# Economics and Spirituality from a Baha'i Perspective

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Badi Shams, Economics and Spirituality from a Baha'i Perspective, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Economics and Spirituality from a
> Baha’i perspective
> 
> I welcome you to spend your time discussing a traditionally dull, scary, and intimidating topic to
> some. My joke about it is that if you want to spoil a party, just tell them that you’re interested in
> economics and watch people run away fast. So what we are going to do is trying to discuss the
> role of morality in economics. Traditional economics and its theories are all there in the books.
> There are very few references to the moral or spiritual side of economics, so I started my website
> and put all the related materials in one place.
> Economics is difficult to understand and very technical, so I will try to simplify it and not use
> economic terms. It will be an informal sharing of my heart and the ideas that I have learned from
> the Baha’i Writings. I will also try to make it a little bit lively by sharing pictures of the flowers
> from my garden along with the quotations. Hopefully, that makes it a little more interesting
> I am convinced that a better world cannot be built without a humane economy which is so
> important for the lives of people and the poor that we all need to be concerned. Economics is
> supposed to serve humanity, and unfortunately, I feel that humanity is serving economics and
> humanity is being sacrificed to make the economic system work, which is wrong.
> 
> Definition
> We are going on a journey about understanding economics. What it is. Where did it start, and
> where is it going? What are its problems and crises, and what could be its solutions? So, to begin
> with, I guess we have to find its definition. Some of the definitions are long and full of terms
> such as consumption, production, equilibrium, scarce resources. By the time you finish reading
> the definition, you’re more confused. Hence, I chose a very simple one, and it conveys a message
> to me:
> 
> I love the meaning and root of the word “economics” and its purpose because it says its origin
> and what it is supposed to be. It is supposed to help you manage your household; this household
> could be an individual, a family, a town, a country, or an international, so this definition clearly
> explains it.
> 
> Brief History
> When I wanted to find out the history of economics to see when it started, I went so far back that
> I ended up in heaven. You know this story of Adam and Eve and the serpent. There was no
> economic transaction in heaven because everything was provided and free, but certain rules must
> be followed. One of the rules was not to eat from the forbidden tree. But the serpent somehow
> managed to convince Eve to eat the apple. The serpent failed to mention its side effects.
> 
> I think that was the first false advertisement that happened even before the start of human
> history, and the consequences, of course, were grave, and Adam and Eve were kicked out of
> heaven, leading to where we are now.
> This story underlines the important point that one has to be very careful about advertisement
> because the way they present it is - your wants are your needs.
> The basic needs are shelter and food but the way they present it, yours wants to become your
> needs. Adam and Eve did not need the apple, but the way it was presented to them was that they
> really needed it, and it was essential for their survival.
> Not much has changed since then, because even today, you look at the advertisement, they
> present things in such a way that you feel like yes, I need them. You need to go from point A to
> B, you can do that by walking, or you can do it by bus or bicycle, but the commercial tells you
> that you need the latest model of car to do that and that is the only way to travel.
> That goes for almost everything. These kinds of advertising have grave consequences, as you
> may recall what happened with the tobacco industry. Not mentioning the side effects of
> cigarettes or roundup or other products led to massive harm to the millions of users and were the
> cause of great human tragedies in the society. They were the result of false advertisements. One
> has to be careful about them and read between the lines.
> Anyway, now that we’ve covered the part of haven we can come back to earth. The first
> transaction that happened that we can say was economic occurred in the Stone Age. As you
> know, we were hunters and gatherers in the Stone Age, we would go hunting for food, and
> sometimes we were the food for some other animals. When we succeeded in hunting a specific
> animal, we became good at it. The hunter probably got tired of eating the same kill every day,
> and when he saw the other hunter had a different kill, he somehow explained to the other hunter
> that I give you my kill, and you give me yours.
> That was the first transaction, and that was the start of the Barter Economy. Later on, many
> items were used as a means of exchange, such as bones, feathers and then came metal coins and
> currency.
> From that point, humanity learned agriculture and domestication of the animals and started
> settling down and making communities. Soon they realized that not everybody could make their
> own tools and things such as shoes, so the division of labour began.
> This process went on for a long time, and economic life consisted of a landlord who owned the
> land and the farmers who worked on the land for them. There was no industry only the war
> industry because in those days like now, countries had the habit of attacking each other, and they
> needed soldiers. The farmers were used as soldiers and also were taxed to finance the wars.
> Nothing much was changed with this agriculture economics. Life was hard but simple. This
> simple economic system continued until the Industrial Revolution.
> 
> Industrial Revolution
> When someone in England in the 18th century automated his factory, that was the start of the
> industrial revolution. Soon after, the steam engine was invented, and mass production was
> launched. Everything changed. Now they needed roads and railways to bring the raw materials
> for the factories and transport the final goods. With the increase in production and sales due to
> mass production, the banking system was expanded to facilitate the finances for all these
> economic activities. Even institutions had to be changed.
> People started thinking about how to manage all these economic activities and development. A
> need for an economic system was felt.
> Adam Smith was a gentleman from Scotland who observed the market and came up with
> economic theories. In those days science had made significant discoveries and inventions and
> was amazingly popular, so naturally, he formulated his system as a science.
> It is important to note that economists have had this envy of physics and wanted to follow
> physics and present economics as a science and as good as physics.
> Charles Darwin, later on, played his role by introducing the survival of the fittest, which found
> its way into economic activities and legitimized competition instead of cooperation.
> Adam Smith, who has been called the father of economics, observed the market activities and
> made some assumptions, and based on those assumptions, he created a system to make wealth.
> He introduced them in his book “The Wealth of the Nations.” His basic assumptions were that
> everybody wants to make money and maximize their profit, and self-interest is their motivator.
> That market can correct itself, and government should not interfere with economic activities.
> Adam Smith also made his system a science of creating wealth. To make it a science, he omitted
> human values such as honesty, generosity, love etc., since those values did not have a
> quantitative value. To him, economics was the science of making money. Sadly, Adam Smith
> was a very moral person. Many years before his book “The Wealth of the Nations,” he had
> written a book called “The Theory of Moral Sentiments,” He warned against acquiring wealth.
> 
> “This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and powerful, and to despise
> or, at least, neglect persons of poor and mean conditions, though necessary both to
> establish and to maintain the distinction of ranks and the order of society, is, at the same
> time, the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.”
> – Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
> 
> Nobody paid attention to that, and economists followed his other book, based their assumptions
> on Adam Smith’s theories, and refined them. He clearly mentioned there is an inherent danger in
> possession of wealth that can lead to moral decay.
> 
> The Industrial Revolution changed everything, the governments, institutions, transportation,
> banking and all aspects of the life of the society. Resources and raw materials for the industries
> became very important since mass production depended on these resources. Many of the
> colonization of different nations had economic reasons behind their political claims. In a
> nutshell, the whole world was totally changed.
> To create the big picture of the changes, I like to share how Alvin Toffler, a great mind of our
> time, explained it. In his book “The Third Wave,” he simplified for me what happened with
> economics and where it is going. He was another visionary who perceived the lack of humanity
> in our economic system. He looked at economics from a very different angle.
> Toffler explained that society needs people who care for the elderly and know how to be
> compassionate and honest. Society needs people who work in hospitals. Society needs all kinds
> of skills that are not just cognitive; they’re emotional and affectional. You can’t run society on
> data and computers alone.
> Toffler described human economic activities and the history of economics in three waves:
> a) The first wave or Agricultural wave
> b) The second wave or Industrial wave
> c) The third wave
> 
> •   First Wave refers to society after the agricultural revolution and after hunter-gatherers.
> “First Wave societies drew their energy from ‘living batteries’ – human and animal
> muscle-power – or from sun, wind, and water. Forests were cut for cooking and heating.
> Waterwheels, some of them using tidal power, turned millstones. Windmills creaked in
> the fields. Animals pulled the plow. As late as the French Revolution, it has been
> estimated, Europe drew energy from an estimated 14 million horses and 24 million oxen.
> All First Wave societies thus exploited renewable energy sources. Nature could eventually
> replenish the forests they cut, the wind that filled their sails, the rivers that turned their
> paddle wheels. Even animals and people were replaceable “energy slaves.”
> -The Third Wave
> •   The second wave refers to a society in the Industrial Revolution (the late 1600’s to the
> mid-1900s). The main features of the Second Wave are the factory-type of the education
> system, the corporation and the nuclear family. Toffler writes: “The Second Wave Society
> is industrial and based on mass production, mass distribution, mass consumption, mass
> education, mass media, mass recreation, mass entertainment, and weapons of mass
> destruction. You combine those things with standardization, centralization, concentration,
> and synchronization, and you wind up with a style of organization we call bureaucracy.”
> -Wikipedia article on Alvin Toffler
> 
> “All Second Wave societies . . . began to draw their energy from coal, gas, and oil – from
> irreplaceable fossil fuels. This revolutionary shift, coming after Newcomen invented a
> workable steam engine in 1712, meant that for the first time civilization was eating into
> nature’s capital rather than merely living off the interest it provided.” -The Third Wave
> •   Third-wave refers to post-industrial society. Toffler explained that since the 1950s,
> nations have been shifting from a Second Wave Society to a Third Wave Society, based
> on knowledge-based action as the primary resource. His description of a super-industrial
> society is similar to concepts from other theorists (e.g. Information Age, Global Village,
> Space Age, Technetronic Age, Electronic Age, or Scientific-Technological Revolution),
> which to some degree forecasted knowledge-based production, demassification, diversity,
> and accelerated change. “The Third Wave shows us . . . new potentials. It argues that, in
> the very midst of destruction and decay, we can now find striking pieces of evidence of
> birth and life. It shows clearly and . . . indisputably, that - with intelligence and a
> modicum of luck – the emergent civilization can be made more sane, sensible, and
> sustainable, more decent and more democratic than any we have ever known.”
> - The Third Wave
> 
> His idea of the third wave, in my opinion, is close to the vision of Baha’u’llah’s World
> Commonwealth. He believed in a very different but yet better future for mankind. In essence, he
> was talking about and preparing us for the coming of a New World Order. He explained the
> characteristics of the third wave. He told us how and why the old industrial principles and
> theories would not work at this time; the same way agricultural principles did not work during
> the industrial time. He believed that humanity had entered an era in which we needed a brand
> new system to fit man’s needs. So maintaining the old economic system will not solve our ever-
> increasing problems.
> I like the metaphor of the waves. Like the waves of the ocean that change everything, these
> waves changed the life on earth and its people.
> That is what is happening now.
> The Industrial wave with its institutions is crumbling down one by one, yet the new system has
> not arrived, which has led to confusion for experts and ordinary people. We are in a transition
> time where one system dies, and the new system takes its place.
> 
> Problems
> The economic system continued its journey, and as it moved forward, the gap between the rich
> and the poor became wider and wider. The system survived the great depression of the 1930s and
> the first and second world Wars untill 2008, when it almost collapsed.
> 
> Imagine that the economic system as a human body. It had a heart attack in 2008, and for a
> while, there was no heartbeat untill governments pumped money into the system and revived it.
> Now you think a person who had a heart attack would come from the hospital and say, that was a
> close call; I should find out what caused it and avoid some things and be cautious. But alas,
> nothing changed, and everything went back to business as usual, and there was no lesson learned
> from it and we continue doing the same thing we were doing. I think it is heading for a disaster
> which will cause more miseries.
> There are some serious problems with the economic system. I can give you examples of why the
> system is not working. One of them is that everybody has heard that one percent of the
> population has almost 95% of the world’s resources. What kind of a system is this that can create
> such an amazing gap between people.
> About 4 million people live below the poverty line. Although I’m not discarding this system and
> I am not saying it is evil. I am saying that despite its benefits, it has created so many crises, and
> we are now facing these crises. The other example I can give you to drive this matter home is:
> 
> I guess I don’t have to say much. Can you believe it? I’ve lived in many places China, India,
> Iran, Canada and Latin America and I have seen and experienced poverty first hand. I was a
> refugee for years, so believe me, I know a little about poverty. It is so unfair to me knowing that
> people in some places are working all their lives for basically nothing.
> I do not care as much about money, but I see it from a spiritual point of view. If one’s life from
> beginning to end has a purpose, one of them is to become a better human being or to meditate or
> pray or do something positive.
> 
> The tragedy is that millions of people struggle to go to church to say a prayer; because they have
> to find the next meal. If we say that humanity has been created in the image of God, this image
> doesn’t sit well with me. People are struggling to find food, and how many thousands of them
> die of starvation every day. I remember years ago, when I was in Calcutta, I would see the
> garbage truck come early in the morning, and I thought that was so good that they started
> cleaning the garbage early. I later realized that they were picking up the bodies of those who had
> died of starvation in the street.
> I feel that we are responsible for what is happening with the poor. Our silence or lack of action
> means somebody will be suffering somewhere. We need to change the system so that hopefully,
> it will change the life of the poor.
> The way I see it, the tragedy is that human life that has so much potential to achieve is wasted on
> scrambling for a piece of bread. Spiritual goals and spiritual aspirations have been sacrificed for
> the sake of finding the financial resources to survive.
> You may ask, why is it? Hopefully, the below quotation can throw some light on it:
> 
> As you can see, I chose the definition of economics in the beginning because it was simple. It
> would also help me explain that the economic system is to help us manage our household, and
> this household is not well arranged.
> 
> Causes of Problems
> There are so many problems with the economic system, and we can see it easily. I believe that
> these problems in the system can be resolved and solved if there is a will. Now you may say-
> why do these problems keep happening? In my view, we got it wrong from the beginning. In my
> opinion, when Adam Smith made his assumption, he made a fundamental error,
> To say that self-interest is the driving force or the system’s engine, he let greed grow free in the
> system to grow as much as possible, so the economic system became a breeding ground for
> greed.
> In reality, we know from the spiritual point of view a system without values such as honesty,
> kindness and generosity cannot stop the greed for money. Profit at any cost becomes the norm,
> even if it means letting millions of people live below the poverty line.
> Money became the yardstick to measure our life’s achievement. If you have made 2 million, you
> are successful. If I had only $100 in my bank account when I died, I had failed to achieve
> because, according to the yardstick of money, I failed, but this is where the changes have to
> come fundamentally. Hopefully, the following quotation may help us to get some idea of how
> fundamental this change has to be:
> 
> Adam Smith had good intentions because he wanted to help people manage the economic side of
> their lives. But sentiments such as morality, kindness, and generosity were not included in his
> system. Those values that made us human were sacrificed to make the economic system a
> science to work efficiently. By keeping those values out, the system was based on the shaky
> ground of selfishness and greed. The foundation for a system that I advocate would have both
> material and spiritual elements.
> 
> Gross National Product (GNP) has been used to measure progress and development. In recent
> years this has been challenged, and it has been suggested to replace it with Gross National
> Happiness (GNH).The king of Bhutan was the first person to introduce this concept. He said,
> Why do we measure our achievement with some materialistic yardstick of (GNP), and why don’t
> we start measuring it with Gross National Happiness (GNH) and see if people are happy and
> measure the progress that way. Certain elements were introduced for measuring the progress,
> factors such as faith, religion and meditation. According to this system, people’s happiness was a
> better criterion for measurement than money or Gross National Product to see if that country,
> society, or economy is progressing.
> I think this is the trend that eventually and hopefully will continue to gain prominence. The need
> for consideration of material and spiritual progress is highlighted in the following quotation, and
> we must have that in mind:
> 
> This is another critical departure from economic thinking. The realization that civilizations are of
> two kinds. It has been explained that these two are like two wings of a bird. I believe our
> civilization can progress when we manage to balance these two together. Without respecting
> both, we can not progress with one wing, whether it is too much of the material or too much of
> religion, because if religion doesn’t support science, it becomes superstition. We need both of
> them. We need science; we need the material civilization to make all these inventions. We also
> need the spiritual civilization to guide us to make the right decision, take care of the poor, and
> think about all those things that make us human and progress materially and spiritually.
> 
> Solutions
> What we need is Humanomics. We need a system with humanity and virtues that are respected
> by all religions. They are universal and apply to everyone. Virtues such as:
> 
> Some people may feel that they are powerless to make any change in the system. They express
> the feeling of hopelessness and say, “We do not have the power to make any change.” I am
> afraid I have to disagree with that sentiment. I really am so hopeful about the future. I think we
> have a big role to play, especially those who believe in those virtues mentioned above.
> Whether you are part of organized religion or believe in humanity or morality, these values are
> familiar to anyone.
> For us as Baha’is, our duty and course of action have been pointed out:
> “Every choice a Baha’i makes—as employee or employer, producer or consumer, borrower
> or lender, benefactor or beneficiary—leaves a trace, and the moral duty to lead a coherent
> life demands that one’s economic decisions be in accordance with lofty ideals, that the
> purity of one’s aims be matched by the purity of one’s actions to fulfil those aims.” - The
> Universal House of Justice, 1 March 2017
> My suggestion is to find a way to introduce these values to our economic activities. We have to
> inject these virtues into our economic system to reawaken its humanity and revive it from its
> 
> deathbed. I am not saying that this applies only to economics; I am also saying to do the same for
> educational and political systems.
> Kindness, compassion, peace, all those values, once introduced individually and slowly through
> our actions injected into the system, will start a revolution and change the system entirely. I
> chose truthfulness as the foundation for the new system. If everybody tried to be truthful and tell
> the truth, we could overnight change everything overnight.
> If everyone told the truth, the systems would change, and life would be easier to live.
> To start this process, some may need a few practical suggestions to get them started. In my last
> book, “Economics of the Future Begins Today,” I devoted one chapter to this purpose and called
> it “Practical Economic Suggestion for Everyday Use.”
> We don’t need to start a revolution. We don’t want to make big claims; we can just try
> practically every day when we go into society to make certain decisions based on morality, and
> those actions hopefully will change the system. We may fail in achieving anything, but we have
> the satisfaction that we at least tried, which is very important.
> 
> Practical Economic Suggestions for Everyday Use
> This list of suggestions may seem overwhelming, and you may not be able to practice all those
> that apply to your situation. But you have to remember that it is not about the results; it is about
> sincere and wholehearted efforts. It is a pure intention that counts.
> 
> ➢ Focus on the essential questions of life. After answering the questions “Who am, I?” and “What
> is the purpose of my life?” the equally important question of “How much is enough?” should
> be answered. One of the biggest problems everyone faces is that we do not get a chance to
> understand who we are and what constitutes the purpose of our lives. Also, we are so busy that we
> do not ask how much money is enough. How much do we need to live a fruitful life? Practice
> contentment. Life distracts us from asking ourselves some fundamental questions. Answering
> these questions can guide us to go through tests and difficulties in life.
> 
> ➢ Live a simple life, a life like Abdu’l-Bahá. Living a simple life brings peace of mind and removes
> some of the distractions of our life journey. Many studies indicate that simplicity reduces stress in
> life and creates a sense of freedom from the burden of material possessions. A movement already
> in place called “voluntary simplicity” encourages people to live a simple life. There are some
> benefits to living a simple life. It is a decision made by many who had too much to handle.
> 
> ➢ Change your mindset. You need to believe that you are essentially a spiritual being and have a
> spiritual purpose in your life. You need to realize your spiritual destiny. Once this is realized, then
> acting accordingly is much more effective and easy. This mindset will help you to have a healthy
> approach to your material life. Every change begins first in your mind.
> 
> •   Pay a fair price. If you feel that the price is too low, pay more than the asking price. The Báb
> practiced this when He worked as a merchant. One of the most beautiful things related to economic
> activities is the commitment of fair-minded people to disregard existing prices and pay more
> because they believe their estimate of the price to be fair.
> 
> •   Share the profits with employees. Abdu’l-Bahá taught us how important it is for the workers to
> have a share of the profits. Besides profit-sharing, there are many ways to help. Get medical
> coverage for employees. Support the emotional and physical well-being of employees. Taking care
> of workers is a privilege and an opportunity to be of service to people. Looking for such
> opportunities is a wonderful act.
> 
> •   Pay fair wages, not based on what society dictates. We do not need to follow the minimum wage
> guidelines. The Baha’i Writings provide the guidelines to ensure that we pay what is fair. Society’s
> wage guidelines should not prevent us from paying more if we think that is fair.
> 
> ➢ Be honest in your dealings. Present it with all the facts explained. In our society, we tend to
> misrepresent a product or share only enough information to present it in the best possible light.
> Truthfulness is the foundation of all virtues. When selling your car, house or other possessions,
> clearly describe the real condition. Mentioning the negative points about a car or a house is not
> wrong. I have done it, and it did help me to get a reasonable price.
> 
> •   Provide the best quality of service or the best product possible and do so in a spirit of service.
> We are privileged to have the assurance that we have demonstrated an act of worship by doing our
> job well. Make customer satisfaction a goal. There is more to our jobs than just earning money.
> How satisfying it is to know that the customer is happy and we have played a part in it. Being
> proud of our work is a blessing millions do not have. They make money but are not happy and
> satisfied inside.
> 
> •   Look for opportunities to extend to co-workers and co-operate in the workplace. Most
> workplaces are very isolating, and individuals work by themselves. Reaching out and extending
> help and treating each other fairly creates a better spirit and working environment. Extend support
> to others, even your competitors. Be a cause of unity by seeing them as you would see your
> employees or colleagues and doing as much as you can to help them.
> 
> •   Be content with a reasonable margin of profit. There is no end to greed in our society, so being
> satisfied with earning a certain profit will create a sense of contentment and provide an example
> to others. This is an extension of how much is enough question. There is nothing wrong with being
> satisfied and content with a set amount of profit.
> 
> ➢ Update yourself with the latest information and study in your field to provide a better service,
> be the leader in your profession, and be punctual in business and other meetings. Being on time at
> work increases the efficiency of the system and demonstrates respect for others. If time is money,
> then one should not waste it.
> 
> ➢ Remember that your actions are the best manifestation of your beliefs, and be conscious of
> them. The cliché is true that actions speak louder than words. We should be an example for others
> since we are the ones to lead society towards an ever-advancing civilization.
> 
> ➢ If you are lending money, ask for a reasonable interest rate and not the maximum rate. We are
> told that the rate of interest has to be fair and reasonable. Baha’u’llah has advised us to do so.
> Banks should not be the only ones setting interest rates.
> 
> ➢ Resist the consumer mentality which exists in our society. As the standard of living rises,
> consumerism increases and consuming becomes a bad habit with severe consequences. Fighting
> this tendency is very important for our economic life and our spiritual development. Consumerism
> has become a disease that is spreading fast, and its forces are paralyzing the progress of our souls.
> 
> ➢ Be knowledgeable about advertising. Advertisements conceal the information we need to buy a
> product, and they make false claims, using psychological methods to make a sale. Advertising
> covers all areas of our economic life. One has to be very savvy to navigate through all the false
> claims of advertising. Selling has become very sophisticated, and one has to be very smart about
> it and read between the lines.
> 
> ➢ Spiritually justify your expenditure. With so much poverty in the world today, we have to
> answer to our conscience for any unnecessary spending. We have been advised to be frugal in our
> spending. It would be beneficial if we could create in us this “policeman” to check our spending.
> 
> ➢ Avoid wastage in the workplace and suggest ways to cut down on waste. We can all help in some
> way to avoid the loss of resources.
> 
> ➢ Protect the environment in your business and personal life. We owe it to future generations to
> protect the environment. It would be sad if humanity grows spiritually in the future, but the damage
> is done, and our environment is destroyed.
> 
> ➢ Increase your economic and business knowledge. The more we know about how economics
> works, the better we will be able to forecast the future.
> 
> ➢ Volunteer for service whenever possible with the spirit of service, following Abdu’l-Bahá’s
> example, Who served mankind all of His life.
> 
> ➢ Give to the Bahá’i Fund and also support worthy charitable organizations. Every act of giving
> is a small step towards reducing the gap between rich and poor.
> 
> ➢ Have or adopt a financial goal in life. As we have teaching plans in the faith and other goals and
> plans in our life, it is vital to have an individual financial plan. Goals encourage discipline. This is
> very important. It is almost impossible to have a comfortable financial life without planning.
> 
> ➢ Avoid debt as much as possible since too many financial burdens damage spiritual and human life
> quality. Investigate the rate of interest on mortgages, loans and credit to reduce cost. Volumes
> 
> can be written about this subject. Debts are one of the most destructive factors that should be
> avoided.
> 
> ➢ Create a habit of saving. Life is full of uncertainty and change, and having some money for a
> rainy day creates peace of mind. Saving should be part of our financial goals. It is a beautiful habit
> to have. It is not easy to save with the pressure of our consumer mentality today, but it is crucial.
> 
> ➢ Spread the word about honest and fair businesses and professionals. It is like giving them free
> advertising. They need all the help they can get. It has a very enabling power helping honest people
> and businesses.
> 
> ➢ Don’t buy the latest models if the old ones are in working order and provide the same service.
> Having the most recent of everything creates an unnecessary economic burden for an individual,
> decreasing the quality of life. Be practical about material possessions. But it is hard not to want to
> purchase the latest model of car when everyone is doing the same.
> 
> ➢ Avoid keeping up with the Joneses. That is the worst kind of spending. It is also a sign of spiritual
> and emotional immaturity. And we see it happen every day. It is regrettable that people want the
> approval of others while their spiritual destiny is in jeopardy.
> 
> ➢ Support the concept of one world currency. If we have fewer currencies to exchange, life
> becomes much more comfortable, and this is a good step in the right direction towards world unity.
> And anything that can promote world unity is extremely important.
> 
> ➢ Don’t follow society’s shortcuts concerning taxation. There are claims made which can perhaps
> be legally justified but are morally wrong.
> 
> ➢ Make honest insurance claims. False insurance claims have become a source of income for some
> who claim damages to their bodies or properties. This misuse hurts every honest person because
> the cost of insurance will increase due to the increase in dishonest claims. There are some
> incidences that though legally, one can make a claim, but morally it does not go with the spirit of
> honesty
> 
> ➢ Make fair expense claims at work. It has become common to claim the maximum amount even
> if it is not used, but we have the duty, to be honest about them.
> 
> Do not abuse sick leave. Some people use their sick leave even though they are not ill. They
> think that if they do not use it, they will lose it. But in reality, though sick leave is a right but has
> to be used in the right spirit, which when one is sick and should not be considered as a paid day
> off, even one is not sick.
> 
> ➢ Return to the store when you realize you have been undercharged or received too much change
> for your purchase. This is practicing the virtue of honesty. Watch the face of the cashier when you
> do this. They are probably wondering, “Who are these people?” The answer is that we are the
> people from the future, where honesty is the norm.
> 
> ➢ Resist society’s corrupt practices of bribery and cheating. In some places in the world, giving
> bribes is a way of life, and that is a test and an opportunity to fight this harmful practice. It is very
> hard in places like India and China, where I have lived. Refusing to participate in these practices
> is very difficult.
> 
> ➢ Regard service first and profit second. This seems idealistic in society, but for Bahá'is, it is
> considered a way of life. And in the long run, it is the best advertisement one can buy for free.
> 
> ➢ Participate in social and economic projects. We can help to change the world for the better by
> getting involved in these projects. And they are a valuable way of learning and contributing. We
> need to gain experience in social activities so that we can contribute more in the future.
> 
> ➢ Do not support the idea of the end justifying the means when it comes to promotion at work or
> getting a contract, or applying for a job. Our goal is to grow spiritually, and these practices do not
> help us to improve. That is the worst kind of numbing our conscience.
> 
> ➢ Be honest in a job interview. Society has adopted the practice of magnifying positive and
> minimizing or omitting negative, but it is a form of lying in reality. It will feel strange to the
> interviewer and us, but we have to start being honest.
> 
> ➢ Be truthful in filling out forms or tenders. Exaggerating has become a way of life, but it is not
> a Bahá’i way of life. It is tough to do when competing, but we can have the satisfaction that
> Baha’u’llah is happy with us.
> 
> ➢ Do not sacrifice your values to get a promotion or contract even though there is nothing wrong
> with being ambitious and wanting to progress through the ranks. Some would do anything to get
> a promotion, but we cannot follow that practice.
> 
> ➢ Use good quality material in production. Do not use harmful ingredients in production. Be
> educated about the ingredients, so no harm comes as a result.
> 
> ➢ Protect the poor and underprivileged section of our society in any way you can. It is our spiritual
> duty and privilege.
> 
> ➢ Give your Huqúqu’lláh (the Right of God), knowing that this giving is a privilege and not a tax.
> Give with a sense of sharing rather than a sense of loss. This is your opportunity to practice
> generosity. Giving is the best practical step for bridging the gap between the rich and poor.
> 
> ➢ Create a consciousness that your welfare, well-being and happiness depend on the welfare,
> prosperity and happiness of every poor, needy and underprivileged person in the world; that the
> real meaning of the oneness of humankind will come into being when we see others as members
> of our family. This should be easy for us since we have heard and said it many times that:
> 
> “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with
> the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship.”
> - Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> ➢ Money is a tool and not the goal of your life. The biggest mistake that most people make is that
> they forget that we have not been created to make money. That should not be our life’s goal. Money
> should be seen as an effective tool to serve humanity and to improve the spiritual and economic
> life of ourselves and others. This is the key that can make a person happy or sad at the end of our
> physical life. Since we cannot take it with us, then why not spend it for the good of humankind.
> 
> ➢ Spend an equal amount of energy in becoming detached from material possessions as you
> spend getting them, recognizing that they are a test and remembering what Baha’u’llah said:
> 
> “Thou dost wish for gold, and I desire thy freedom from it. Thou thinkest thyself rich in its
> possession, and I recognize thy wealth in thy sanctity therefrom. By My life! This is My
> Knowledge, and that is thy fancy; how can My way accord with thine?”
> -The Hidden Words, Arabic no.56
> 
> It is like spiritual detoxification. There is nothing inherently wrong with being rich as long as we
> are fully aware of its benefits and dangers. Baha’u’llah has allowed us to have all the luxuries we
> desire, as long as we are detached from them.
> 
> ➢ Remind yourself of your spiritual destination while pursuing financial goals since materialism
> can slowly take over your spiritual life. Without constant reminders of our spiritual destiny,
> materialism can destroy our spiritual well-being. We have to have the “big picture” in our view all
> the time so that we are not lost.
> 
> ➢ Live the Bahá’i Life. In a sense, it is a simple statement to live the Bahá’i life, but it requires an
> understanding of ourselves and our purpose in life. It is easier said than done.
> 
> ➢ Be considerate to those who rent from you. Be sensitive to their situation. If they are in trouble,
> be flexible with their rent payments. Let them miss a payment or part of a payment. Besides the
> spiritual satisfaction that you feel, you also gain a tenant who cares for you and your property and
> will use it as if it’s theirs. It even makes economic sense since you will probably lessen the cost of
> repairs.
> 
> ➢ Develop virtues that are common to all religions and are the foundation for any system’s success.
> At present, acquiring the virtues seems idealistic, but we have to remember that as we move closer
> to an ever-advancing civilization, acquiring these virtues will be commonplace. They may not look
> as if they have anything to do with economics, but they help us gain spiritual and human qualities,
> which help us create a better society. Here is the list of virtues identified by The Virtues Project:
> 
> Assertiveness, Caring, Cleanliness, Compassion, Confidence, Consideration, Courage,
> Courtesy Creativity, Detachment, Determination, Enthusiasm, Excellence, Faithfulness,
> Flexibility, Forgiveness, Friendliness, Generosity, gentleness, Helpfulness, Honesty, Honor,
> 
> Humility, Idealism, Joyfulness, Justice, Kindness, Love, Loyalty, Mercy, Moderation,
> Modesty, Obedience, Orderliness, Patience, Peacefulness, Prayerfulness, Purposefulness,
> Reliability, Respect, Responsibility, Reverence, Self-discipline, Service, Steadfastness, Tact,
> Thankfulness, Tolerance, Trust, Trustworthiness, Truthfulness, Unity
> 
> ➢ Deal with your insistent self or ego; otherwise, it can undo any success or progress if it is not
> recognized as a serious threat to our good efforts. History is full of examples of how egos created
> destruction throughout the ages. As human beings, our life in this world and our progress in the
> next world depend on our decisions. Some say we make our heaven and hell here on earth as a
> result of the choices we make. It is sad if we do not make the right decision and give our higher
> nature the upper hand. Because we are bombarded by advertisements and consumerism, nurturing
> our higher nature is very difficult, and that is why we need to tune ourselves spiritually to make
> the right choice so that we get the rewards and benefits of that choice. We know that reading the
> Writings has been encouraged in our faith, and when we read the Holy Writings and meditate on
> them, our souls are uplifted, and that affects our decision-making. Our souls are tuned by reading
> the Writings and bringing ourselves to account each day. It is like a spiritual balance sheet to
> perceive the good and the bad in our ways. This is such an important factor in our lives, and
> we need to take the opportunity to deal with it adequately.
> 
> ➢ Recognize and nurture the four aspects of your being:
> 
> a) Spiritual
> b) Physical
> c) Emotional
> d) Intellectual
> 
> Most people ignore one aspect for the sake of others, but we need all aspects to have balance in
> our lives. This sounds like one of those self-help mantras, but awareness of all aspects of our being
> is essential to realistic self-knowledge, which is the first step towards knowing God.
> 
> ➢ Be more vocal in a loving way about what we think about the changes needed to improve the
> economic life of individuals and the society in which we live; in short, without being militant or
> aggressive, express our ideas and vision. We all have a say in all matters, and we can be the
> catalysts of positive change. We do not want to be political or militant, but we cannot forget that
> our job is providing vision and direction to wayward humanity. It is like having the healing
> medicine and not giving it to the sick.
>
> — *Economics and Spirituality from a Baha'i Perspective (Used by permission of the curator)*