Daily Frameworks for 27 January 2026

Fidál, 10 Sulțán (Sovereignty), 182 B.E.

Quotes for Reflection

Ye who are the sincere well-wishers of the state, who are the dutiful and compliant subjects of the government, should occupy yourselves in constant service. Anyone who entereth the employ of the government should show forth in all his deeds and actions the highest degree of rectitude and honesty, of temperance and self-discipline, of purity and sanctity, of justice and equity. If, God forbid, he should be guilty of the least breach of trust, or approach his duties in a slack or desultory fashion, or extort so much as a farthing from the populace, or seek to further his own selfish interests and personal gain—then it is certain that he shall be deprived of the outpourings of God’s grace. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá ¹

Question for Consideration

What would be the impact on the operational cost and effectiveness of governments if those employed by them behaved in accordance with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s counsel: “Anyone who entereth the employ of the government should show forth in all his deeds and actions the highest degree of rectitude and honesty, of temperance and self-discipline, of purity and sanctity, of justice and equity”?

Perplexity Pro Response ²

If government employees consistently embodied rectitude, honesty, temperance, self‑discipline, purity, justice and equity, the long‑run effect would be markedly lower operational costs and substantially higher effectiveness of government. [1]

Effects on operational cost

• Dramatic reduction in fraud, waste and abuse: The U.S. Government Accountability Office has estimated federal fraud losses in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year, showing how lack of integrity directly inflates public spending. [2]​
• Lower monitoring and enforcement expenses: Where integrity is weak, governments must expand auditing, compliance and enforcement systems, raising overhead just to secure basic compliance. [3] [4]
• More efficient procurement: Corruption in public procurement leads to overpricing and inferior quality goods and services; reducing corruption cuts these markups and prevents repeated spending to fix substandard work. [3] [4]
• Better allocation of resources: When decisions are made on merit instead of patronage or bribe opportunities, funds flow to projects with real social value, avoiding costly white‑elephant projects chosen for kickback potential. [3] [4] [5]

An illustration: studies of public‑sector corruption show that corrupt governments pay more for infrastructure and often receive lower‑quality outputs, while clean systems obtain more road‑kilometres, classrooms or hospital beds per unit of currency. [3] [4] [5]

Effects on government effectiveness

• Higher service quality and reliability: Systemic corruption in the public sector is shown to erode policy integrity and distort outcomes, whereas integrity and accountability improve responsiveness and problem‑solving in service delivery. [4] [5] [6]
• Stronger implementation capacity: Where appointments and promotion are based on competence rather than favoritism, administrations become more professional, coherent and capable of executing policies. [2] [5] [7]
• Greater citizen compliance: When citizens regard public service delivery as fair, transparent and lawful, they are more likely to obey rules and pay taxes voluntarily, which in turn makes governance more efficient and less coercive. [3] [6]
• Enhanced policy legitimacy and stability: Corruption weakens trust and pushes governments toward force and coercion; integrity underpins legitimacy, making long‑term reforms easier to adopt and sustain. [3] [4]

From the perspective of the Bahá’í writings, such trustworthiness is described as a “supreme instrument for the prosperity of the world” and “the greatest portal leading unto the tranquillity and security of the people,” implying that moral qualities are themselves key levers of effective administration. [1]

Connecting the counsel to concrete outcomes

• If officials truly avoided even minor breaches of trust, bribe‑taking or self‑enrichment, the large steady leakage of funds to corruption and mismanagement would sharply contract, freeing resources for schools, health care and infrastructure. [1]​ [2] [3] [4]
• If they practiced self‑discipline and temperance, many costly institutional distortions—overstaffed bureaucracies, redundant agencies and politically motivated projects—would diminish. [1] [3] [4] [5]
• If justice and equity governed decisions, marginalized populations would receive more consistent access to services, improving social cohesion and reducing the need for expensive policing and crisis responses. [4] [5] [6]

In short, widespread adherence to ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá’s counsel would not only cleanse public life of many visible abuses, but would also transform underlying incentives and culture, leading to governments that do more, at higher quality, with fewer resources—and that enjoy the trust and voluntary cooperation of their people. [1] [4] [6]

​Citations

1. Trustworthiness: A Cardinal Bahá’í Virtue. Compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, Revised August 1990 – Bahá’í Reference Library
2. Reducing Waste and Fraud in SNAP | Mercatus Center, George Mason University
3. The Impact of Corruption on the Effectiveness of Public Administration | Lebanese Army
4. Manifestations and consequences of public sector corruption | United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
5. Public sector reforms and their impact on the level of corruption: A systematic review | National Library of Medicine
6. Module 13: Public Integrity and Ethics – Key Issues | United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
7. Cultivating a culture of integrity in the civil service in times of crisis (PDF) | Summit of the Americas
8. Government – Employees | Bahá’í Quotes
9. Lights of Guidance (second part): A Bahá’í Reference File – Chapter 4 | Bahá’í Library Online

Footnotes

1. Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. “Trustworthiness: A Cardinal Bahá’í Virtue.” Bahá’í Reference Library, Revised August 1990.  https://www.bahai.org/r/944498796. ↩︎
2. Perplexity Pro. “Dutiful and Compliant Subjects of the Government.” Edited by Steve Bosserman. January 26, 2025. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/ye-who-are-the-sincere-well-wi-U_wSQG9XSC.nlz60mXqlnQ#0 ↩︎