Now I want to tell you about the law of God. According to
the divine law, employees should not be paid merely by wages. Nay, rather they
should be partners in every work. The question of socialization is very
difficult. It will not be solved by strikes for wages. All the governments of
the world must be united, and organize an assembly, the members of which shall
be elected from the parliaments and the noble ones of the nations. These must
plan with wisdom and power, so that neither the capitalists suffer enormous
losses, nor the laborers become needy. In the utmost moderation they should
make the law, then announce to the public that the rights of the working people
are to be effectively preserved; also the rights of the capitalists are to be
protected. When such a general law is adopted, by the will of both sides,
should a strike occur, all the governments of the world should collectively
resist it. Otherwise the work will lead to much destruction, especially in
Europe. Terrible things will take place. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, quoted by J.E.
Esslemont in, ‘Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, 5th rev. ed.’; compilation ‘Europe’, prepared by the Research
Department of the Universal House of Justice,
published in Baha'i Studies Review, 1.1, Association for Baha'i
Studies of English-Speaking Europe, 1991)
