At the end of this month there will be another conference on Climate Change, held in Mexico. Nothing meaningful will be agreed upon. Climate change is a global problem, and solving global problems is not yet a priority for the human race. We have more important things to do, like protecting our own borders.
The President of the United States is a very powerful man. He has vast resources at his command. But global problems, like climate change, are not high priorities for him. Solving world problems is simply not in his job description. Obama’s priority is the welfare of the citizens of the United States. He will filter world problems, like climate change, through the lens of the U.S. and our interests. If he doesn’t do that, he will not last long in office.
Every leader of every other nation operates in the same way. Each nation looks at the world from its own fixed point of view. Each nation is the center of its own universe, just as the Earth was the center of the universe for people centuries ago.
Who, then, has the responsibility to look out for the greater good, for the interests of the entire world? The answer is a resounding “no one”. There are no institutions, and no enforceable laws, which are responsible for the welfare of the entire globe, and all of its inhabitants.
No wonder, then, that we cannot solve global problems. No person or organization is accountable for solving them. When no one is accountable, nothing gets done.
What about the United Nations? The U.N. has failed. It simply does not have the authority to carry out its mission. In order to solve real problems, you need responsibility and authority. Every businessman understands that.
As citizens of the United States, we have a voice, we have a vote. As citizens of the world, we have no voice, we are powerless. Everything has been globalized, except our vote.
What we need is either a reformed United Nations that reports directly to us, or a new world body. This world body must have power over nations with regard to certain matters. It must have real authority, in the same way that our federal government has authority over the states in certain cases. We need a Constitutional Convention of the World.
Impossible. No nation will ever accept it. It can’t be done. The cure will be worse than the disease. So goes the conventional wisdom.
If we cannot get beyond the conventional wisdom, then let’s hope the Republican right wing is correct about global warming. Let’s hope global climate change is an illusion. Let’s hope all global problems are an illusion. If they are real, we do not have the institutions, the resources, or the laws that we need to solve them.
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