Two weeks ago, the United States once again had a presidential election, its 58th in an uninterrupted series held every four years since George Washington, predictably to occur in yet another four years. During the 1912 presidential election, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá … Continue reading ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Post-Election Talk
Friends, listen up. The end of the 20th century discloses to the eyes of humanity a vista of stupendous opportunities and grave perils. Allow me to explain. Some of the more striking phenomena are those associated with globalization, a designation … Continue reading Globalization: Good or Bad?
Paragraph#: To the Baha’is of the World 1 – 3 years down. 2 to go. 2 Movements reinforced by youth conferences. 2000 Programs of growth (PG) remain of the goal.2 – 3000 PG’s. Many simple lines of action; some intensified … Continue reading Ridvan 2014 Message Summary
The Problem . ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY is a term used to describe the condition in which masses of people are deprived of their bare necessities, while wealth, resources, and infrastructure exist in sufficient proportion to provide for all. The amount of … Continue reading Artificial Scarcity & The Baha’i Faith
from a guest author: A friend and I recently had a fairly common exchange about which show was better – Community or The Office. I argued for The Office, because in my opinion, it’s more accessible by a larger … Continue reading The Price of Exclusivity
A continuation of a conversation on Facebook, prompted by the quotation below, in which thoughts about these two links were asked… http://www.usdebtclock.org – US National Debt Clock xkcd.com/980/huge/ – xkcd: Money Chart “Tell the rich of the midnight sighing … Continue reading The Midnight Sighing…
A recent study by Oxfam provided some striking data regarding growing disparities of wealth and poverty within and between countries around the globe: 50% of the world’s wealth is now owned by 1% of the population. This richest 1% has 65 times … Continue reading “Concentrations of Wealth” by Michael Karlberg
A few days ago passed the 120th anniversary of the first mention of the Baha’i Faith in the Western hemisphere. At last, the spiritual forces released by Baha’u’llah’s Revelation had an “initial conversation” through which they could be channeled. Many … Continue reading 120 years of discourse
Putting aside, for a moment, the truth that young people are characterized by having a “desire to bring about constructive change”, by having “a capacity for meaningful service”, by having “all the hope in their hearts that, through strenuous concerted … Continue reading 10% of Humanity’s Population is Young People in India
The worldwide Baha’i community is dedicated to a systematic long-term process of learning how to translate the principles of the Revelation of Baha’u’llah into reality and engaging more and more people in an “exploration of reality that gives rise to … Continue reading From the Animator to a World Civilization
Recently, a gathering took place in which friends from diverse backgrounds, ages, geographies, and experiences came together to explore participation in discourse. Coherence, it seemed, was the key. The weekend began with a study of a message of the … Continue reading Coherence in Conversations
This past weekend, nearly forty individuals gathered together for an exploration of participation in discourse. (See post, Discourse: Session at Bosch) The aim was to connect everyday conversations – those with neighbors, with friends, with co-workers, with family, with parents … Continue reading Collective Reflections
The top 10 US tax deductions, credits and exclusions ensure that over $12 trillion in tax revenues will be granted to multinational corporations over the next decade. The tax loopholes have been written into the tax code by a bought-and-paid-for Congress … Continue reading Tax Code 101
According to Abdu’l-Baha, wealth inequality, can be attributed to the “extreme greed and rapacity of the manufacturers and industrialists.” He furthermore identifies the root cause of income disparity as the defunct operations of the legislative branch of government: “The principal … Continue reading Abdu’l-Baha on Economic Policy
About a century ago, in the free world, the ruling classes became aware they couldn’t control the population by force any longer, the spirit of the age was shifting and violence only bred further civil disobedience. Too much freedom had been won … Continue reading Colonial Coercion vs. Corporate Consumerism: Replacing the Stick with the Carrot
The economic recession is linked to a recession in democracy. If we continue this way, we will be ruined by class warfare and the wrath of global warming. We must seek a different way of living that is based not on maximizing how much we can buy but on maximizing values important to life. True happiness is a transcendent experience, not inherent in material things. Groundswell in grassroots spirituality holds the solution. Countless small actions of unknown people are the foundation for those great moments that ultimately enter the historical record without mention of the people that created them. Change is made in such ways. … Continue reading Prophecy And Policy
The spiritual planetary civilization that is destined to be born out of the current international, humanitarian, and moral chaos will carry with it a shining jewel of accomplishment – the establishment of absolute equality between female and male sexes. Within … Continue reading Prioritizing Women: Exigencies of Equality in an Age Transcending Patriarchy
Since the housing market crash of 2008 we have heard it said that the economy is recovering. Who, I wonder are the people who are actually recovering? Let us look into what the facts say. The top 7% of wealthy … Continue reading Money, Lies, and Spiritual Solutions
Science is in its infancy. It will evolve, change, and grow until it achieves a more mature form. To date, the human experience suffers from an underdeveloped understanding of the nature and scope of the scientific enterprise. Those who suffer … Continue reading The Structure of Future Scientific Revolutions
1. I feel like science is that family that screams at each other all saturday night long waking up the whole neighborhood and then shows up to socialize at a local potluck pretending like nothings wrong and acting like no … Continue reading 5 Aphorisms on Science, Religion, and Development
People have been inquiring as to the connection between the concepts of the circulatory system and the beauty of language. The human cardiovascular system is the symbol for justice in the world of nature. The means of distribution and circulation … Continue reading The Circulatory System and the Beauty of Language
Global prosperity will result from the establishment of universal justice. The establishment of justice in turn depends upon the progressive unification of the peoples of the world into a single community, one family, functioning like the fingers of one hand. … Continue reading Planetary Unity, Universal Justice, Global Prosperity
The sequester decreased federal investments in national infrastructure resulting in lay-offs and more unemployment. Only 88k jobs were created in march — the least jobs created per month in the past 9 months. The Labor Dept report showed that the U.S. Postal Service, for example, lost 12k positions. The pace of job growth this year is slower than its pace last year. Effects of the sequester are expected to continue mounting well into spring. The economic recovery was gaining momentum before the arbitrary and unnecessary cuts to government services took place. Congress legislated the sequester as a means of motivating … Continue reading Trickle Down Fail
Corrupt incentives drive people’s contribution to the public discourse. Politicians, businessmen, financiers, are all guilty. The discourse no longer represents an honest viewpoint of reality, the dominant slogans on TV and radio are a designed smoke-screen to hide the real structure, decision-making, and motives at play in the world of economic policy, legislation, and campaigning. The derangement in economics, political deceit, and social manipulation is reaching unrecognizable proportions. Popular culture is responsible for making itself gullible to such influence. Our society nurtures a desire to be entertained from childhood, cultivating generations eager to be led by priests, politicians, advertising, pop idols, and whoever proves … Continue reading New World Order
The global economy is now in a downward spiral, unemployment is at record highs in country after country, national debt is paralyzing governments, incomes have stagnated for a majority of workers — suddenly the question emerges from Marx’s grave: has … Continue reading Marx: From Beyond the Grave
GDP has doubled in the past 30 years, yet workers wages haven’t even kept up with inflation, let alone increased. The 1.9% increase in wages was surpassed by inflation in 2012 marking the 40th consecutive year that wages have declined below their … Continue reading Are You Working for Someone Else’s Money?
Dow Jones is at record high; corporate profits are too. The real estate crisis is over, but most people in the united states still seem to be in financial difficulties. Household incomes in absolute dollar amounts are at a decade-low … Continue reading Capitalism vs Corporatism
Topic Outline: (by paragraph) Summary Youth Saviors 95 Conferences will be Convened Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) ¶1 Summary Civilization as we know it is characterized by a culture of rational self-interest and a value system that encourages individual benefit. Decisions regarding … Continue reading Ninety-Five Conferences will be Convened
Some facts are based on principle, others follow from empirical evidence. The economic and social order of the industrial world no longer considers universal welfare the object of its deliberations and actions. This has been, in part, the result of … Continue reading In the Masses Lies the Key
As beings of praxis, human beings differ from animals, which are beings of pure activity. Animals do not consider the world; they are immersed in it. In contrast, human beings emerge from the world, objectify it, and in so doing can … Continue reading Scholars and Servants
Achievement, we know from experience, requires the expenditure of material means. Social and economic development, albeit with a spiritual and transcendent intention, is no exception. Antithetically, there are many societies, some of whom may consider themselves servants of the best interests … Continue reading Utilizing Material Means
The development of a just society requires universal participation. Why? Why is this the case? If you’d like, respond with your thoughts below. Surely, there are many of reasons. Three come to my mind at the moment. They are related … Continue reading Justice and Universal Participation
So long as woman is maintained in the prison of objectification and her worth set by superficial conceptions of beauty–international unity and peace, and economic prosperity, will remain beyond the grasp of human achievement. The uniting power of a more compassionate … Continue reading Gender Equality and the Economy
“…Should anyone deliberately take another’s life, him also shall ye put to death…” The world of man is a terrifying place. A world constructed on violent notions of masculinity. A world where power is the only rule, and law is … Continue reading The World of Man: The Rape of Women
Some people think education is an act of depositing facts, in which the students are the receptacle and the teacher is the banker. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues lectures and makes deposits which the students receive and memorize. This … Continue reading Education and Liberation
Fire arms enable tragedy in a way that no other technology does. Where guns are absent, tragedies and destruction are less. Where people possess fire arms, homicide, suicide, and mass shootings are more prevalent. Why do we need guns? We don’t. We enjoy guns … Continue reading Don’t Regulate Guns: Arm the Children!
Disproportionate access to education and employment opportunities for a privileged minority deprives society of the labor and intellectual potential of the masses. From among the privileged, certain members may seek to join the struggle for social transformation towards a more … Continue reading Kings
Disproportionate access to nutritious diets, quality housing, industry-recognized education, employment opportunities, and healthcare services would not in itself sow the seeds of rebellion were it not for the possessiveness of the privileged over their resources. Selfishness towards privilege is engendered through fear of having to … Continue reading Economic Mirages
In discourse, thought, reflection and action are intimately interdependent. Action is coherent only when it is not merely rote but also consultative, that is, when it is not dichotomized from reflection. Reflection, which is essential to action, is implicit in the … Continue reading Spiritual Re-Education and the Power of the Masses
Paragraph#: 1. Learning sites and associated clusters (31 in total) contain half the current junior youth groups and participants. 2. Universal youth response to serve as animators. Ruhi 5 releases reservoirs of commitment to social change. Program expands beyond resources within Baha’i community. 3. Benefits … Continue reading Summary of 14 November Message
Extreme socio-economic inequalities of access and opportunity result in privileged vs. oppressed classes. The oppressed, over time, adapt to the structure of domination under which generations languish and become resigned to it. The status quo of the social order is maintained by … Continue reading Empowerment, Oppression, and Social Order
Today it seems that the message for change is articulated by people who believe in the unity of races, equality of genders, and institutional intervention on behalf of social and economic justice. These people also hold that the unity of mankind is a … Continue reading Unity, Communism, and Change: The Principle, the Boogie-Man, and the Future
One hundred years ago today, a sixty-six year old traveler from the East, an exile and prisoner since the age of nine, with no formal education, in broken and failing health, having never faced a public audience, and unfamiliar with … Continue reading America’s 1912 Election
Decades have come and gone and our busy lives, cluttered with diverse daily drives and enjoyments, have advanced in age, irreparable choices have been made, courses set, and moral decisions cast in the stone of opportunity cost. Billions have come … Continue reading Shadows of the Mind: Disorganized Activism, Conducive to Change?
How great is our capacity for change? The endpoint of our progress is as difficult to imagine as space travel is to cavemen. Social reform will outpace our technological ingenuity. Freedom fighting at present is dwarfed by the liberties of … Continue reading Spring Showers onto Hard Earth: Prevailing Theories of Human Nature, Alterable?
Every intelligent mind that evaluates the causes for global warming concludes that human-induced green-house gas emissions are responsible for Earth’s atmospheric average temperature increases. The only people who disagree with this are fringe scientists and few in number. For mysterious … Continue reading Climate Change and Political Partisanship: Why is the Truth So Divisive?
Paragraph#: 1. Abdu’l-Baha’s Temple-ground piercing Centenary. Diverse participants then and now. 2. Divine civilization beyond mere adjustments to present order. 3. Erroneous assumptions of human nature, justified by failings, disallow spiritual potential. 4. Imprisonment enables sympathetic hearts. 5-Year Plan (5YP) … Continue reading Summary: Ridvan 2012 Message
Human nature has been misinterpreted. We are not selfish and competitive by nature, but rather, altruistic and cooperative. Human societies to some extent actually represent an anomaly in the competitive theory of the jungle. Humans demonstrate a detailed division of … Continue reading Economic Theory: Competition, the Key to Prosperity?
Paragraph#: 1. 10 new Regional Councils (RC’s). 5-Year Plan messages foundation of action and study. Familiarity with dynamics of growth increases with core activities. 2. Dichotomy of neighborhood and centralized children’s classes (CC) transcended. 2 Junior Youth learning sites. Expansion/consolidation primary task of RC’s. … Continue reading Summary of August 9th Message
The universe is pregnant with these manifold bounties – bounties mysteriously emerging from the intricate interplay between the micro-cosmic visions of various actors on the world stage, each pursuing their own selfish advantage, and yet all mysteriously contributing to the … Continue reading The Universe is Pregnant
Discourse on the following topics has brought these themes to the point of being reconceptualized. Certain foundational principles have emerged and crystallized from ongoing discourse. Principles we now believe in in a new way are: 1) Unity of all Humankind 2) … Continue reading Discourse and Politics: Blood in the Arteries of Governance
Is it possible that a “debate” leads us, the listeners and watchers, to truth? Can a mode of dialogue such as contestational or confrontational debate assist others and people interested in the issues to discover the truth or learn more … Continue reading Can Debate Lead to Truth?
The endowment which distinguishes the human race from all other life forms is summed up in the reality known as the human spirit, or the rational soul. Of this soul, the diverse faculties of the mind constitute its most brilliant … Continue reading Progressive Revelation: Historiography and Civilization Dynamics
Identifying aspects of political discourse that is partisan in nature and to be avoided is challenging and will call for a higher caliber of insight and self-mastery as issues become increasingly engrossing and complex and as noble ideologies arise to prominence within the context of … Continue reading Post-Partisan Politics
Three Protagonists and the Life of Society Prosperity is the goal for mankind. As individuals and as a collective. To govern large groups of individuals congregated into a collective, as in a metropolis or a rural village, as in a city … Continue reading Beyond Political Partisanship
The statements of a language that seeks to be rational must also be internally consistent. Obviously, premises and claims cannot contradict each other, otherwise, truth could never be sought, and reality could never be adequately assessed. The importance of consistency … Continue reading Consistency
The practice of consultation has been a theme of multiple posts on this blog. It is, obviously, a vital concept for governance, for it is the operating expression of justice in a way that empowers. As the last post pointed … Continue reading Consultation and Governance
As has been a central theme throughout the discussions on this blog, our current stage of human history is defined by global interdependence. All forms of government and organization that divide one group against another are simply outdated, ineffective, and … Continue reading Oneness, Justice, and Governance
Historically and currently, the relationship between power and knowledge has been strained and complex, to say the least. Recently, “modernism” – which has constructed systems of knowledge around truth-claims about social reality – has come into critique by “post-modernism” – … Continue reading Beyond Modernism and Post-Modernism
Like all false dichotomies, an approach to knowledge that is either absolutist or relativist is not helpful nor enlightening in efforts to generate and apply knowledge towards the building of a just and prosperous world civilization. A few previous posts … Continue reading Reconciling Relativism and Truth
This online forum for discourse shares content that is inspired by the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith. Learning how to apply what is written to reality, however, remains a formidable task. In order to accomplish this, capacity must be built … Continue reading Circle of Participation
Previous posts’ discussion on the concept of consultation shed some initial light on transcending the false dichotomy between objectivisim and relativism. Some knowledge has a foundational basis, that has an existence beyond the human mind, and through consultation, we can … Continue reading Consultation and Objectivism / Relativism
Medical treatment of drug addicted patients involves assessment of abuse, addiction, and tolerance. Consumerism is an addiction. Commodities, physiques, and sensations are its drug of choice; corporations the drug lord; advertising the dealer. The mystique of the unknown first lures an unsuspecting customer in. … Continue reading The Stimulus of the New
In reference to human potential it has been said, “Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit there from.” . Education is a … Continue reading Education: The Driver of Social Transformation
Any minority pursuing development on behalf of the collective foists its values onto, and often disturbs, the very population it purports to serve. Subsuming collective prosperity to their personal values of progress, and sacrificing the participation and engagement of whole segments of … Continue reading Truth, Civility, and Consultation Part III
A culture of learning that operates through study, consultation, action, and reflection, depends on empowerment and capacity building on the level of both the individual and the institutions of society. Individually, all are responsible to participate in the generation and … Continue reading Global Learning
The history of philanthropic movements recounts many instances of people who believe in noble ideals and strive to fulfill their vision of what they think the world ought to look like. One may reasonably ask however, whether what they considered … Continue reading Truth, Civility, and Consultation Part II
Unity and Truth are closely related. If two people argue about a matter both are wrong about it. Prevalent assumptions hold that truth can be known and should be sought by individuals. Alternate epistemologies hold that truth should really be pursued as … Continue reading Truth, Civility, and Consultation Part I
An approach to the generation and application of knowledge within a learning mode occurs through a process of study, consultation, action, and reflection. Science and religion are the two systems of knowledge and practice that strive to describe reality, and … Continue reading Study, Consultation, Action, Reflection
Beyond the highly propagated fragmentation of science and religion in current thought, and the resistance to reconceptualize these complementary systems of knowledge and practice, there are, in general, voices that resist change, especially at the level of principle. They refuse to believe that the … Continue reading Conscious Choice
Humanity will mature as each member is allowed to contribute to its advancement. Every human being has talents and capacities, the development of which is the right and duty of the individual, and the creation of environments that foster this … Continue reading Trust and Nobility
How does the body’s cardiovascular system determine blood flow in a way that transcends the limitations of unfettered individualism, which places value on the organ at the expense of the organism, on the one hand; and suffocating collectivism, which confuses … Continue reading Cardiovascular Justice – 2
Once again, principles applied in our social reality can be informed by the analogy of the human body. Justice, on one level, should govern decision-making processes. One example of collective decisions is the distribution of resources – the economic system. … Continue reading Cardiovascular Justice – 1
Relating the issue of equality of women and men to justice protects women from becoming oppressors themselves. The challenge is not simply to provide women equal opportunity to participate in the present racially, economically, and politically oppressive social order. In … Continue reading Intersection of Justice and Equality
Equality of men and women is a fundamental truth about human nature, not a social utility that is agreed upon, regardless of the motive. This equality is based on the reality of a human being – spiritual reality – which … Continue reading Half the Human Race
Just as the physical world has laws and functions in ways that reveal underlying patterns, so the spiritual world has laws and patterns that can be observed and understood. We can observe that justice only emerges where there is love. … Continue reading Love, Power, Justice
Viewing justice as a latent potential of the human soul liberates us from the guilt which can so easily disempower the protagonists of social transformation. In the same way that our physical capacities emerge over time, such as the ability … Continue reading Justice and Human Potential
Knowledge of human nature is essential in championing the cause of justice. Ontologically, human beings are dual-natured – there is capacity for egoism and altruism, competition and cooperation; in short, there is a lower/animal nature, and a higher/spiritual nature. Self-interested … Continue reading Champion of Justice
Let us take advertising as an example of social forces that cause oppression through distortion of self-knowledge. Advertising, a euphemism for propaganda, mutilates our conceptions of reality. Images presented to youth, at a time of rising self-awareness, present unattainable goals … Continue reading Advertising
One of the major causes of injustice and oppression is lack of knowledge and perpetuation of ignorance. This is done through words, actions, and policies of self-interested governments, leaders, corporations, media, clergy, etc. They seek to retain their power; and … Continue reading Oppression
Current society, quite understandably so, has a fear of imposed conformity in the name of unity. History has repeatedly given examples of oppressive systems under the disguise of unity – feudalism, castes, communism, fascism, theocracy, nationalism, and authoritarianism. This legitimate … Continue reading Fear of Uniformity
Current human rights philosophy maintains that personal prerogative defines social structure, and individuals can refuse any moral ties that they haven’t chosen. Institutions are seen as necessary insofar as they interface common interests of atomistic individuals; they simply provide procedures … Continue reading Rights and Duties
With the understanding that justice requires the spiritual dimensions of human existence to be taken into account in discourse in order to stay relevant to humanity’s real needs, let us turn to the issue of human rights. What are the … Continue reading Source of Human Rights
Both extremes are to be completely avoided; the first of accepting everything one reads – this is the state of being an easy prey to eloquence and dazzling and elaborate presentations of those who pretend to know or actually are … Continue reading Justice and Discourse, Part II
As a community of discourse we need to ensure that we develop the ability to read and examine other people’s views and thoughts on a given subject with fairness. This does not mean that we never reach conclusions or continuously consider new or … Continue reading Discourse and Justice, Part I
Where does the concept progress come from? Who sets its parameters? What do we have to do to know we are achieving something worthwhile? Without thinking about these questions we end up thinking about progress in a way that does … Continue reading Definitions of Progress and Global Development
In the collective life of humankind, justice manifests as a compass in decision making, protecting resources from being diverted towards extraneous values, and protecting groups of people from the oppression of a vocal and seemingly-powerful minority. Justice cannot, then, be … Continue reading Approaches to Justice
Ideals are wonderful as they are, but what really can we say are the practical implications for speaking or believing in a principle as lofty as the spiritual concept of ‘Justice’? Are its implications for social and economic development really as … Continue reading Defender of the Interests of All Humankind: Justice
The roots of justice are in the human soul. Justice is a faculty of the human soul, a spiritual capacity that, like others such as love, reason, and mercy, can be nurtured through education and training, or ignored and left … Continue reading Justice: a Spiritual Capacity
Justice is the ruling principle of social organization, and the advancement of civilization depends upon its universal application. Conceptions of justice have been explored for centuries, and today, are highly numerous and variable. In our current crisis of civilization, confusion … Continue reading Justice in the Context of Oneness
Millions of systems exist in the universe we inhabit, from the sub-atomic systems of electron cloud probability to the cosmic flotation of great planets in the field of super novas. Systemic organization is molded on foundational laws and axioms that … Continue reading Systems and Transformation
What is true in the archetypal life of an individual human parallels the structure and life of our global civilization. Our species comprises an organic whole that occupies the seat of the crown of creation as the leading edge of … Continue reading Society Parallels the Individual
achieving coherence 