Once we have removed this grinding stone which I call factionalism--against which all of our efforts have until now been painfully and needlessly dragged and scraped; once we have loosed the bonds of national autonomy--which have hurtfully strangled and hopelessly fettered man's efforts for far too long; humankind will for the first time be free to "pull in one diredction." And in what direction shall that be? It will be that direction in which man has been attempting to progress since the dawn of civilization. It is that direction in which all reasonable and socially concerned segments within our world actually desire to proceed at this very moment--but are unfortunately hampered by a multitude of factional considerations and self-defeating priorities. That direction is toward all of those things to which our common sense impels us to strive: at root, the enhancement of civilization; solution of the universally acknowledged problems of mankind; the betterment of all of our lives; and objective improvement of our physical environment (i.e., our world).
There would be an end to wars, with their attendant horror and strife. No longer would millions of lives need to be heroically sacraficed--on the battlefield and off--for the sake of patriots' respective nations. No longer would hapless populations within our cities--including countless women, children, sick, and elderly--be maimed and killed, as bombs and missiles are rained upon them via the guns and aircraft of billigerent nations. No longer would the citizens of vanquished nations be abused by "liberating" armies, and enslaved by the subsequent occupation of victorious nations. The simple reason why all of this is not only possible, but within our reach at this very moment--the uncontrived and uncomplicated expedient by which all of this can be readily and easily brought about--is merely this: In a world guided by Universality, there would be no nations. Rather, there would simply be One World!
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And what would be lost--what must be sacraficed--in the accomplishment of this admittedly novel and sweeping--but actually simple and painless--conversion, from a national to a Universal system? Absolutely nothing--except the guardedness and conflicts, the need for armies and weapons, the waste of time and talent, wealth and resources, which the service of a useless, outmoded, and counterproductive concept begets and necessitates.
Leaders will still be needed, to direct and operate the instrumentalities and organs of government. But they will be leaders of the people--not of a nation. As I will describe in subsequent postings, military--or more accurately quasi-military or police-type--entities and forces will still be required the world over, to maintain and preserve civil peace, law, order, and liberty. But they will be fighting crime and adversity--not each other. I imagine that manufacturers of bombs and other devices of war and destruction will not initially like this concept. Nor, possibly, will a percentage of the aforesaid present military, who must quickly realize that the size of a force necessary to accomp;lish purposes of peace and police would be a good deal smaller than those multiple forces required for the carrying on, or even the deterrence, of warfare. However, I am rather certain that a sizeable number of such competent and capable personnel and resources, thus no longer needed for bellicose endeavors, could and would be quickly and effectively applied toward the accomplishment of numerous brave new enterprises--particularly in light of the vigorous season for mankind and the world which I foresee as an inevitable consequence of the adoption of the processes which I herein espouse.
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In simple terms, the result of the actualization of my recommendations will be a unified, peaceful, rational, intelligently planned, sensibly directed, and smoothly functioning world; wherein the needs of all men will be properly attended to. The abilities and resources in every corner of our world will be mobilized toward one purpose: the meeting of the needs, and solution of the problems, of all of us--instead of a splintered fragmented arrangement wherein the parts are not only less than the total of the whole; but are, in addition, rendered further ineffective by reason of the fact that the parts are engaged in chronic battle against one another.
At last, our fears of that dread final nuclear, or biological, or chemical holocaust, wherein all that mankind has presently achieved shall be wastefully obliterated, can be discarded forever. At last, the machinery of war can be converted to the instrumentalities of production; "guns" and "bombs" devised to destroy microbes instead of men. Ships and planes will be used to carry only passengers and
goods--and nevermore hatred and death, to human targets who are not very different than their own captains and crews.
The years following this conversion will bear witness to the availability of a greater quantity of talent, funds, and resources for the amelioration of the ailments and problems of the world than has ever been available since the dawn of civilization. For in putting an end to inter-factional strife, the necessity for each of many factions to simultaneously employ and expend ridiculous sums of wealth and effort upon weapons and other means of guarding against and fighting off one another will be obviated. This sinful waste, whereby the several efforts and numerous products of nations are utilized to serve no more noble or useful a purpose than holding each other at bay--and, in effect, only serving to counteract, counterweigh, and cancel out, each other's goods and labors--will be over and done with once and for all.
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A further logical and inevitable result of this new-found abundance of concern and provision for humanity which the union of its members would naturally foster will be an ability to do that which is required in order for every human to enjoy a significant standard of comfort and dignity, at every monent in every corner of our world. Thus, no longer will infants die of starvation, while a prosperous nation next door, or across the sea, lives in luxury. No more will the very government of that starving nation be constrained to ignore the pleas of its people, while expending and employing a large measure of its wealth and resources upon the production and acquisition of armies and armaments.
The populace of all corners of our world will be equally entitled to goods and services necessary for healthy and dignified existence; always coupled with opportunity to attain improvement via unlimited access to educational resources. And there will, in fact, be a great deal more available for these purposes, by reason of the fact that major portions of our manpower and resources will no longer need to be squandered upon perpetual preparations for battle, varieties of defensive measures, and that vast myriad of additional related expenditures of wealth and talent--in multiple--by numerous countries, which our present system of national entities now necessitates.
It will no longer be necessary for certain people to suffer and starve; "imprisoned" within certain defined giographic areas which happen to be insufficient to meet their minimum requirements for healthy dignified lives--while, not very far away,vast expanses of lush verdant lands are devoted to perhaps nothing more essential than aesthetics. No longer will critical services be withheld from persons in need thereof by reason of their post office address; or because they happen to live on the "other side" of a line drawn centuries ago by a surveyor, or the signers of a treaty.
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(Please leave a comment--or send an E-Mail to oneworld@tampabay.rr.com)
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