United Planet Earth

[Giant Blue Anteater]

What do you think is the best way to get all humans on this planet to work together and unite into a single planet, and then have a better ability to accomplish great feats, such as colonizing the Solar System and beyond?

Well, I think organizations like the European Union are a great start. However, I am not too sure about organizations like the Untied Nations and the League of Nations, as they allow problems to pile up rather than thoroughly negotiating solutions to them. For example, the sanctions the League of Nations placed on Germany were one of the causes for World War II, though I could be wrong...

 

[WolfAU]

Here are the possible ways...
1. Direct conquest (becoming increasingly unlikely).
2. Hegemony/Imperialism (ie America controlling another countries government through incentives, bribery and coercion).
3. Globalisation (ie banks).
4. A UN like organisation that actually is useful.
5. Some kind of "other" event, such as united popular movement away from government control towards some kind of alternate system of power.

What is the BEST, or most ideal way is hard, as most ways have some kind of drawback. Instead I would view the question as "what are the goals of unification, and how do we promote those, and how that this will lead to greater global cooperation? This would be my brief list.

1. More Socio-Economic balance and balance of resources (ie less divide between "rich" and "poor" countries).
2. More military balance (ie most countries have similar military power).
3. More and more effective international diplomacy and alternatives to conflict or other harsh outcomes.
4. More safeguards against tyranny that apply to ALL countries.
5. Better human rights and equality, better understanding.
6. More progress towards common goals (research, healthcare, projects like space exploration, colonisation of harsh environments etc) and addressing issues like environmentalism, clean energy etc.
7. Issues to do with the development of a country (ie all countries having basic infastructure).
8. Better international laws, fairer trade systems.

To me, pretty much all of these are best achieved through grass roots movements. I support the Global Poverty Project for instance, and while its far from perfect, its an excellent means to achieve alot of these, with alot of others will be improved as a direct result (ie Terrorism is largely a byproduct of socio-economic division).

 

[Nogre]

Well, me being the philosophical person I am, I'd say that it requires a big shift in the way we think. So long as you view nationality as extremely significant and you happily identify with your country, then this sort of thing is impossible. You don't need to completely eliminate the ideas from your mind, but it needs to be less important. A good example is how here in the US, we do acknowledge which state people are from, but we're still all united as the United States. We feel a kinship with each other despite a lot of differences (for the most part). I don't know a metaphor that people outside the US might understand...perhaps just regional differences? Anyway, we just need to start viewing nationality this way: not non-existant, and certainly a portion of who you are, but ultimately second to the real thing that binds all of us: being human.

Now, how does this shift in our worldview take place? On an individual level, first of all. Start questioning your national identity and how important it really should be to you. When you find yourself thinking about a person chiefly in terms of their nationality, stop, back up, and think about it. How much can you really know based on where they were born? And what does this really mean for how I treat them? Basically, think about and question similar things throughout your life. Then move on to trying to spread the message. When people make assumptions like I've described, point them out. Call them on it. Not in an offensive way, but just in a way of "well, how much can you really know about X person, just because they're from X country?" Bring it into your life and help it spread. If you're in a position, such as a parent or teacher, teach this sort of thing, and try to have your kids be aware of their national identity, but identify more as a human being that belongs to a much wider community than just their nation.

Once again, I think a good example of what you should aim towards is how states are in the US. Once you reach the point where you recognize it as a culture that partially influences a person, but doesn't cause you to view them as inherently different because of their nationality, you've reached what I personally think is the best place to be. We don't want culture or things like that to die. We just want them to be something wonderful to celebrate, and completely ignore it in deciding how we should act and treat them.

 

[JacobEvans]

I'm hoping for the second Mongolian Golden Horde.

 

[Aught3]

Ideally, a hyper-galactic insectoid alien invasion force will soon approach Earth space intent on gaining control the bountiful resources in this sector. With their advanced technology and hive minds they will easily overwhelm our pitiful ballistic-based defense forces and conquer Earth. After languishing in slavery for a thousand years, the fractured human tribes will join together in a glorious revolution and overthrow the local queen, banishing her and her minions from our solar system for all time. After we reverse-engineer the technology the aliens were forced to leave behind, the new Earth Alliance will expand its colonisation aspirations beyond our own solar system conquering new planets and bringing previously hostile forces under the banner of our new alliance. It shall be peace or the sword!

 

[MRaverz]

I'm all for the United States of Earth idea, whereby each country has their own unique set of rules but there are some rules which cover all countries and have been agreed upon fairly.

Problems usually arise when individuals feel that their national identity may be lost, or that some foreign government is controlling their living area. However, you never really see these issues within countries (ie. Yorkshire men can still identify themselves as being from Yorkshire and even though London is far off, there is a local council keeping an eye on them).


It's early, I hope I make some sense here.

 

[Nogre]

It's early, I hope I make some sense here.

You make perfect sense to me. And I completely agree with you on this. I don't know how the federal/state relationship is outside the US, but it certainly doesn't destroy cultural identities. You know, this would probably be a lot easier to achieve, especially in terms of planet-wide rules, if we didn't have so much religion in the world that caused people to be so uncompromising in certain views...but I digress.

 

[theatheistguy]

True minarcho socialism - no money, no borders, no nations, no state religion, no hatred or discrimination, no oppression, no exploitation, etc. Essentially, John Lennon and Karl Marx had it right.

 

[dr_esteban]

True minarcho socialism - no money, no borders, no nations, no state religion, no hatred or discrimination, no oppression, no exploitation, etc. Essentially, John Lennon and Karl Marx had it right.

tbf is pretty much a star trek world

 

[Giant Blue Anteater]

1. Direct conquest (becoming increasingly unlikely).

Indeed. Also, the government that takes over the world will have to be a dictatorship. You know what this means - loss of individual rights, free speech destroyed, among other things that would threaten the stability of your big empire. This method of uniting all humans on planet Earth under the rule of a singular government will probably not create a long-lasting global state, as you are responsible for maintaining all of your cities (which I think costs money), and as a result, your economy will go quickly down the drain, unless you place heavy taxes on your citizens. The universal oppression will also lead to secessionist movements, and I am rather skeptical of if you can possibly maintain your big army in crushing all of the rebels in all of the land of the planet, unless you use nuclear weapons, but then that would lead to a mass extinction on Earth, even though you may have used a few in your quest for world domination. In other words, you would quickly end up with a divided planet shortly after you conquer it.

2. Hegemony/Imperialism (ie America controlling another countries government through incentives, bribery and coercion).

No empires last forever. Our goal here is to create a lasting global union. If we look at empires like the Roman Empire, they wanted more and more of what they wanted (which was land), and their greed is what ultimately lead to their collapse, along with the many barbarians that plagued their empire. Now if we're talking British Empire, they were motivated by more than just land, they were motivated by the profitability of the lands they took over. However, their early method of gaining profit resulted in the loss of their first colonies, which became America. But when the British Empire was about to completely dissolve, it turned into the Commonwealth of Nations, which dosen't involve one government ruling over many lands, but more like a union of governments which condone the rights every sapient being should have. This and other uniting organizations such as the European Union are a better idea than imperialism.

3. Globalisation (ie banks).

Now, this is a good start in bringing nations closer together. However, it may create minor problems like out-competing the smaller companies, but then this kind of brings us back to the basic human desire to own and not to be owned philosophy, which isn't going to bring them anywhere.

 

[Nogre]

True minarcho socialism - no money, no borders, no nations, no state religion, no hatred or discrimination, no oppression, no exploitation, etc. Essentially, John Lennon and Karl Marx had it right.

tbf is pretty much a star trek world

With Star Trek-type technology, where humans no longer need to work to provide their basic needs, then the economy essentially disapears, and people pursue whatever they want for their own personal enjoyment. Until then, we'll just have try to get to work towards that level of technology however we can, and try to eliminate the national borders as something we care about.

 

[xman]

Step One: STOP SELLING ARMS TO AFRICA!

 

[scalyblue]

Yeah, I don't see anything like this happening until we as a species find some way to generate resource-independent energy.

 

[Four-Thirteen]

deleted

 

[Nogre]

Step one: All living things on the earth realize that we are one planet.

There is no need for step two.

If only, if only...

 

[Baranduin]

Step one: All living things on the earth realize that we are one planet.

Step two: planet is cut in pieces so every living thing can have a planet for their own.

 

[DrunkCat]

Step One: STOP SELLING ARMS TO AFRICA!

Why don't we just turn Africa into a giant farm?

 

[xman]

Step One: STOP SELLING ARMS TO AFRICA!

Why don't we just turn Africa into a giant farm?

Because giants don't grow well in Africa. :lol: :| :roll:

 

[MRaverz]

Why don't we just turn Africa into a giant farm?

Because giants don't grow well in Africa. :lol: :| :roll:

Xman, I'm disappointed with you. :lol:

 

[henrikrocker]

I believe it is nearly impossible. To do this you would need everyone to agree, get everyone to abandon their egoism and get everyone to work together.

3. Globalisation (ie banks).

Now, this is a good start in bringing nations closer together. However, it may create minor problems like out-competing the smaller companies, but then this kind of brings us back to the basic human desire to own and not to be owned philosophy, which isn't going to bring them anywhere.

But Globalisation would lead to a form of dictatorship, where those with the most money and influence rule instead of a government, and to quote again here:

Indeed. Also, the government that takes over the world will have to be a dictatorship. You know what this means - loss of individual rights, free speech destroyed, among other things that would threaten the stability of your big empire. This method of uniting all humans on planet Earth under the rule of a singular government will probably not create a long-lasting global state, as you are responsible for maintaining all of your cities (which I think costs money), and as a result, your economy will go quickly down the drain, unless you place heavy taxes on your citizens. The universal oppression will also lead to secessionist movements, and I am rather skeptical of if you can possibly maintain your big army in crushing all of the rebels in all of the land of the planet, unless you use nuclear weapons, but then that would lead to a mass extinction on Earth, even though you may have used a few in your quest for world domination. In other words, you would quickly end up with a divided planet shortly after you conquer it.

Only the government is replaced by the most powerful banks and companies.