Question

Read the passage and answer the question.

Passage (extract): The work which Gandhiji had taken up was not only regarding the achievement of political freedom but also the establishment of a new social order based on truth and non-violence, unity and peace, equality and universal brotherhood and maximum freedom for all. A new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property and, at some stage or the other, the 'haves' have to yield place to the 'have-nots'. We have seen, in our time, attempts to achieve a kind of egalitarian society and the picture of it after it was achieved. But this was done, by and large, through the use of physical force. It may even be that, like a gas kept confined within containers under great pressure, or water held back by a big dam, once the barrier breaks, the reaction will one day sweep back with a violence equal in extent and intensity to what was used to establish and maintain the outward egalitarian form. This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction. If egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based not on the possession of the maximum material goods by a few or by all but on voluntary, enlightened renunciation of those goods which cannot be shared by others or can be enjoyed only at the expense of others.

According to the passage, egalitarianism will not survive if

• A. It is based on voluntary renunciation
• B. It is achieved by resorting to physical force
• C. Underprivileged people are not involved in its establishment.
• D. People's outlook towards it is not radically changed.

Hint:

Find the sentence about the "seed of its own destruction" and see which kind of egalitarianism it describes.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

The question asks about the one condition under which equality of this kind collapses. The passage answers it twice in the same breath. It first says that the egalitarian societies of our own time were built "through the use of physical force", and then it delivers the verdict on that method: "This enforced egalitarianism contains, in its bosom, the seed of its own destruction." A thing that carries the seed of its own destruction cannot survive. So the killer condition is force.

1. It is based on voluntary renunciation: This is the exact opposite of what the passage warns against. The writer says that if egalitarianism is to endure, it has to be based on "voluntary, enlightened renunciation". Voluntary renunciation is the thing that makes it last, so it cannot be the thing that kills it.
2. It is achieved by resorting to physical force: This matches the passage word for word in sense. Force gives you only the "outward egalitarian form". The pressure builds up like gas in a container or water behind a dam, and when the barrier breaks the reaction sweeps back with equal violence. That is destruction, not survival.
3. Underprivileged people are not involved in its establishment: The passage never makes participation of the poor a test of survival. It speaks of the 'haves' yielding place to the 'have-nots', but the question there is whether the yielding is voluntary, not whether the 'have-nots' took part in setting the order up. This option adds a condition the writer never states.
4. People's outlook towards it is not radically changed: This is tempting, because the passage does say a new order cannot be established without radically changing the mind and attitude of men towards property. But look at the verb. That line is about establishing the order. The question asks about survival, and for survival the passage names one specific enemy, force, and one specific support, voluntary renunciation. Option (D) also misplaces the object of the change: the passage wants the attitude towards property changed, not the attitude towards egalitarianism.

So the correct choice is (B). Enforced egalitarianism is the case the writer singles out as self-destroying.

Let's summarize:

• Force produces only the outward form of equality, and the passage says that form carries the seed of its own destruction.
• Voluntary, enlightened renunciation is what the writer offers as the condition for equality to endure.
• Radical change of outlook is tied in the passage to establishing the order, not to whether it survives.

Egalitarianism will not survive if it is achieved by resorting to physical force.