November Challenge Meme, part 6
This is a lot of posts for me. Crazy talk!
And now, the post you've all been waiting for: angledge told me to write about my plan for world peace.
World peace sounds great. All as one, working for the greater good of humanity, no borders, no wars, just a global openness and spirit that leads to the glory of mankind.
In summary, world peace is bullshit.
Why does peace fail? Because it involves people, and people are inherently flawed and corrupt creatures. If you took away all the people, we'd have no problems at all. Of course, that defeats the very concept of world peace, since you want all the people to work together in harmony.
So... how do you convince an entire world of flawed corrupt selfish bastards to let go of their inherent hatred for everyone else and embrace a global vision of togetherness?
...
...let's try the worst idea possible.
Have you ever read the graphic novel "Watchmen"? (if you haven't, you might want to stop reading this post, since I'm about to spoil everything) In it, the "supervillain", Ozymandias, comes up with a plan to prevent the world from crossing over into another final world war and fall back into uniting as one. Hey, that sounds great! Why is he the supervillain? Well, he does this by killing 20 million people in one single hit and blaming a false threat of "aliens", causing the entire world to react in fear and solidarity and unite to prevent such a thing from ever happening again.
This is, regrettably, not unrealistic.
Much like fixing a computer can often be accomplished by hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL, we need a bit of a reset ourselves. A global EMP to neutralize all things technological, the annihilation of all national capitals and the people within, and a plague that indiscriminately kills 5% of the population. Another 10-15% will follow in the chaos of the moment. Then, with about a quarter of the human population extinguished and the collapse of governments, things will start to work again, and people will recover and rebuild, and maybe, just maybe, people will be more willing to work together to ensure their collective survival.
But this is totally apocalyptic and horrific, and does not guarantee unity. It puts things back on even footing and requires time to recover and, hopefully, unite.
...
...let's try a nicer idea.
World unity requires exactly that: unity. People need to be united without reservation.
Union number one: language. A single language for the whole population of Earth. Everyone must learn it, and use it for all communications. This eliminates misunderstandings through translation.
Union number two: borders. Eliminate all borders. No more country lines. No more passports and visas. No restrictions on where to go and how to get there. World unity means you can go anywhere in the world.
Union number three: governance. If you eliminate the borders, you must, by default, eliminate the individual governments that control those borders. The establishment of a single global body dedicated to maintaining the well-being of humanity would need to be established... and yet that would be run by flawed humans, and we return to our original dilemma.
Union number four: education. Freely given to all. Without education, no further progress can be made. Let everyone learn what they can, as much as they can.
Union number five: currency. It is still necessary. However, food and energy should be freely available everywhere to everyone.
Voila! Peace!
Oh wait, this is too utopic and idyllic, and requires humanity to be reasonable. This is itself an unreasonable hope.
...
...what's between those two?
Well, have you ever played a game of Risk? Or the computer game Civilization? A world can be united in that way as well. One strong nation rises up and eventually assimilates all other nations via diplomacy or conquest. Voila! World unity has been achieved through the glorious horror of warfare and maybe some shady negotiation. Not our best option. Hail Hydra.
How about money? With sufficient capital and control of resources, one nation can effectively dominate the world's markets by determining who gets what, and how. Want to hurt someone? Stop sending them food and medicine. Want to make friends? Give them goods for cheap. War getting you down? Stop exporting to one side... or both sides... or beef up a third side and watch the party. Capitalistic manipulation can ultimately lay low all opposition.
How about genocide1? Oooh, yeah, there's a fun word. But the systematic eradication of everyone who is opposed to you is technically also a method to world peace. Once no one is left to oppose you or fight you, you have the peace of your own solitude to comfort you. I'm not saying this is the best option. I'm just saying it's an option that exists. A horrible option that makes the apocalypse look like a party.
...let's face it: world peace is tough because people are difficult. Fucking people.
...and if I had to choose, I'd take the Ozymandias route. Even if I'd probably die in the first wave. Heh.
1 True story at work: First, we have those phones with all that fancy caller ID stuff so it shows you the name of the person calling you, or at least their number. In some cases, for generic department lines, maybe just an office name. Second, there is an office on Genocide Investigation and Prevention somewhere in the building. So, when I got a phone call from "Genocide 1", I have to admit, I was a bit nervous.
And now, the post you've all been waiting for: angledge told me to write about my plan for world peace.
World peace sounds great. All as one, working for the greater good of humanity, no borders, no wars, just a global openness and spirit that leads to the glory of mankind.
In summary, world peace is bullshit.
Why does peace fail? Because it involves people, and people are inherently flawed and corrupt creatures. If you took away all the people, we'd have no problems at all. Of course, that defeats the very concept of world peace, since you want all the people to work together in harmony.
So... how do you convince an entire world of flawed corrupt selfish bastards to let go of their inherent hatred for everyone else and embrace a global vision of togetherness?
...
...let's try the worst idea possible.
Have you ever read the graphic novel "Watchmen"? (if you haven't, you might want to stop reading this post, since I'm about to spoil everything) In it, the "supervillain", Ozymandias, comes up with a plan to prevent the world from crossing over into another final world war and fall back into uniting as one. Hey, that sounds great! Why is he the supervillain? Well, he does this by killing 20 million people in one single hit and blaming a false threat of "aliens", causing the entire world to react in fear and solidarity and unite to prevent such a thing from ever happening again.
This is, regrettably, not unrealistic.
Much like fixing a computer can often be accomplished by hitting CTRL-ALT-DEL, we need a bit of a reset ourselves. A global EMP to neutralize all things technological, the annihilation of all national capitals and the people within, and a plague that indiscriminately kills 5% of the population. Another 10-15% will follow in the chaos of the moment. Then, with about a quarter of the human population extinguished and the collapse of governments, things will start to work again, and people will recover and rebuild, and maybe, just maybe, people will be more willing to work together to ensure their collective survival.
But this is totally apocalyptic and horrific, and does not guarantee unity. It puts things back on even footing and requires time to recover and, hopefully, unite.
...
...let's try a nicer idea.
World unity requires exactly that: unity. People need to be united without reservation.
Union number one: language. A single language for the whole population of Earth. Everyone must learn it, and use it for all communications. This eliminates misunderstandings through translation.
Union number two: borders. Eliminate all borders. No more country lines. No more passports and visas. No restrictions on where to go and how to get there. World unity means you can go anywhere in the world.
Union number three: governance. If you eliminate the borders, you must, by default, eliminate the individual governments that control those borders. The establishment of a single global body dedicated to maintaining the well-being of humanity would need to be established... and yet that would be run by flawed humans, and we return to our original dilemma.
Union number four: education. Freely given to all. Without education, no further progress can be made. Let everyone learn what they can, as much as they can.
Union number five: currency. It is still necessary. However, food and energy should be freely available everywhere to everyone.
Voila! Peace!
Oh wait, this is too utopic and idyllic, and requires humanity to be reasonable. This is itself an unreasonable hope.
...
...what's between those two?
Well, have you ever played a game of Risk? Or the computer game Civilization? A world can be united in that way as well. One strong nation rises up and eventually assimilates all other nations via diplomacy or conquest. Voila! World unity has been achieved through the glorious horror of warfare and maybe some shady negotiation. Not our best option. Hail Hydra.
How about money? With sufficient capital and control of resources, one nation can effectively dominate the world's markets by determining who gets what, and how. Want to hurt someone? Stop sending them food and medicine. Want to make friends? Give them goods for cheap. War getting you down? Stop exporting to one side... or both sides... or beef up a third side and watch the party. Capitalistic manipulation can ultimately lay low all opposition.
How about genocide1? Oooh, yeah, there's a fun word. But the systematic eradication of everyone who is opposed to you is technically also a method to world peace. Once no one is left to oppose you or fight you, you have the peace of your own solitude to comfort you. I'm not saying this is the best option. I'm just saying it's an option that exists. A horrible option that makes the apocalypse look like a party.
...let's face it: world peace is tough because people are difficult. Fucking people.
...and if I had to choose, I'd take the Ozymandias route. Even if I'd probably die in the first wave. Heh.
1 True story at work: First, we have those phones with all that fancy caller ID stuff so it shows you the name of the person calling you, or at least their number. In some cases, for generic department lines, maybe just an office name. Second, there is an office on Genocide Investigation and Prevention somewhere in the building. So, when I got a phone call from "Genocide 1", I have to admit, I was a bit nervous.