Economic Justice

The Bahá'í approach to economics begins with a spiritual premise: all human beings have equal worth before God, and a world in which some live in desperate poverty while others accumulate unimaginable wealth is a world that has failed a fundamental test of justice. Extreme inequality is not simply an economic problem — it is a moral failure.

Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá articulated principles pointing toward a transformed economic order: profit-sharing between workers and owners; a progressive taxation system that prevents excessive accumulation; the elimination of both extreme poverty and extreme wealth; and the responsibility of the wealthy to support the welfare of the community.

Crucially, the Bahá'í approach does not endorse forced equality or the abolition of private property. Individual initiative, creativity, and the reward of honest effort are valued. What is rejected is a system that allows exploitation or concentrates power in ways that corrupt social life and deny opportunity to the majority.

The pathway to economic justice passes through both individual moral transformation — the cultivation of generosity and a sense of trusteeship over one's wealth — and through the reform of institutions and laws to reflect the common good.