The Baha'i Village Granary: Spiritual Underpinning and Applications to North America

Abstract

'Abdu'l-Baha's monetized village granary helps lay the systemic foundations of Baha'u'llah's spiritualized New World Economic Order for both rural and urban society. It is the capstone of God's progressive revelation of rural institutions for the sustainable use of natural resources. Village granaries are needed because agriculture has become materiallistic, industrialized, and closed to the employment of human labor. Without such granaries, the production input "spirit" will continue to be neglected as a guide to rural development, ecological conservation, economic stability, equitable employment, adequate institutions, and universal values. Economic projections for progressively implementing a monetized village granary on a Canadian Baha'i farm show that the problems of start-up cost, access to rural resources, and lack of reciprocity can be overcome by volunteer, apprentice, and pioneer labor, as well as by such cooperative projects as joint maple production.