Towards a world federation

Information technology has provided revolutions in the late 20th century and until today in the 21st century. Not only did it contribute (I won’t say it was actually the main means, but it was a significant component) to the Arab Spring of this year 2011, it has been largely responsible for the globalization of the world society. Sending a letter through the mail from one country to another may have taken weeks or even more than a month to arrive in the 19th century. Now, sending an e-mail message is just a click of a button and it arrives within seconds.

It’s dazzling to realize what this actually means. We take it for granted that we have these technologies that provide us (but also make us dependent on it) the means to communicate with somebody who is on the other side of the world as if that person would be sitting next to you.

I’m not sure when exactly this information revolution really started, but I could safely say that when the telephone and the telegraph were invented, the shock wave started, and when the Internet was introduced, it was unstoppable. Autocratic governments are well aware of what this means to them. Formerly, it was easy to hide information that they did not want to share with the rest of the world, because the distribution of information was simply under their control. Now they’re taking all kinds of desperate measures to regain control of the distribution of information, because the world can see what it couldn’t see before.



The world can see it now. Why is that a problem for oppressive regimes and a fortune for humanity? The world as a whole cannot judge on the colour of a skin, the colour of the hair, the sound of a voice or a political affiliation. Citizens of planet Earth, when altogether combined, are indiscriminate to each other, except for their own individual differences, because they are all different and all unique. United differences. One of the best combinations of words that could describe this is the EU motto: “United in Diversity”. A high quality union of diverse nations, diverse regions, diverse people, does not facilitate extreme nationalism or national divides. Instead of war on the battlefield, at sea or in the air, wars are waged on the political stage.

I have no concerns for freedom to be in danger in the situation of a world government, at least, a federal one. One of the reasons is as described before: if the world is not governed by special interests of particular groups, brought down to a number of diplomats horse trading in closed rooms, but as a union of humanity, human values will be represented, human dignity will be defended and human rights will be enforced. The citizens of the world should have a voice in the world, as they do on a continental, national, regional and local level. Not having one is exactly what allows autocratic regimes to do what they want with few consequences, until the international community (as far as it can be united on anything) responds some time later with measures that work sometimes and don’t work at other times.

So what the world needs now is for the individual to be the highest decision-making body in the world, by bringing her/him to the global political stage. A single person representing a people will always represent him- or herself in some way. Citizens should represent themselves, in a way that can be held accountable.

This is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of any organization I am associated with.

Like this on Facebook!
(opens in a new window)