Part 6: No need for a bureaucratic world government2000-08-08In some other documents on these home pages arguments have been put forward in favor of an ambitious international program for space exploration. Among other things a new elite composed of the key personnel from various influential national elites would emerge having all the necessary prerequisites to compete very successfully with the old military elites. Since this idea may sound like it would threaten national souvereignty, I better explain that I personally can't see any advantages in forming some kind of world government at this stage of civilisation. To begin with such an organisation would probably lead to extreme bureaucracy as well as corruption. We already have the UN which we can try to reform and improve. And as long as we haven't perfected it there is no reason to embark on any other experiments on global government. The only thing I can think of in that direction is to try to foster a generation of well-educated people with a broad perspective but without any preconceived plan for what they are expected to make of it. It's up to them. I beleive one component in such an education would have to consist of an authentic account of modern history. Nothing hidden. It wouldn't make them admire their ancestors, but it might make them wiser. - - - There has been a lot of talk of a so called new world order. This term has been used both to describe what is already a fact as well as to describe some kind of future threat, where UN generals and troups would take over in the United States. I have never seen such claims substantiated anywhere and I think that's pure nonsense. Therefore it doesn't need further comment here. Instead the new elite could operate in the same way that the presently existing multinational enterprises (or any other) as well as the scientific community. Ie already existing and reasonably smoothly operating forms of cooperation. There may be bureaucracy there too, but not comparable(?) to that in politics. Sometimes the transnationals are viewed as some kind of threat, but I don't think it's so bad. Not as long as the world economy is characterized by a sound competitive athmosphere, or quality is achieved through some other means. The transnationals have become more and more powerful. But I like to think that this is because they operate efficiently and provide people with services, careers and economic growth. I want to think that it's a healthy kind of growth in most cases. And when it isn't it can probably be handled with legislation. Clearly there is room for creative ideas about how to make economy operate more efficiently. The role of politicians is to inspire the people and to unite them. And to gather advisors who help in the process. The ties among the nations will emerge naturally without any need for drastic changes of the formal rules for government. Experts are already accustomed to cooperate. All they need is an inspiring goal to work towards and a long term perspective. The politicians and their advisors can lead us into the future from their usual democratic platforms. The international space program can be designed and put forward in the same way as previous space projects. It's only the scale and economic importance that will be much bigger. Negotiations among the nations can be done informally. Digression The following discussion regarding intelligence gathering is motivated by a fear that the previous and ongoing abuses connected with the intelligence agencies might lead to a temporary closing down of them which in the long term might be harmful. Consider these notes as a humble effort to say something constructive but without really expecting to come up with anything of lasting value. Intelligence gathering will be very fundamental to the security of all as well as to perfect the operation of economy. However the previous military orientation of these organisations would need to change, and become closely connected with the 'democratic agenda'. The idea is that all the presently existing information-handlers, like schools, universities, science, all the media, the internet and so forth would operate more efficiently. How that would happen doesn't matter. The task of the intelligence activities would be defined loosely as a complement to the other activities: To cover those important parts missed by the other activities. And to make sure the democratic leaders have the best possible basis for decisionmaking. The 'democratic agenda' is taken to mean that things will evolve in a spirit of openness. No unnecessary secrets. No conspiring elites. It is one of the task of the intelligence gatherers of the future to make it work. The long term goal would be to make the world operate so smoothly that less of espionage proper would be necessary to gather intelligence. The difference with the presently existing situation would be a different scale of the economy based on the exploitation of space, which has potential for a steady growth for centuries. It's in this growing sector that the key individuals who would leave the old military system would find interesting jobs. If one would put all the emphasis on economic growth, forgetting about other aspects, it is conceivable that a notable space-( read moon-) dependent increase in world economic growth could be accomplished within less than 20 years after the start and thereafter the growth rate could be expected to increase steadily gradually moving the activities further out in the solar system. There is no point in speculating in detail because all the best ideas aren't here yet. The growth would in all likeliness be the consequence of some scheme similar to that in the reference cited in part 2. The exploitation of space would be both a direct one: To harvest energy, materials and to manufacture products, as well as an indirect one, which could well be of greater importance initially: To provide challenges leading to a host of valuable spinoffs in all branches of civilisation. Personally I find that aspect more interesting. It could even be argued that one should design the whole space exploration program with the spinoffs as the main motivating factor. All the beauty and efficiency observed in the natural world is a spinoff of overcoming challenges. Return to Introduction |