Capitalism
Nothing in the teachings against some kind of capitalism, but adjustments need to be made[edit]
"There is nothing in the teachings against some kind of capitalism; its present form, though, would require adjustments to be made."
- (From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, November 19, 1945: Bahá’í News, No. 210, August 1948, p. 3, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1869; also in Redistribution of Wealth (compilation) no. 22)
The Cause does not accept the theories of Capitalistic economics in full (though private ownership and sacred rights of the individual are upheld)[edit]
"...the Cause neither accepts the theories of the Capitalistic economics in full, nor can it agree with the Marxists and Communists in their repudiation of the principle of private ownership and of this vital sacred right of the individual."
- (On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, 10 June 1939 to an individual believer, published in Redistribution of Wealth (compilation), section 2)
(The materialistic view-point and lack of spiritual values of both capitalism and communism are to be condemned)[edit]
"Collateral with this ominous laxity in morals, and this progressive stress laid on man's material pursuits and well-being, is the darkening of the political horizon, as witnessed by the widening of the gulf separating the protagonists of two antagonistic schools of thought which, however divergent in their ideologies, are to be commonly condemned by the upholders of the standard of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh for their materialistic philosophies and their neglect of those spiritual values and eternal verities on which alone a stable and flourishing civilization can be ultimately established."
- (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 125)
Despite the benefits of workings of capitalism (and liberal relativism), the system is morally and intellectually bankrupt and in need of change[edit]
"In the perspective of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, the greatest danger of both the moral crisis and the inequities associated with globalization in its current form is an entrenched philosophical attitude that seeks to justify and excuse these failures. The overthrow of the twentieth century's totalitarian systems has not meant the end of ideology. On the contrary. There has not been a society in the history of the world, no matter how pragmatic, experimentalist and multiform it may have been, that did not derive its thrust from some foundational interpretation of reality. Such a system of thought reigns today virtually unchallenged across the planet, under the nominal designation "Western civilization". Philosophically and politically, it presents itself as a kind of liberal relativism; economically and socially, as capitalism — two value systems that have now so adjusted to each other and become so mutually reinforcing as to constitute virtually a single, comprehensive world-view.
"Appreciation of the benefits — in terms of the personal freedom, social prosperity and scientific progress enjoyed by a significant minority of the Earth's people — cannot withhold a thinking person from recognizing that the system is morally and intellectually bankrupt. It has contributed its best to the advancement of civilization, as did all its predecessors, and, like them, is impotent to deal with the needs of a world never imagined by the eighteenth century prophets who conceived most of its component elements. Shoghi Effendi did not limit his attention to divine right monarchies, established churches or totalitarian ideologies when he posed the searching question: "Why should these, in a world subject to the immutable law of change and decay, be exempt from the deterioration that must needs overtake every human institution?"
- (Century of Light, p. 135)
