Is the Baha'i Community in Crisis?

This essay presents a speculative parallel between two contenders in "the great race to a new world order".

Americans Perceive "Crisis" A recent Democracy Corps poll reports that more than 90 percent of American voters think that the deficit is a crisis or major problem:

Voters are deeply concerned about the deficit. Three-quarters report that they discuss it with their friends or family a lot or some and more than nine in 10 voters call the deficit either a crisis or a major problem, rivaling the concern over the current employment situation.

"Are there any similar polls of Baha'is?" and other questions began flashing in my frontal cortex.

For example, normally, the majority of a population is not aware of, much less concerned with, fundamentals, but rather with trivia, such as the latest sports game or celebrity side-show. It is noteworthy, then, that the "average Joe" is concerned about something as arcane as the deficit, which, of course, adds to the national debt, leading to loss of trust and confidence in the country, its leaders and its currency, ending with the impoverishment of its citizens. Noteworthy because the general propaganda has been that Americans don't really need to work or produce much of anything, because others (say, the taxpayers or countries like China and Japan) will provide plenty of money until the end of time. In short, the "something for nothing" concept. Regarding national debt, the "new American creed" has been "children should work to support their parents' luxuries" replacing "parents should work to support their children's needs".

This glimmer of an apparent awakening of Americans to, um, economic reality, is not exactly in the script of the illuminist cabal controlling most governments, mass media and banks, both central banks of countries and the "too big to fail" bankster cartel. Oops. Something may be going wrong in this scenario.

From many sources, the author had thought that the plan was to conduct a final rip off of the country and its people by completely destroying the so-called financial system (in phase II of this Greater Depression), causing, among other things, huge price decreases due to forced sales of assets, so the cabal could gobble up, at super-cheap prices, assets such as commodities, stocks, real estate and others.

But maybe this plan might be derailed, in whole or part, if the public gets wise to it. The poll cited above might be a glimmer of something a bit worrisome for the illuminist oligarchy. Could Americans actually do something to recapture lost freedom, or will they be docile and just spend money they don't have, take their drugs and watch television?

Is the Baha'i community in crisis? Do the vast majority of Baha'is identify one or more significant issues in the "crisis" or "major problem" categories? The author does not know, but we did note some bad news in a recent "Baha'is: Forecasts I" post here. [If the reader is familiar with recent polls, where a clear majority identifies one or more issues as a "crisis" or "major problem, using proper scientific methods for sampling, data collection and statistical analysis, please reference them in Comments below.]

"Crisis" in the Baha'i community could be any deeply concerning issues, not just excessive debt, as featured in the American voter poll above. But let's start with that. Is there too much debt by individuals and/or by Baha'i institutions? Should, for example, Baha'i institutions be more transparent in disclosing basic financial status, including income and debt, regardless of any lack of legal requirement to do so?

The American voters above at least have some media attention to the near-disaster level of U.S. Treasury debt, and as mentioned, might actually try to remedy that. Do the Baha'is have any chance to remedy possible excessive debt by Baha'i institutions if they have no information? Maybe Baha'i News might include a "debt billboard".

One danger of being a debtor is that the lender might (if able by the contract) "call in" the loan, meaning the borrower has to pay it all off immediately. This could deplete cash on hand, stopping ability to spend on ongoing projects and even leading to other defaults. If there is not cash on hand, the borrower is up a creek, certainly in the "crisis" category, and it may mean bankruptcy. This is not to be taken lightly. It may be the creditor saying, "If you don't pay up right now; I'll take the collateral you posted (e.g., Baha'i properties?), I'll sue you and take you to court". But that is only for certain cultures. In ,many other cultures in this cruel world, it might be: "Pay, or you're a dead man."

[The author is somewhat undecided, on the purely practical level, on the question of "getting out of debt" completely. Personally, I have long been debt free; whatever I have I own free and clear; and it feels good to not owe money to anybody. However, we might acknowledge that getting out of debt may be a two-edged sword. Although I would generally suggest paying off all debt ASAP, there is another possibility: namely, that ongoing currency devaluation means people can pay off their debt with much cheaper dollars (euros, pounds, yen, etc). That is, dropping purchasing power of the paper money benefits borrowers more than lenders, such as banks.]

The Baha'i public can evaluate whether any debt by Baha'i institutions is "manageable" or not, but only if the financial information is provided.

Beyond debt as a possible issue, what else might concern Baha'is? Is the amount of growth of the Baha'i community over the last several decades been fine, not much, or too little? It would seem that the true concerns of Baha'is must be widely published (yes, in official Baha'i media) and therefore well-known by all, in order for constructive solutions, and their support by a "critical mass" of the Baha'i public, can be achieved.

In the absence of a current professional poll of Baha'is, let us assume that some one or more concerns do, in fact, worry most Baha'is, to the extent of being rated as "crisis" or "major problem". With this perhaps convenient assumption, we now have a possible, interesting parallel.

American Voters and the Baha'is These two populations might share some similar circumstances:

1. The Plan For the American voters, we have the "plan" of the shadow, ruling oligarchy described in broad brush strokes above. The Baha'is have their "plan" for their growth.

2. The Unrest With the poll and our speculation above, both populations share a significant incidence of frustration, confusion and lack of satisfaction. What else could it be if they perceive a present or approaching "crisis"?

3. Danger of Plan Failure As described, American voter unrest could develop in a way to serve as a significant obstacle to Plan achievement. Likewise, for the Baha'is and their Plan. For example, the vast majority of Baha'is are reportedly little interested in, or satisfied with, administrative activities, compared to what might be described as spiritual and social pursuits.

4. Plan Objective is a New World Order This remarkable apparent coincidence "closes the loop" in the present hypothesized parallel between the two groups regarding perception of a coming crisis. Most agree that it is the Baha'is through their founder who first phrased the over-arching objective as a "new world order". Likewise, most analysts agree that the super-wealthy oligarchy have been similarly working over many generations toward a world government which they would control, also called the "new world order". But here is where the proposed parallel ends, setting the stage for an epic drama.

Over generations, the illuminist oligarchy and the leadership of the Baha'is, starting with the founding central figures, could hardly be more different in almost every way, such as wealth, values and beliefs, operating principles and methods utilized. It may even be appropriate to sum it up as the "bad guys" and "good guys". God willing, a future post will try to enumerate some of the differences and likely ways the leadership of each contender in the race for a new world order might respond and adjust to points 2 and 3 in the parallel listed above.
© 2010 James J Keene