Overcoming Fear

As an American, I am proud of our Constitution and of our democracy. I would like to see every country in the world adopt a system similar to ours.  Almost all Americans would agree with me.

If  I suggest, however, that this system ought to be adopted by the entire world, I instantly become part of a lunatic fringe.  All of a sudden no one agrees with me.  Never has such a sensible idea generated so much fear.  What are we afraid of?

"It’s the tyranny, stupid," you say to me.  A world government will turn into a dictatorship.

 

The leader in the campaign for world government is an organization called the World Federalist Movement.  Here are the first two paragraphs from the 'Our vision' section of their website World Federalist Movement:

“World federalists believe that all people have the fundamental right to self-government. Some policy matters, depending on their scope, fall under the authority of local governments whereas others fall under the jurisdiction of national governments or international institutions.

World federalists support the creation of democratic global structures accountable to the citizens of the world and call for the division of international authority among separate agencies, a separation of powers among judicial, executive and parliamentary bodies. Only truly democratic and representative bodies can have legitimate authority over all levels of government. We are dedicated to protecting the rights of every person on the planet and preserving the environment for the global community.”
  

Does that sound like dictatorship?  One thing we have learned in the past century is how to establish governments that are immune to tyranny.  Is there any reason to think we cannot do the same thing on a world-wide basis?
  

Conspiracy theorists would have us believe there is some sinister power behind the world federalist movement. Sometimes the phrase “new world order” is used to frighten people. What  is the goal of this so-called conspiracy?  Supposedly,  a few powerful interests desire to rule the world, and world government is their vehicle to accomplish that.
  

I would argue  that a small group of multi-national corporations already rule the world, and world government is the way to hold these interests accountable to the people on this planet.

A conspiracy theory is a convenient way to generate fear and prevent serious consideration of the World Federalist idea.

Purveyors of this conspiracy theory completely mis-represent the idea of World Federalism in order to create fear. Here is a typical example (I have bolded some of the statements):

“The "new world order" involves the elimination of the sovereignty and independence of nation-states and some form of world government. This means the end of the United States of America, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights as we now know them. Most of the new world order proposals involve the conversion of the United Nations and its agencies to a world government, complete with a world army, a world parliament, a world court, global taxation, and numerous other agencies to control every aspect of human life (education, nutrition, health care, population, immigration, communications, transportation, commerce, agriculture, finance, the environment, etc.). The various notions of the "new world order" differ as to details and scale, but agree on the basic principle and substance.“

 

No one is proposing the elimination of the United States of America, its constitution, it’s bill of rights, etc.  No one is proposing a government that would “control every aspect of human life”.
 

All powers of government derive from the people.  The people of the United States currently delegate a portion of their sovereignty to the city, a portion to the state and a portion to the federal government.  Each level of government has the powers to accomplish what is appropriate for that level.
  

World Federalists advocate that the people delegate a part of their sovereignty to a world government, which would have the authority to deal with global issues, and only those. The United States of America would continue to exist as it does now.
  

Yes, there would have to be a world police force, to prevent war and terrorism. Yes, there would be global taxation.  However, with the need for military spending eliminated, the taxes we pay could  be far less than what we currently pay.
  

The important point is this:  All of the details - including checks and balances, protection of minorities, etc. -  would have to be worked out by representatives of the world’s people.  Opponents of the idea try to kill any discussion by fabricating worst-case scenarios and generating fear. We can either give in to that fear, or try to find a way to create the institutions that could save our planet from destruction.  Ultimately, the choice is ours.