The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá'u'lláh,
implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races,
creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the
autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the
individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded. This
commonwealth must, as far as we can visualize it, consist of a world
legislature, whose members will, as the trustees of the whole of mankind,
ultimately control the entire resources of all the component nations, and will
enact such laws as shall be required to regulate the life, satisfy the needs
and adjust the relationships of all races and peoples. A world executive,
backed by an international Force, will carry out the decisions arrived at, and
apply the laws enacted by, this world legislature, and will safeguard the
organic unity of the whole commonwealth. A world tribunal will adjudicate and
deliver its compulsory and final verdict in all and any disputes that may arise
between the various elements constituting this universal system. A mechanism of
world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed
from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous
swiftness and perfect regularity. A world metropolis will act as the nerve center
of a world civilization, the focus towards which the unifying forces of life
will converge and from which its energizing influences will radiate. A world
language will either be invented or chosen from among the existing languages
and will be taught in the schools of all the federated nations as an auxiliary
to their mother tongue. A world script, a world literature, a uniform and
universal system of currency, of weights and measures, will simplify and
facilitate intercourse and understanding among the nations and races of
mankind. In such a world society, science and religion, the two most potent
forces in human life, will be reconciled, will cooperate, and will harmoniously
develop. The press will, under such a system, while giving full scope to the
expression of the diversified views and convictions of mankind, cease to be
mischievously manipulated by vested interests, whether private or public, and
will be liberated from the influence of contending governments and peoples. The
economic resources of the world will be organized, its sources of raw materials
will be tapped and fully utilized, its markets will be coordinated and
developed, and the distribution of its products will be equitably regulated.
National rivalries, hatreds, and intrigues will cease, and
racial animosity and prejudice will be replaced by racial amity, understanding
and cooperation. The causes of religious strife will be permanently removed,
economic barriers and restrictions will be completely abolished, and the
inordinate distinction between classes will be obliterated. Destitution on the
one hand, and gross accumulation of ownership on the other, will disappear. The
enormous energy dissipated and wasted on war, whether economic or political,
will be consecrated to such ends as will extend the range of human inventions
and technical development, to the increase of the productivity of mankind, to
the extermination of disease, to the extension of scientific research, to the
raising of the standard of physical health, to the sharpening and refinement of
the human brain, to the exploitation of the unused and unsuspected resources of
the planet, to the prolongation of human life, and to the furtherance of any
other agency that can stimulate the intellectual, the moral, and spiritual life
of the entire human race.
A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and
exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources,
blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from
the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the
available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which
Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal
recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation -- such
is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is
moving.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated 11 March 1936 to the
Bahá'ís of the West, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:
Selected Letters”)
