Yesterday I was helping my son with his Citizenship in the World merit badge. We were reviewing all of the atrocities that are coming from North Korea. Monday night I caught a portion of Newt Gingrich’s speech where he declared that he is NOT a citizen of the world, but strictly a citizen of the United States of America. I have not always agreed with Speaker Gingrich, like when he declared that the era of Reagan Conservatism was over, but I did like his citizenship comment.
The New World Order might appear to be in play, but it isn’t here yet. There is no single world government and no King of the World—except in the movie Titanic. To be a citizen of the world would imply that we share our citizenship with North Korea, Iran, and China. We don’t. America is not perfect; but even with all of her faults, we are blessed to live in the best country in the world.
The President’s apology tours have been upsetting. In Saudi Arabia he bowed to their leader. He told Iran that they can have nuclear power but we get windmills for alternative energy. In Turkey he declared that we are not a Christian nation and in Cairo he said we were the biggest Muslim country in the world. Part of the Citizenship in the World badge had us look at a newspaper from another country online. We looked at the paper from Aljazeera. The Muslim world loved the words coming from President Obama. He even opened with assalaamu alaykum which means “Hey Y’all” in Arabic. Do you remember all of those Internet rumors going around during the election about Obama really being a Muslim? I never put any faith in them, but now I’m starting to wonder.
Citizenship in the World merit badge requires the scouts to look at various world organizations too such as the United Nations, Amnesty International, World Court, etc. My son chose the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Health Organization. The requirements are an interesting study of the world and how we are connected.
A few years ago I made a video tape of my in-laws that can be passed down through the generations. One of the questions that I asked my father in-law was what has changed the most since he was a boy sixty years ago. His answer was that the world has gotten smaller. Because of advances in technology we all appear to be more interrelated now than even when I was a kid in the 1970’s. We can use the Internet to look up foreign newspapers and read opinions of people from all over the world. We have learned that we are all connected through trade, environment, and defense. Still, I’m not a citizen of the world. Like Newt, I too am a citizen of the United States; and even more specifically, I’m a citizen of Georgia!
Hello,
Enjoyed reading your blog post. I see the world a bit differently.
My basic “self” is first a human. In a larger perspective, I am born of planet Earth. I very much love the USA, however, and give thanks each day to the privileges which living in this free country has given me.
As the world gets smaller, as noted by your father in-law, we have an evolutionary imperative to construct a law and order system for the world – hopefully a democratic system which has worked well for us at the smaller levels of politics, that being the city, the state, and the nation (country). With the shrinking world and the decentralizing power of the Internet, we now have the potential to band together as humans to strive to address some very terrible problems which afflict the human race – such as the destructive powers of war, ecological dangers, and improving human rights.
I saw a neat documentary of a western reporter spending time within various Iranian cities – just speaking with the common people of Iran. Here – there is just a wish for peace and no animosity towards other countries or races or religions. You must note that the perspective of common people is distinctly different than official governmental agendas – driven by the power elite in an attempt to remain in power. All common people in all corners of the earth hate war!
It was Ronald Reagan who stated – “People do not make wars: governments do.”
We have a road map to get us to a more just and peaceful world at this website – voteworldgovernment.org – and a book to outline a realistic roadmap to a democratic world government at rescueplanforplanetearth.com . (There are 3 free chapters from this book found at the website which can be downloaded for examining the logic and feasibility behind this global referendum on democratic world government).
Besides the quote below at the end of this post – there are also close to 200 hundred other quotes in the Rescue Plan concerning various aspects of this democratic road to a world which the common person of earth wants – quotes from the likes of John Kennedy, Albert Einstein, Dr. Stephen Hawking, Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, H.G. Wells, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Charlie Chaplan, Colin Powell, Martin Luther King Jr., Harry S. Trumann, George Washington, Buckminster Fuller, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, William Penn, George Herbert Walker Bush, Walter Cronkite, Ronald Reagan, Adlai Stevenson, General Douglas MacArthur, Pope John Paul II, John Lennon, Francis Bacon, Mikhail Gorbachev, Leo Tolstoy, Emery Reves, Benjamin Franklin, Pope John XXIII, Robert F. Kennedy, Socrates, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Justice William O. Douglas, Patrick Henry, Former UN Secretary General U Thant, and others – who support the general direction of democratic world government and world law to address supranational challenges such as war, weapons of mass destruction, ecological degradation, and basic human rights.
It was the great 18th century political philosopher Thomas Paine who said “My country is the world, my religion is to do good, and all men are my brothers.”
I agree with Thomas Paine.
Cherish Life!
Ted Stalets
Ted,
What you advocate is a Utopian ideal. However, like all Utopias, it isn’t going to happen. A world government that can ban wars can also ban fundamental freedoms that we, as Americans, hold dear. There have been resolutions floated in the United Nations banning criticism of religions, particularly Islam. This, however, goes against our idea of freedom of speech. Other nations maintain state religions, so how would something like this be resolved by this “one world government”, especially among a people who value the freedom to worship as they see fit?
On the website you link to, I found this phrase:
I note the phrase “globally enforced peace”, but so long as something is “enforce”, you have tyranny. Trust me, this peace will have to be enforced at the point of a gun. Further, that quote indicates an ideology in keeping with progressive principles we see in this nation. However, I repeatedly argue on this blog that these do not promote freedom on any level. Now, admittedly the ideology is merely extrapolated and could easily be wrong.
Then, there’s the practicality of such thoughts.
With even our closest allies, there are fundamental differences politically and culturally, that would cause conflict in any attempt at consolidation. Now, take into account the even bigger differences between nations that are not even close to being friends (say the US and North Korea for example) and how realistic is it to expect these differences to be put aside?
Lastly, I’m a fan of Thomas Paine. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that quote means what you’d like for it too. Remember that Paine was a patriot of a new nation, one that he helped shape. That nation was all that mattered to him, his “world” if you will, and not an call for a single world government.