There are so many issues that cannot be adequately dealt with by nations. These issues cross national boundaries and this is exploited by unscrupulous people. The issues that I believe a World Government could deal with would include:
Pollution
Global warming
Environmental destruction
Species extinction
War
Poverty
Overpopulation
Immigration
Multinational businesses
Workers’ rights and exploitation
Tax evasion
International organised crime
Sex trafficking
Drug trafficking
Religious fundamentalism
Racism
Terrorism
Human rights
Tyranny
Democracy
Misogyny
Gross inequality
At present these issues are inadequately dealt with through treaties and agreements between nations, threats, coercion, bribes and other arrangements. It enables rogue states to set different arrangements. It enables international businesses to use loopholes that enable them to exploit people, tax and health and safety. It allows wars, extreme poverty and the abuse of human rights.
The United Nations is a body that has addressed these issues but has limited powers and only an advisory capacity.
I would like something more democratic and with more teeth than the UN.
Of course there have been many political moves to create a World Government through political tyranny – the Fascists of Nazi Germany and the Communists of the USSR had an eye on world domination – neither of which would have resulted in a very pleasant outcome.
No. What we need is a benevolent body that is working for the good of everyone, that is based on a set of human rights such as are laid out in the UN charter of Human Rights. Such a body would need to be democratically elected and have safeguards to prevent it becoming tyrannical.
The move towards such a body began following the horrors of the First World War. A war such as that, with the spectre of chemical weapons and mass killing, was so horrific and far-reaching that politicians realised that something had to happen. What came out of it was the League of Nations. This was a league of 58 nations that was intended to solve problems that would prevent a second terrible World War. It failed when Hitler and the Axis powers left with the intention of first taking over Europe. The League of Nations had failed in its primary aim of preventing a Second World War.
Following World War Two, with the added horrors of nuclear and biological devastation facing the world the United Nations was set up. Presently 193 of the 196 countries are represented in the United Nations. They are brought together to solve the big issues such as those listed above. Unfortunately they do not have the power to do much more than talk, pass resolutions and apply limited pressure and limited force. Even so they exist as a moral force for good, a talking shop to air grievances and resolve issues and a chance for different countries with different opinions to air their views and receive support and criticism for their actions. I believe all that has been a positive force that has prevented wars and enhanced human rights. The UN has made the world a better place. But it is not anywhere near enough. It is dominated by the developed countries and, with the use of their vetoes, has failed to stop many conflicts. Too many times the UN has had to stand around impotently while atrocities occur. Something greater needs to happen. We need to move towards a government with real power.
A number of prominent persons, such as Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Bertrand Russell and Mohandas K. Gandhi, called on governments to proceed further by taking gradual steps towards forming an effectual federal world government. That is something I concur with.
I also think that this move towards a World Government is inevitable. It is there embedded in the human psyche. Reading Sci-fi one is always dealing with a world government. In the future nations do not exist. That idea is already there in human imagination and what is imagined one day becomes reality the next. If it can be imagined it can be achieved.
Personally I would like to see the end of this primitive tribalism of nations and move towards a more universal approach. I think that would do a great deal to put an end to exploitation, inequality and racism. But that is a dream for the future.
However, I am not stupid. I do not believe that the setting up of a proper federated World Government is not fraught with problems. Here are some that require solving:
How to set up a government which is democratic?
How to prevent corruption?
How to prevent tyranny?
How to prevent the abuse of power?
How to convince the wealthier countries that it is in their interests?
How to convince our present politicians to relinquish some of their power?
How to convince people, embedded in patriotic tribalism and nationalism, that it is in their interests to think more universally.
People are concerned that a World Government would develop into an abusive tyranny, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This is a real concern because it is true. Time after time we see the type of psychologically damaged people seeking and gaining power – the megalomaniacs, the sociopaths and psychopaths. They seem so plausible. They offer such bright solutions. But they are only interested in power and wealth and are utterly ruthless. They lie and deceive. Looking around the world we see lots of them holding the reins of power. There are many in all our political parties and on the boards of our multinationals. They are bad enough within a national government but what if they took over the world?
How could we put in checks and balances to prevent such mighty power being abused? How do we control the controllers?
Well I believe we see those checks and balances in operation in the best of democracies. I believe that with our advanced knowledge of psychology, democracy and politics it is possible for us to devise a system that would deliver a mechanism to prevent corruption, bribery and abuse of power. Not only that but I believe it is becoming essential for the survival of mankind on this planet. Without world government we a stumbling around through crisis after crisis – global warming, nuclear war, biological terrorism, environmental catastrophe – and we are in denial.
One mistake and that could be the end.
It is surely within our intelligence to devise a system that would work, within parameters that are acceptable.
World Government is, I believe, in the interests of all humans on this planet and is desperately needed by the rest of life we share this planet with. I just hope we have the intellect and foresight to make it happen!