Essay by Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi, in the book “Selected Political Writings”, stated that “swaraj” should be understood as “independence” of a nation or people. In this essay I will discuss the questions: Why does Gandhi think that nations should govern themselves? What does he mean when he suggests that “outer freedom will always be the means of measuring the freedom of the inner self. So we often find that the laws created to guarantee our freedom often turn out to be the chains that bind us”? And why does he say that “war may give us another rule for English rule, but not self-government”? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I will begin by answering the question of why Gandhi thinks nations should govern themselves. Gandhi uses the word “swaraj” to mean independence or self-government. Politically it states that “swaraj” is self-government and not good government, meaning that a country, in this case India, is independent of the control of another government; India was under the control of Great Britain at the time. Gandhi was seeing the abuse, oppression, and crisis his people were in, so he led a nonviolent civil disobedience movement. It was said that “liberation ultimately had to begin with the colonized and end with the colonizers.” Gandhi realized that the real power was never in the hands of the colonizers (Britain) or the government, but in the hands of the people. Gandhi said that growth would come to India if “swaraj” was achieved. It was just what he wanted, coming to India was a big change; the kind of change that would involve all of society, individuals and communities. However, he did not say that it would be easy for "swaraj" because it is not simply "a change of government from the British to the Indian government, but a real change of heart on the part of the people". Next, I will discuss what Gandhi meant when he said that “outer freedom will always be the means of measuring the freedom of the inner self. Therefore, we often find that the laws created to grant us freedom often turn out to be the chains that bind us.” In that quote Gandhi is saying that his fellow Indians should implement social reforms that are not based on British abandonment, known as his “constructive program” (106), but are based on the reform of the self. He said this in response to his countrymen who challenged him that those social reforms could only be achieved after Britain had left. Social reforms were Gandhi's main focus. He felt that it would not work just to attack India's politics or economy to gain its independence, but to attack society as a whole. This attack was known as a reform in which everyone had to commit to uplifting others and changing the society from which power comes. He is also saying that when he mentions “laws” he is referring to “legislators” and how they take responsibility for governing the people instead of just representing them. It is easy for people in power to abuse it and that is why real power must remain in the hands of the people. Gandhi had to exemplify this point for his people to free themselves from Britain which ruled them. However, it was easy for Britain to gain that kind of power over India because it used “fear of government, legislators, courts and armies” to rule them. However, Gandhi said that all that power would be lost when Indians reformed to know that freedom does not come from government, but”..