence, but even he knew that wasn’t always practical, and said, "Non-cooperators are under prohibition as to political violence. Those, therefore, with whom non-cooperation is not their final creed, are certainly free to defend themselves or their dependents and wards against their assailants.” Even those who did follow him were allowed to protect themselves, and said of the British firearms laws, “Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.”  These quotes and others make it pretty clear that violence in politics isn’t a good idea, but when it comes to self defense everyone has the right to protect themselves.

Now maybe you wish to follow Gandhi’s example and practice non-violence, but you shouldn’t expect others to do the work for you, “Cowardice is impotence worse than violence.  The coward desire revenge, but being afraid to die, he looks to others, maybe to the government of the day, to do the work of defense for him. A coward is less than a man. He does not deserve to be a member of a society of men and women.”  So even as you strive for a better world you should still learn how to defend yourself and that is where the Self Defense Company comes, because we teach people how to protect themselves from the worst.  There will always be people willing to use violence to get what they want, but if more people are able to deal with them the sooner we all can go back to our peaceful lives.