Seven Blunders of the World

The Seven Blunders of the World is a list that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi gave to his grandson Arun Gandhi, written on a piece of paper, on their final day together, not too long before his assassination. [ [http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/LF/Win96/win96L9.html Gandhi's "Seven Blunders of the World" That Lead to Violence . . . Plus 5] ] The seven blunders are:

*Wealth without work
*Pleasure without conscience
*Knowledge without character
*Commerce without morality
*Science without humanity
*Worship without sacrifice
*Politics without principle

This list grew from Gandhi's search for the roots of violence. He called these acts of passive violence. Preventing these is the best way to prevent oneself or one's society from reaching a point of violence.

To this list, Arun Gandhi added an eighth blunder, rights without responsibilities. [ [http://www.gandhiinstitute.org/Library/LibraryItem.cfm?LibraryID=780 Arun Gandhi's article] ]

Commentaries

Commentaries on the seven blunders include those of Arun Gandhi [ [http://www.gandhiinstitute.org/Library/LibraryItem.cfm?LibraryID=780 Arun Gandhi's article] ] and Stephen Covey. [ [http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm Stephen R. Covey, Principle Centered Leadership, pp. 87-93, Simon & Schuster Ltd., London] ] According to Stephen Covey, all the blunders relate to social and political conditions, and the antidote of each of these "deadly sins" is an explicit external standard, or something based on natural principles and laws, not on social values. He compares the fourth blunder to the idea expressed by Adam Smith in his book "The Theory of Moral Sentiments", which explains how foundational to the success of our systems is the moral foundation. He claims that "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" helps one avoid these seven blunders.

According to Arun Gandhi, the idea behind the first blunder originates from the feudal practice of Zamindari. He also suggests that the first and the second blunders are interrelated.

Vinton A. Dearing, in his book "The Great Physician: A Life of Jesus Christ in the Light of Modern Spiritual Healing" juxtaposes the Seven Blunders of the world with Pharisaic sayings. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=HnS_GcL1qckC&pg=PA141&dq=Seven+blunders+gandhi&sig=cL2i1S4NpguIYrSo68ZXIcoBAlk#PPA141,M1 Vinton A. Dearing, The Great Physician: A Life of Jesus Christ in the Light of Modern Spiritual Healing, 2003, Xlibris Corporation, ISBN 1401038719] ]

ee also

*Seven Deadly Sins
*Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
*Wonders of the World

References

* [http://www.gandhiinstitute.org/Library/LibraryItem.cfm?LibraryID=780 The Gandhi institute]