How Gandhi argued his way into first-class rail car in apartheid South Africa. | Hacker News Reader

How Gandhi argued his way into first-class rail car in apartheid South Africa.

books.google.com

24 pointsDenisM14 comments

You'll get the full story if you use this link instead

http://books.google.com/books?id=n7lwt8FKO7IC&pg=PA49...

the link posted is missing a couple of pages because of google books

Page 113, to be precise. Great book by the way.

http://books.google.com/books?id=n7lwt8FKO7IC&pg=PA49..."bargaining+for+advantage"#PPA50,M1 this link helps even more. Actually, in the previous search, the word "Gandhi" is spelled wrong.

Being thrown out of that train is what motivated Gandhi to spend his life defending the rights of the underprivileged, and giving up anything of luxury along the way. I remembered this as the story of someone who finds his vocation. It's weird to see it told as the story of a clever trick for getting into first-class.

It's not about cushy seats in first-class, it's about hacking the system.

You see, Gandhi is one of the most successful hackers - he hacked the first-class, then he learned from that and hacked the british empire.

If this is the story I am thinking of, then Gandhi didn't even know he wasn't allowed to be in the first class.

(The different links to the negotiation book don't seem to work, so what I am talking about is the story linked to by sfk, which I also read in the autobiography and also figures prominently in the film).

Did you try the actual headline story?

He knew pefectly well he was not allowed there, he prepared and succeeded.

I have sneaked into many concerts using the same techniques:

1. Dress nicely. (It works the best when you look nicer than anyone else in the concert, especially the artists.)

2. Immediately chat up and possibly be friend with someone who looks important. (e.g. host, venue owner, the person that would most likely to kick you out.)

3. Have your story ready, just in case.

What stories do you use if step 3 is needed?

Also - by "sneak into" concerts you mean that you get yourself into concerts without having to pay or that you get into otherwise sold-out concerts but still pay?

In my book:

sneak into == not paying

The best story is the one that is not explanatory. The whole point is to take the focus off you. So I would usually start with asking the person how his job is going, or if the band found fix their PA, or just borrow a cigarette, etc.

If he asks directly "who are you", depend on who this person is, I'd tell him I'm with the band, with the stage crew, with the press, or a promoter.

But really, if you do it right you shouldn't need to explain anything to anyone.

So, uhh, you're stealing and then coming here to brag about it? (Not to mention comparing yourself to Gandhi...)

What's that you say? It doesn't count as stealing because you didn't deny the ticket to anybody else? Sure, but everybody else at the concert had to deal with having one extra stinking body taking up room there, didn't they?

Seriously. If you wanna steal stuff that's between you and your conscience, but bragging about it just makes you a dick.

I'm sorry if you feel insulted by my comment. I was merely approving these bargain techniques with my real life experience. And in no way would I ever compare myself to Gandhi. You must have miss-read my writing.

Sure, it's technically stealing, in the same way that downloading music is. I don't deny it.

If you could take a second to forgive my misdeed, and maybe even consider calling it "selective stealing"?

Selective because I only sneak into shows that charges $50+ by musicians who are already rich. On the other hand, I often donate money to smaller independent bands as they come through the non-profit venue I used to help at.

I hope my act will balance out (even just a little bit) the heavily screwed music industry. And if I have to endure being called a thief, so be it.

I don't seem to get a preview on Google books, but there appear to be thousands of versions of that story on the web, e.g:

http://www.progress.org/gandhi/gandhi03.htm

"He wrote the station master requesting a first-class ticket and received it only because the man was not a local Boer but a Dutchman from Holland."

I don't claim that this link gives an accurate story, but I would view the negotiation story in the book with equal suspicion.

Ah, fascinating. I was aware of Gandhi's actions on behalf of Indians vs. "Negroes" but hadn't heard this story.

Watch the interesting intersections of class vs. race vs. nationality. Gandhi was probably quite aware of the difference between the centuries-old Afrikaans (dutch-decescended) and the recently arrived British who would eventually destroy South Africa. This was very similar to the Scotch-Irish vs. Yankee schism in America today.

Gandhi was an Indian nationalist first and last, but would play any necessary games necessary on his way... I won't draw any further comparisons.

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