Daily Frameworks for 26 May 2023

Istiqlál, 10 ‘Azamat (Grandeur), 180 B.E

Employment and Beyond: Drawing on the Capacities of All to Contribute to Society

1.2 The focus of this year’s Commission for Social Development, on creating full and productive employment and decent work for all as a way of overcoming inequalities, can be a powerful impetus toward this end. Lack of a sound economic base, capable of providing all with the necessities of life, is a grievous barrier to the advancement of any population. At the same time, history demonstrates that employment alone does not invariably foster equality. Many countries have, for example, experienced periods in which high rates of employment were accompanied by widening inequalities. The Commission’s consideration of employment and work, then, must be undertaken in light of the far deeper objective of fostering societies in which all are equally valued and all are afforded the opportunity to contribute their share to collective flourishing. The need, ultimately, is an economic system that refuses to exploit some for the benefit of others ¹ —a system in which the dignity of all is recognized and the needs of all are met. ²

The Promulgation of Universal Peace

The essence of the matter is that divine justice will become manifest in human conditions and affairs, and all mankind will find comfort and enjoyment in life. It is not meant that all will be equal, for inequality in degree and capacity is a property of nature. Necessarily there will be rich people and also those who will be in want of their livelihood, but in the aggregate community there will be equalization and readjustment of values and interests. In the future there will be no very rich nor extremely poor. There will be an equilibrium of interests, and a condition will be established which will make both rich and poor comfortable and content. This will be an eternal and blessed outcome of the glorious twentieth century which will be realized universally. The significance of it is that the glad tidings of great joy revealed in the promises of the Holy Books will be fulfilled. Await ye this consummation. ³

1. “The fourth principle or teaching of Bahá’u’lláh is the readjustment and equalization of the economic standards of mankind. This deals with the question of human livelihood. It is evident that under present systems and conditions of government the poor are subject to the greatest need and distress while others more fortunate live in luxury and plenty far beyond their actual necessities. This inequality of portion and privilege is one of the deep and vital problems of human society. That there is need of an equalization and apportionment by which all may possess the comforts and privileges of life is evident. The remedy must be legislative readjustment of conditions. The rich too must be merciful to the poor, contributing from willing hearts to their needs without being forced or compelled to do so. The composure of the world will be assured by the establishment of this principle in the religious life of mankind.”
   ’Abdu’l-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 107. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/7#904155405 ↩
2. Bahá’í International Community Staff. “Employment and Beyond: Drawing on the Capacities of All to Contribute to Society.” Bahá’í International Community, January 12, 2023. https://www.bic.org/statements/employment-and-beyond-drawing-capacities-all-contribute-society. ↩
3. ’Abdu’l-Bahá. The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912. Edited by Howard MacNutt. 2nd ed. Wilmette, Ill: Baháʼí Publishing Trust, 1982, 132. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/9#640654326 ↩