"The most perfect form of patriotism is to be so fully conscious of the rights of humanity that one will want to see them respected for all the peoples of the earth." (Jancourt, "Palestrina") These words, uttered in eighteenth century France, appear to be an early reflection of the concept that people the world over are equal and entitled to the same human rights, regardless of their geographic location, or position in their society. Reason seems to indicate that this concept, in turn, would be best safeguarded in a unified world, wherein a single government directs, and protects the rights of all, the world over.
Thomas Paine has proclaimed that "a government of our own [i.e., self-government] is our natural right." In my opinion, government on behalf of the world (i.e., on behalf of all of mankind) is more in the nature of self-government than can be government by (and at times on behalf of the often petty interests and politics within) individual nations. For the interests of the world constitute the interests of all of the world's peoples--which is more representative of the interests of all of us than the possible political agenda of an individual nation's government (or, worse, the current, or entrenched, leaders thereof).
Thus, on down through our years, an ever-ongoing drive toward unity continues to silently proceed. Evidemce of its obviously unavoidable progress to date exists in numerous dimensions of our society. Our ideas, and the institutions that they have spawned, seem strangely more similar of late. The racial, linguistic, and cultural divisions of prior days are now much more readily overcome, thanks to advances in communication, more widespread education, and mass production of similar objects for worldwide distribution. All over the world, we find people dressing more and more alike. Many of us live in cities with similar streetscapes, which include lampposts, traffic signals, and bus stops; while in the stores the goods sold are basically similar, if not the same. Even our interior climates have become rather unified lately, as heating systems, air conditioning, and electricty in general, serve to moderate temperatures on every continent.
With a few intentional exceptions, people the world over now share a common civilization. This is at least partly due to the vast quantity of recent advances and improvements in our suystems of communication. By reason of greatly improved and accessible telephone networks, the proliferation of the cell-phone and successive devices, as well as the rise and circulation of the Internet, we are in instant contact with one another. This causes events and trends to rapidly reach and affect all of us, and has an effect of bonding us together as members of a single human family. Worldwide communication, trade, and social activity have transformed people's interactions into what has been termed "the rudiments of a world society." Transnational transactions and trade, world-encircling transfers of technology and aesthetics, worldwide tourism, and international conferences and correspondence among nenbers of various professional organizations around the world, all strengthen the proposition that we now do truly experience, and function within, a singular worldwide milieu.
Additional evidence that we are daily moving ever closer to a global community lies as well in numerous and varied official happenings in the recent past, including:
a) nations of the world having entered agreements concerning the emission of greenhouse gases;
b) in the economic arena, the establishment of international bodies, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund;
c) the establishment of an International Criminal Court;
d) at the UN Millenium Summit, recognition expressed by many of the world's leaders that relieving the plight of the world's poorest nations constitutes a global responsibility;
e) an International Labor Organization, having been supported by the World Trade Organization as a means of organizing global standards for the world's working force;
f) various activities and events having worldwide orientation and significance taking place more frequently of late, and enjoying greater publicity (for example, Earth Day, begun in 1970, having become an annual happening in New York City, symbolizing ecological responsibility on a worldwide basis).
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