Baha’i Perspectives

nooshin July 1st, 2008

There is something clearly wrong in the economic system of the world today and it is the most vulnerable who are having to pay the price. Since the start of 2006, the average world price for rice has risen by 217 percent, wheat by 136 percent, maize by 125 percent and soybeans by 107 percent, (according to a Wikipedia entry on 2007-2008 world food price crisis). These price hikes have sparked a wave of protests around the world: from Haiti to Kenya to Indonesia to Egypt and Ivory Coast.

In an interesting article (Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Ever Higher, 30 June 2008), the New York Times explains that since 1980 “even as trade in services and in manufactured goods has tripled, adjusting for inflation, trade in food has barely increased. Instead, for decades, food has been a convoluted tangle of restrictive rules, in the form of tariffs, quotas and subsidies….[T]he world is increasingly dependent on a handful of countries…that are still exporting large quantities of food…. [P]oor countries have frequently cut farm assistance programs and lowered tariffs to balance budgets and avoid charging high prices to urban consumers. But they have found that their farmers cannot compete with imports from rich countries — imports that are heavily subsidized”.

In our Economics 101 lectures we were taught about Adam Smith’s ”invisible hand“, about comparative advantage and the importance of free trade.  By the time we made it to post-graduate courses, our lecturers could no longer hide the fact that Messers Smith, Keynes and Friedman did not have it all worked out, and that in fact “free market forces” did not have the power to fix everything.

In a statement entitled Valuing Spirituality in Development (18 February 1998), the Baha’i International Community posits an entirely different view of economics:

Central to the task of reconceptualizing the organization of human affairs is arriving at a proper understanding of the role of economics. The failure to place economics into the broader context of humanity’s social and spiritual existence has led to a corrosive materialism in the world’s more economically advantaged regions, and persistent conditions of deprivation among the masses of the world’s peoples. Economics should serve people’s needs; societies should not be expected to reformulate themselves to fit economic models. The ultimate function of economic systems should be to equip the peoples and institutions of the world with the means to achieve the real purpose of development: that is, the cultivation of the limitless potentialities latent in human consciousness.

There is a very useful tool that economists use to measure the inequality of wealth distribution. The Gini Coefficient is a ratio between 0 and 1, with 0 being perfect equality.  The map below illustrates the 2007/2008 Gini Coefficient for the world, as based on a recently released Human Development Report by the UNDP.  The darker the colour, the more unequal is the distribution of wealth in that country.

Addressing the problem of the extremes between wealth and poverty, the Universal House of Justice said this, in their 1985 message to the world The Promise of World Peace:

The inordinate disparity between rich and poor, a source of acute suffering, keeps the world in a state of instability, virtually on the brink of war. Few societies have dealt effectively with this situation. The solution calls for the combined application of spiritual, moral and practical approaches. A fresh look at the problem is required, entailing consultation with experts from a wide spectrum of disciplines, devoid of economic and ideological polemics, and involving the people directly affected in the decisions that must urgently be made. It is an issue that is bound up not only with the necessity for eliminating extremes of wealth and poverty but also with those spiritual verities the understanding of which can produce a new universal attitude. Fostering such an attitude is itself a major part of the solution.

Unbridled nationalism, as distinguished from a sane and legitimate patriotism, must give way to a wider loyalty, to the love of humanity as a whole. Bahá’u’lláh’s statement is: “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” The concept of world citizenship is a direct result of the contraction of the world into a single neighbourhood through scientific advances and of the indisputable interdependence of nations. Love of all the world’s peoples does not exclude love of one’s country. The advantage of the part in a world society is best served by promoting the advantage of the whole.

It is important for all of us, especially those from more developed countries, to remember our responsibilities to the rest of the world and to not take our material comforts for granted, as if they are somehow our “God-given rights”.  The resources of the world are the God-given patrimony of every member of the human race.

God is not partial and is no respecter of persons. He has made provision for all. The harvest comes forth for everyone. The rain showers upon everybody and the heat of the sun is destined to warm everyone. The verdure of the earth is for everyone. Therefore there should be for all humanity the utmost happiness, the utmost comfort, the utmost well-being.

But if conditions are such that some are happy and comfortable and some in misery; some are accumulating exorbitant wealth and others are in dire want — under such a system it is impossible for man to be happy and impossible for him to win the good pleasure of God. God is kind to all. The good pleasure of God consists in the welfare of all the individual members of mankind.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity)

Tags: consumerism, economics, food, materialism, poverty

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nooshin May 27th, 2008

It has been a very difficult two weeks in South Africa. Doubtless you are all aware of the wave of anti-foreigner attacks that has engulfed the country. Figures given on Friday 23 May estimate that there have been over 4,661 incidents and 519 people have been arrested, that over 50 people have lost their lives and more than 550 people have been injured. I have written a summary of this as part of my job at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Southern Africa Zone office.

The number of displaced people is estimated to be between 25,000 and 30,000. That’s how many people have fled from their homes in fear of attacks, and are now living in makeshift shelters at police stations and community halls, trying to stay warm in the biting cold of winter. It is a tragic situation, one which I don’t see being solved very soon.

I was going to focus my blog on the perpetrators of these acts of inhumanity and violence. But I realized that they get enough press time as it. I think the following quotation from Abdu’l-Baha will be sufficient:

In this wonderful age, according to the divine texts, ye must befriend all nations and communities. Ye must not look upon violence, force, evil intentions, persecutions or hostility, nay rather, ye must raise your eyes to the horizon of glory and see that each one of these creatures is a sign of the Lord of Signs and has stepped upon the arena of existence through divine favor and supreme energy. Thus they are known and not unknown, are friends and not strangers. We must deal with all according to the above criterion.

I want to rather talk about the good people in South Africa: and most South Africans are good, generous and caring. I work for the Red Cross, an organization whose life blood is its volunteer base. South African Red Cross volunteers have been at the sites since the first violent attacks, in often dangerous and difficult conditions, providing food, blankets and other items to those affected.

Everywhere around me, I see people looking to see how they can help. My friend Lebo felt he needed to do something, so he collected R2,000 in donations and went shopping for items he could take to the shelters. Lena, another friend, is involved in her Church’s donation drive: she went to buy the stuff they had asked for, and added fluffy blankets and chocolates for the children, even though she knew it wasn’t very practical, but because she so wanted to brighten a child’s day. Fern Lee, a friend of my brother’s from Cape Town, had about two hour’s sleep on the weekend because she was at shelters helping distribute food and clothes. These are the people I want to celebrate in this blog, because they, and the thousands like them around the country, have taught me that each one of us has the power to make a difference, and the responsibility to assist those in need. Baha’u'llah exhorts His Followers to have special care for those less fortunate:

If ye meet the abased or the down-trodden, turn not away disdainfully from them, for the King of Glory ever watcheth over them and surroundeth them with such tenderness as none can fathom except them that have suffered their wishes and desires to be merged in the Will of your Lord, the Gracious, the All-Wise. O ye rich ones of the earth! Flee not from the face of the poor that lieth in the dust, nay rather befriend him and suffer him to recount the tale of the woes with which God’s inscrutable Decree hath caused him to be afflicted. By the righteousness of God! Whilst ye consort with him, the Concourse on high will be looking upon you, will be interceding for you, will be extolling your names and glorifying your action.

Tags: generosity, poverty, prejudice

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leila April 19th, 2008

Modernization, Westernization, Development, Globalization. Whatever you call it, it evokes the fiery, if not ubiquitous, debate that has raged in recent years. Is modernization an evil, or a panacea? Does modernization necessarily equal Westernization? Can modernization and cultural preservation go hand-in-hand?

A recent article published in the New York Times tells the story of Luang Prabang, a Laotian town whose idyll has been shattered in the past decade. Since its selection as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1995, camera-toting tourists have flocked to town, with its daily procession of Buddhist monks and its centuries-old architecture. With the tourist boom, pizza parlors, bars, and even day spas have sprouted alongside the quaint narrow streets and traditional structures. Jobs and wealth have emerged as a result: those same monks, donned in their bright orange robes, abandon their monastic lives to cash in on the tourism industry.

Despite the economic upturn, many ask: is it worth it?

Laurent A. Rampon, the director of Luang Prabang’s cultural preservation office, sees it this way:

The paradox is that Unesco gives out the Heritage Site label partly to reduce poverty, but reducing poverty is reducing heritage. If you want to preserve heritage, you must keep poverty.

Though the development-versus-culture debate has been seen as a twenty-first century phenomenon, I’ll let you in on a little-known fact: it’s actually raged for centuries.

Back in nineteenth-century Persia, modernization was the issue of the moment. Many Persians yearned for the kinds of prosperity and advancement that Europe and neighbouring Russia enjoyed, not only because of their pride, but for their own self-preservation. With the humiliating defeat of the Persian army at the hands of the Russian forces during the Russo-Persian wars, it became clear that Persia needed to modernize in order to survive.

Yet, for all those pro-modernizers that passionately appealed to the Persian people and rulers to advance the cause of modernization, there were those who clung to fears of Westernization. Would Persia lose its culture at the hands of modernization? The clergy likewise feared a loss of power and influence, with the development of judicial and educational institutions that threatened their sway over the populace.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá addressed this question in 1875 in His scintillating treatise, The Secret of Divine Civilization. In it, He outlines the necessity of modernization and its requisite components: democratic governance, a just rule of law, scientific and technological advancements, human rights, universal education, and economic development.

But He similarly rejects the notion of modernization as synonymous with Westernization. It is possible, He asserts, to glean those aspects of modern society that will contribute to the advancement of a nation’s people without losing those unique aspects of one’s culture. He states:

Those who maintain that these modern concepts apply only to other countries and are irrelevant in Iran, that they do not satisfy her requirements or suit her way of life, disregard the fact that other nations were once as we are now…. Would the extension of education, the development of useful arts and sciences, the promotion of industry and technology, be harmful things? For such endeavor lifts the individual within the mass and raises him out of the depths of ignorance to the highest reaches of knowledge and human excellence. Would the setting up of just legislation, in accord with the Divine laws which guarantee the happiness of society and protect the rights of all mankind and are an impregnable proof against assault — would such laws, insuring the integrity of the members of society and their equality before the law, inhibit their prosperity and success?

(Abdu’l-Bahá, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 13-14)

So when Rampon claimed, in the article, that cultural heritage can only be preserved by maintaining poverty, it first made me angry, but then it made me think. Those opponents of globalization loathe so-called development because of its perceived destruction of culture, while its advocates maintain that it’s the price to be paid for increased global wealth, at any expense.

But what of a middle ground? In part two, I’ll explore the idea of a middle ground, and the Baha’i model of modernity.

Tags: culture, modernization, poverty

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nadim March 3rd, 2008

The Baha’i International Community has not only launched a new web site, but has also recently released a statement entitled “Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One”. The statement was developed following consultations with UN agencies, NGOs and Baha’i communities in various countries.

Before continuing, here’s a little game to test just how much we think we know about factors relating to poverty. Keep the answers in your head or note them down on a piece of paper — you may be referring back to them later. The rules are easy. Simply think of how each of the factors below relates to the eradication of poverty:

• Governance
• Justice and Human Rights
• Individual Responsibility
• Gender
• Economic activity
• Extremes of wealth
• Sustainable development
• Agriculture
• Employment
• Knowledge
• Religion

I bet some of those factors are not what traditionally would have come to mind (we usually only think in terms of $$$, right?). As noted in the statement, “The mechanisms of poverty eradication have long been defined in primarily material terms. Indeed, the central pillar of the international community’s poverty alleviation efforts has been the transfer of financial resources.”

The usual attitude by donor governments has been to throw money at the problem — approximately $2.3 trillion in the last 50 years — and hope that it will go away. However, the statement confirms what experience now shows. Foreign aid, “far from ushering in greater self-sufficiency, has often had a detrimental effect on recipient communities: increased dependency on foreign assistance, subservience to externally dictated priorities, misappropriation of funds and decreased pressure for governance reform.” Clearly, a more holistic approach to poverty alleviation is required, and fundamental changes need to be made from the level of the individual all the way to the highest levels of society.

Now read the entire statement to discover how poverty relates to the factors listed above, and compare it to the ideas you had before. Hopefully, reading this statement will open doors to new ways of thinking about one of the world’s most pressing challenges.

54. O YE RICH ONES ON EARTH!
The poor in your midst are My trust; guard ye My trust, and be not intent only on your own ease.

(Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words)

Tags: poverty

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