This move towards modern civilization had harmed and impaired the people of India, which he believed to be detrimental to Indian culture. He saw it as a way of the British being able to keep control of India. Although he was predominantly against modern civilization, there were parts of it, he believed, that would help India. In his writing of the Hind swaraj; it becomes apparent that he believed in better living conditions, equality for people and the improvement of the economic conditions of India6. While he believed all of this, it is vital to notice that he wanted all of these steps to be integrated with Swaraj: moral awareness and spiritual development. Gandhi's view on modern civilization spread from economics to religion and it is vital to take the context into account while analyzing his views. The paper will also examine Gandhi's socioeconomic views on modern civilization and what he wished for the future of India as a nation. .
Due to Britain's strong influence on the Indian subcontinent, Gandhi feared that India would adopt western values, and ultimately transform into a western nation. Throughout the course of his life, Gandhi criticized western civilizations and their lifestyles. Looking at how capitalism developed in the Western world since the era of the industrial revolution, Gandhi found materialism to be the main characteristic of modern civilization, in which spirituality seemed to be undervalued. That is, "The people of Europe to-day live in better-built houses than they did a hundred years ago. This is considered an emblem of civilization"7 . "Now they (men) are enslaved by temptation of money and of the luxuries that money can buy" ; and "This civilization takes note neither of morality nor of religion"8. In his speech at Muir Central College in 1916, Gandhi extended this understanding and made clear the difference between "economic progress" and "real progress" saying, "By economic progress, I take it, we mean material advancement without limit, and by real progress we mean moral progress.
