"why should a mature humanity not be able to develop an economy with a totally new logic?"

I have had a lovely time reconnecting with an old dear friend of mine who is working on a paper about Baha'i views of social and economic development. We are trying to help each other over our writing hurdles. I recommended to her a talk given by Dr. Farzam Arbab and in the process I was thrilled to rediscover the talk as I had never read it carefully myself. The talk is entitled The Process of Social Transformation.


It touches on themes I ponder regularly regarding the Baha'i view of social change.

The first point is that Baha'is view social change as resulting from an organic and complex set of interactions between profound changes in the individual and deliberate attemps to change the structure of society. Arbab defines change in social structures as not merely political change but change in mental, cultural, economic, social structures and also in the "very concept of political leadership and power".

Individual spiritual transformation and illumination frees the individual "from the bounds of oppressive social forces" !! and the continued spiritual growth of these liberated individuals can only occur as they arise to make efforts to create and strengthen new social institutions. Real social change is therefore an iterative process over several generations-- "organic change in the structure of present day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced" (Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 43). Arbab describes this process as "the mystical-practical path of social activity and individual transformation".

He goes on to introduce the notion that there are "twin processes" at work in the world at large--the destructive processes and the integrative processes. There is no need to participate in the processes of the destruction of corrupt and outdated structures. These are collapsing on their own. He quotes at length from the writings of Shoghi Effendi. I love this quote--it is a bold and confident vision for the future world society--I have abbreviated it somewhat:

"The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds, and classes are closely and permanently united and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind, ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and will enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs, and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. ...

A mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect regularity. ...

The press will , under such a system, while giving full scope to the expression of the diversified views and convictions of mankind, cease to be mischievously manipulated by vested interests, whether private or public, and will be liberated from the influence of contending governments and peoples. The economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be coordinated and developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably regulated." (Shoghi Effendi, Guidance for Today and Tomorrow, 1953, p. 167)

[as an aside this brings to mind the Peter Drucker quote I read this morning that "the best way to predict the future is to create it"]

Always a staunch advocate for the participation of rural populations in the larger global economy, Arbab discusses two of my central passions in life: education and agriculture from the point of view of the village community. He is writing in 1987 but all of his ideas seem so VERY contemporary as though they were written just today and we see the influences of these kinds of ideas permeating educational thought today.

"...it is important not to view these activities as a mere extension of the present educational system of the so-called developed world to developing rural regions. The unbridled process of transfer of technology and education, promoted vigorously by governments and churches during the past decades, has already shown its devastating effects in the creation of a most alarming state of hopelessness, alienation, and confusion among millions of rural youth who see no future for themselves either in the villages or in the marginal neighborhoods of the cities to which they are forced to migrate. It would not be an exaggeration to say that many Bahá'ís all over the world, while acutely aware of the great value of education, show profound disagreement with present educational practices. ...

The educational objectives that are being sought are integration of the spiritual and the material, the theoretical and the practical, the technical and the social, the sense of individual progress with service to the community at large, all these as opposed to the increasingly fragmented educational content of the present-day systems. The form of education is also to undergo profound change, become more participative and less autocratic, more consultative and based on joint exploration of nature and social reality. There is, moreover, an extremely strong emphasis on excellence, but not excellence exclusively for the children born to certain social classes. The educational system being sought will foster social justice and will fulfil all the requirements of universal education."

And with regard to my other passion--sustainable agriculture and its relationship to an alternative village economy and a just global economy:

"Peasant production systems all value diversity of species and include a very complex management of time and space unlike most monoculture systems of commercial agriculture. The utilization of family labour on one's own farm and on others' follows a far more complex logic than simple wage earning, work is a social process that has inherent in it interchanges with other families, a concept of reciprocity and social responsibility, and usually a deep commitment to the community. What the researchers in this field tell us then is that there is a logic to this mode of production quite different from the logic of a commercial agriculture based on the rate of return on investment, or that of an agricultural operation planned by the state to produce cheap and abundant food for urban areas and industrial workers.

My purpose here is clearly not the defense of peasant economies, which at best offer meager subsistence to people, but I would like to make two points on the basis of this short description. The first is that economies with different "logics" are quite possible, and the only choices open to humanity are not the capitalist and socialist modes of production, both of which are products of two or three hundred years in the history of the European people. There is no doubt that peasant economies are defective and that there is no use romanticizing present and past peasant societies. But why should a mature humanity not be able to develop an economy with a totally new logic that is not based on greed or false precepts of absolute equality, that allows reasonable freedom yet promotes and safeguards justice? Moreover, why should the village Bahá'ís, in their attempt to move forward, follow dreams of false modernization and become converted to the logic of one of the two dominant world ideologies?"