“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain asked God after slaying his brother Abel. That famous question from Genesis forms one of the primary moral lessons of Judaism and Christianity – and of all religion.
In the Torah, Abraham and Moses asked us to be our brother’s keeper. In the New Testament, Christ asked everyone to be their brother’s brother.
Can you imagine a world where most people follow that spiritual advice?
Along those lines, one of the solutions to contemporary issues explained in the Baha'i writings deals with solving our economic problems using spiritual solutions. We need that approach to inequality, because economic injustices have reached a critical level in today’s world. Millions of our brothers and sisters suffer, dragged into a life of poverty every day.
Since my field of interest is economics, I concentrate on the sufferings caused by the mismanagement of the world’s economic resources, which has left billions of people in misery, not having enough to eat – and others who have billions and find ridiculous ways of hoarding it or wasting it.
The rest of us, who are neither rich nor poor, can feel powerless about this unjust disparity. We may think we cannot do anything to bring about a change, and must wait for the arrival of a new system. I do not accept this excuse, and believe we can gradually change the economic system by injecting morality and humanity into it, all while participating in our own economic activities. The global, democratically-elected administrative body of the world’s Baha’is, recently wrote:
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
My book “Economics of the Future Begins Today” has a chapter called "Practical Economic Suggestions for Everyday Use." Here are 9 of them:
- Changing our mindset. The first action we call all take is internal – by changing our mindset and recognizing that the moral economics is fundamentally different and is based on spiritual and moral principles. “The secrets of the whole economic question are Divine in nature, and are concerned with the world of the heart and spirit.” - Abdu’l-Baha
- Pay a fair price. If you feel that the price of something is too low, pay more than the asking price. 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 just.
- Share profits with employees. The workers need 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 serve people. Looking for such opportunities is a beautiful act.
- Pay fair wages, not based on what society dictates. We do not need to follow the minimum wage guidelines. Society's wage guidelines should not prevent us from paying more if we think that is fair.
- Require reasonable interest rates. If you lend money, ask for a reasonable interest rate, not the maximum one. The interest rate has to be fair and reasonable. Banks should not be the only ones setting interest rates.
- Participate in social and economic projects. We can help change the world for the better by getting involved in these kinds of projects – they can represent a valuable way of learning and contributing.
- Create a consciousness of the human family. Your welfare, well-being and happiness ultimately depend on the welfare, prosperity and happiness of every poor, needy, and underprivileged person in the world. The real meaning of the oneness of humankind will come into being when we see others as members of our family.
- Give generously to those working for minimum wage or earning very little. We can find ways to pay more to all those working for a minimum wage, be it in the form of a generous tip or giving more than the asking price to street sellers who earn a pittance from their sales. How can we otherwise reduce the gap between the rich and the poor if we do not make selfless contributions?
- Be considerate to those who rent from you. Be sensitive to the situation of everyone. 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 you feel, you also gain a tenant who cares for you and your property and will use it as if it's theirs. It makes economic sense since you will probably lessen the cost of repairs.
Each of these tips can help us apply spiritual counsels to prefer his brother above himself. First, though, we all must evolve to the point where we see the oneness of the human family, and see all people as our brothers and sisters.
"Badi Shams is a Baha’i and a mystic at heart. His field of interest is economics; he has published "Economics of the Future" and "Economics of the Future Begins Today" and recently written the books "Random Thoughts of a Mystic Economist" and "Towards a New Spiritual Economic System." You can find Badi's website at called "Baha'i Inspired Economics" He is retired from the education system."
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking, at /blogs/spiritually-speaking
