Since the last decades of the 20th century, the phrase ‘global community’ and ‘global village’ have almost been used synonymously with the connectivity/network characteristic of internet. In retrospect therefore globalization came to mean the ‘process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together’ . It will not be a bogus claim to say that in almost all the cadres of life, globalization has to a reasonable degree been realized except in the world’s socio-economic holistic integration.
Even when the world maintains a gentleman’s cross-national political interaction; even the acceptance of a supreme being despite religion’s polarizing opinions, despite the high acceptance rate of sporting activities, the social life and economic integration of the world community remains epileptic, with the leaders of the world swinging the balance to their own benefit.
Though the majority of the world population has realized and somewhat accepted the oneness of all humans, irrespective of ethnic or racial diversity, on-ground-experience almost often forces one to believe that the so viewed acceptance is more of in principle than otherwise.
The movement of integration and spread of wealth has been from up down and not from bottom up, with those at the base of the chain or development getting a little drop trickling down for those up.
The issue of world community is viewed through six different but inter-connected lenses thus:
• The cosmos
• Politics
• Religion
• Economy
• Peace
• Reaching-out s
The cosmos
The cosmos is an ordered whole. Though there is diversity in existents, each existent maintains harmony with its own group and relate with others in the way their nature permits. Except humans, every other existent has done a great deal to preserve our collective habitat.
From the gas flaring in Nigeria to the industrial carbon emission in China and from the nuclear plants in Iran to the melting of glaciers and the great ice sheets of Greenland. According to the coauthors—Thomas Karl, director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, and Kevin Trenberth, head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)—conclude that ‘industrial emissions have been the dominant influence on climate change for the past 50 years, overwhelming natural forces’. Several records have it that since the last century, the erosion of biodiversity, that is, ‘the variety of life: the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, their genes and the ecosystems of which they are a part ’, has been ‘at a rate 100 times the natural rate of extinction due to human activities that include pollution, habitat loss, increased consumption and climate change’ .
Sometimes it seems dramatic how the emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps solar radiation and warms the planet’ has stepped humanity into a great urgency of now, to either save the earth or sink with it and by so doing create the world into a tolerant one voice. But the question is, is it only in solving climatic problem that the world has the joy to disregard race and ethnicity?
It is quite interesting how the whole world can think about carrying out the most possibly urgent approach to save the mother earth from explosion. There is no mention of race, ethnicity, skin colour or other bigotry references, instead, they clamour strictly on the urgency to save our planet. And, in my opinion, just as Obama will say, there is nothing we cannot achieve if we come together including love and value for one another irrespective of how queered our name, skin colour or race is. It is only by acknowledging that we are the people of the world, the people either fate, destiny or scientific projection implanted into this planet, who have no pre knowledge of our mission here or the form of existence we will take, then and only then that we can appreciate the possibility of unity our diversity offers us even when we disregard it because of our programmed interests or selfish ends.
Politics
From the time of Plato till date, politics has been defined and re-defined by a lot of scholars. Notwithstanding, this context portrays politics as a governmental, religious, academic social process by which people make decisions whose aim is to promote common good. Primarily therefore, the aim of politics is for social cohesion-to unite people of different temperament, belief, academic and social inclination by the good decisions of those who are bestowed, with the common will, the authority to do so.
In the recent years, within the World Union so much trumpeted, irrespective of their identity, every truth about politics is upheld save in its social usefulness and Machiavelli questions what truth is without its usefulness. The ‘double standard of behaviors, one for the rulers and the other for the people’ has subverted the common interest for the common good and rather replaced the same with the particular interest for the favored groups and the favored groups being those with authority.
Ordinarily, every human being has power but authority is what makes our powers operational and only few have it, either by the size of their empires or by the will of the people through voting. Those who have authority because they are rich still have limited authority in regard to those who are collectively voted to steer the common will for the common good. It is on the second that the demand to further the good of all is, unimpaired, imperative; hence, not to do so is perjury since they swore to do so, yet, the geometrically increment of the distance between the rich and the poor suggest a very contrary view, thus, those who should be protected are left to their own faith.
I think the best political edifice the world can raise in the 21st century is that, which bridges the gap, not only between the poor and the rich but also the yarning gap between poor nations and the rich ones, stipulating the same standard of behavior for the governors and the governed within the community of villages/nations of the world. If we can fight together to save the earth irrespective of whatever difference nature bestowed on us, we can as well achieve a politically sound world with less people with selfish inclination occupying strategic positions.
History has shown that it is not enough to send aids. The world needs more partnership/consolidation than they need aids. Of course the aim of every investment is profit but service to people could not be blindly thrown away in pursuit of profit else the world ‘social responsibility’ will be as meaningless as the fulcrum and firm point requested by Archimedes .
My point is clear, giving aid upon aid to the poor countries cannot alleviate their plights rather, it will go a long way to enrich the few who have access to it. The word’ global community’ can do more if its operational code is collective responsibility, that is, carrying the world along; white or black, the poor countries and the rich ones alike, by making legislations that favour the socio-political and economic situations of every partner, be it the USA or the Guineas, bearing in mind that as humans, we have one major goal thus, to better humanity.
Religion
Religion specifically is concerned with the consciousness of a being, supernatural, transcendental and metaphysical, who has influence on the believer and the realities around him/her and who in a tremendous way plays a vital/central role in deciding his/her destiny as well as leading him/her to it. From the distant history of humanity till date, religion has done a great deal in forming human consciousness and helping humanity evolve from one level of consciousness to another by strict belief and practice of edifying principles.
As political beings, the affairs of humans in a society have to a reasonable degree being influenced by their beliefs and religious practices, indicating the closeness of humans with what they believe in. Yet, religion, which has formed human’s consciousness since millions of years had played a destructive role in polarizing human beings from one another. The reason is not in religion itself but mingling of religion with selfish goals and pushing them so forward that the believers have limited or no options to choose, not because they lack good ability to choose but because they are programmed to believe that it is the will of the Supreme Being.
I think it will not be an overstatement to say that a cold-war-like dichotomy has remained in religion since centuries back. The Christians believe they are the true chosen and so to them are opened the gate of heaven; the Muslims believe that they are the true faithful and so have the only place left for believers in heaven should they cling to their religious profession. The same thing is evident in other religions such that the unity that faith presupposes is almost invisible and unrealistic. Like in the social set-up, religion has been so politicized to the point that, it once in the history of humanity became the means of colonizing people.
In the eve of a scientifically exploding world, religion, which should have been a cohesion force, lost its beauty because of the inelasticity of articles of faith. To a reasonable degree, this led to the dwindling of the progress of religion and morality, thus, plunging the world into an unprecedented crisis of faith and devaluation of values. It is not a matter of believe in God or anything, it is a matter of stack neglect of the fundamental universal unifying principles example, Love, Charity, Unity, Peace, Forgiveness, Integration etc.
Religion is in the recent years serving the central interest of the devout and not the universal interest of humanity, which is Unity and Peace culminating in a harmonious existence. In the words of Professor Wole Soyinka , ‘Any religious following can evoke parallel but opposing sets of protocols, citing the authority of some unseen and unknowable god in realms that have no perceptible contact with the actual. Religion must therefore submit to community, to nation, otherwise co-existence becomes impossible and the human entity reverts to a state of brutishness .
Religion no doubt is ‘a world view’ but religious teachings are different. They are life views hence; their purpose is to instill into followers a particular faith/life principle, whose aim is to unify humans to one single supreme creator or purpose. Science also is a world view whose interest includes uplifting the livelihood and living standard of humans by a combination of empirical observation, experimental investigation, and inductive reasoning.
Inability of men of faith to grow with the scientifically-fast-growing world has left followers of different religious beliefs with the sole intent to pronounce anathema on whatever seems to them as contrary to the demand of God and those who do them with the brand name of infidels or unbelievers, hence creating different world communities inside our one world. It is simply called INTOLLERANCE.
Succinctly therefore, religion aims at bringing the world into a unit, making humans a family of believers by generating a kind of harmony or unity in diversity among whites, or blacks, Christians or Hindus, Africans or Europeans and instilling in all humans a great sense of collaboration through tolerance or even better, acceptance. If well practiced, religion will go a long way to create a strongly united world, a world so evolved that the central purpose is unity, peace and harmonious coexistence.
Economy
Economy is a visual object through which the socio-political stability/instability of a country/people is reflected. A healthy politics by and large supposes a healthy economy.
Since the post Second World War the world has entered into a somewhat complete re-evaluation aimed at achieving economic stability within every nation and across nations, which supposedly was the immediate way out of the great depression. With the move, what looks like the first world’s unity was formed with the background notion that WE ARE ONE. In the present impending recession, the unity of human race is once more reinstated as the economic crises hit both great and small countries.
What is eminent in this problem is a change of consciousness, a collective reawakening into the oneness of human folk. Once again in the history of the world, a call for unity became imperative, leaving any likelihood of negligence more catastrophic than even the economic after effect of the post Second world war era. Recently, the prime minister of Britain, Gordon Brown re-echoed the ‘urgency of now’ in his suggestion of a ‘Global New Deal’ ‘ "What we're talking about today is how, by us taking action, Britain and America, we can help other countries join us in making for a more stable and effective financial system," . Financial system, not for England and the USA alone but for every nations’ economy.
More important still is the understanding of the fact that the possibility of the so called global new deal is attainable only by a holistic global socio-political integration. If the aim is only the empowerment of the economy, its survival will remain underdeveloped. Until every human is given the full right to participate in saving humanity, economically, socially, religiously and otherwise, the world will in one time and another experience what may be worse than the present economic disintegration of this early years of the 21st Century. I think that is why the timing of the economic disequilibrium is almost impeccable.
Obviously, Europe, America and the whole other continents will not object to any break-through to curb this present world mess irrespective of the source. What is important now is more about the workability than the source. No one thinks more about the source now than the possible positive result because the world acknowledges this as a big crisis. The reason is obvious- in crisis, people seem to think as one, black or white. The only thing we have shown no much concern to is remaining together, reasoning together and working together when all things are well.
The Second World War offered the world the chance to work together as one if we must succeed. We did and the success was not just immediate but none negligible but individual pursuit almost immediately sent the movement to its ‘status quo ante’. Another chance is offered by the present world financial crisis. Barack Obama usually says ‘there is nothing we cannot achieve when we work together’, and I add, there is nothing we cannot achieve if we stick together. There is no road we cannot discover if we collaborate.
The world economy has developed from up down, only trickling to the poor nations while the rich nations enjoy mega bonuses. Of course they worked for it but if wealth is not spread the world will remain poor and struggling. The only way out is to build up those who are down by working with them. Enshrined in the second-generation human rights of the 1966 expansion of the 1948 declaration on human rights is the right to social, economic and cultural equality , thus, stressing the universal demand of equal conditions and treatments to different citizenry. It doesn’t matter our colour or cultural difference, the only way the world can survive is to build up those who are down and work as a collectivity.
Once again, the only way the world economy can stabilize is by building up the world from bottom-up-like social integration, religious tolerance, economic emancipation and human appreciation. Even if the world economy is intelligently structured to survive the present crash, its survival will be so short-lived if the corresponding socio-cultural/racial and political integration is not renovated to follow in the same pattern.
We are one and we can only be stable as one otherwise, the reluctance of the evolved to pull up the evolving will manifest in the evolving dragging on the wheels of progress of the evolved because we exist in interconnectivity even though things are not always directly connected with one another.
Peace
Peace does not mean the absence of war but the presence of harmony. I once read a story thus ‘There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest - in perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why? "Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of Peaces."
The origin of peace is the individual’s heart but it is not the end of it. The end of peace is unity of individuals, unity of nations and unity of the world. The end of peace is harmonious co existence of human folks. It doesn’t mean where there is war or no war because war is created by greed and unregulated quest for power, the two things that run directly contrary to peace.
More than ever, the world is in daring need of peace now. From the Congo to Afghanistan, from India to Pakistan, from the Iran to United States, etc, but one thing we have given much less attention is building peace from our inner self. In a word, peace works like the legendry ‘Hundredth Monkey effect. If we can develop peace within our hearts and the hearts of people around us, we would have developed a kind of universal consciousness that continues to grow irrespective of contact with us or even better, irrespective of us- a consciousness that people from all corners of the universe can tune into even with little effect or knowledge about us .
One thing the world cannot ignore is peace no matter how it is conceived and no matter how long it takes to attain it. Be it as an action taken consciously or reaction forced to undergo, peace has to be among individuals, societies, races and nations before there could be the desired socio-political stability of the world. It is not all about waging war or shading blood, it is all about a new self awareness, a new evolvement and a new consciousness. Now is the time of peace and brotherhood among peoples, races and nations hence, ‘If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you with only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory at all, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves’ says Winston Churchill. More still, we must give everyone his or her freedom for whoever we keep captive will keep us captive and the moment we give others their freedom, our freedom is intensified. The urgency of peace is because peace alone holds the secret to the global community and the universal brotherhood the world ardently seeks.
Reaching out
In the exciting movie ‘Total Recall’ the alien says to Quid, a man is defined by his actions not his memory’. We are not remembered by how much we have thought but by what we have done and by how much our thoughts have influenced the world around us and the generations after us. There have been a lot of men of actions in the history of humanity but whereas some are remembered with accolades, others are remembered with deep sense of anger and hatred; yet those who lived their life for the good of humanity are almost immortalized generations after their exit. The reason is simple, whereas we fight and live our belief; they lived and fought for realities greater than they are thus.
From the likes of Jesus Christ to Mohammad, from Gandhi to Martin Luther, from mother Therese to Diana and to many other men and women of history whose ideal lives and works have influenced humanity, the effect of work for higher goals can never be underestimated. Even the work of volunteers, who choose to deny themselves the pleasure of familiar faces and friends around them in other to help out, the great effect of their actions is not just momentary relief but a universal healing, which could be impossible to achieve even by the best of doctors and psychologists. It is all about being part of it; it is all about identifying with the receiver and not just giving a hand for the sake of it.
The devastation of war, the destructions caused by religious extremism and the terrible effects of the world’s fast changing ecosystem has since the 20th Century made reaching out a universal imperative. It is true that no amount of arms we give can subside for the various losses caused by these human/non- human induced crises, yet, getting involved in other peoples’ pain, (even more), giving a hand to make them whole again highlights our oneness and forthwith, makes the whole idea of living admirable.
No doubt, the most pressing need of the world is the suffering of the so called third world countries or rather the developing countries. Granted the fact that every nation is naturally endowed with enough resources to make it really independent, the greed of many, especially those who have authority have for every reason save patriotism pressed their citizens below the level of real living. The developed countries on the other hand have not only been the umpire but somewhat the detached givers, who give because it is plausible to give not because it makes us one to identify with every human as a player in this universe.
Mother Therese of Calcutta once said, ‘the worst sickness is not even HIV AIDS but the conviction that we are not needed’. In my view really, the true out-reach is the one that carries the person of the giver and forms a remote union with the receiver in such a way that we give a kiss to our loved ones even when they have not washed their mouths. It is not a matter of sending billions of dollars alone yes, it is that but even more. Identifying with the receiver makes our giving more human than a mere routine.
On a deeper thought however, events seem to suggest that it is time every nation take care of themselves otherwise they relinquish the stature of nationhood. Since the declaration on human right to life and freedom, almost every nation has risen to the challenge of living except those that enslave their own people themselves in a way that seems silent to be seen by the outside world.
Recently, the president of America visited Ghana, one of the smallest countries in Africa but with the most recent record of change for the people in terms of governance. In his words,
In many places, the hope of my father`s generation gave way to cynicism, even despair. Now, it`s easy to point fingers and to pin the blame of these problems on others. Yes, a colonial map that made little sense helped to breed conflict. The West has often approached Africa as a patron or a source of resources rather than a partner. But the West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants. In my father`s life, it was partly tribalism and patronage and nepotism in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career, and we know that this kind of corruption is still a daily fact of life for far too many.
Now, we know that`s also not the whole story. Here in Ghana, you show us a face of Africa that is too often overlooked by a world that sees only tragedy or a need for charity. The people of Ghana have worked hard to put democracy on a firmer footing, with repeated peaceful transfers of power even in the wake of closely contested elections. And by the way, can I say that for that the minority deserves as much credit as the majority. And with improved governance and an emerging civil society, Ghana`s economy has shown impressive rates of growth.
This progress may lack the drama of 20th century liberation struggles, but make no mistake: It will ultimately be more significant. For just as it is important to emerge from the control of other nations, it is even more important to build one`s own nation.
So I believe that this moment is just as promising for Ghana and for Africa as the moment when my father came of age and new nations were being born. This is a new moment of great promise. Only this time, we`ve learned that it will not be giants like Nkrumah and Kenyatta
who will determine Africa`s future. Instead, it will be you -- the men and women in Ghana`s parliament --the people you represent. It will be the young people brimming with talent and energy and hope who can claim the future that so many in previous generations never realized.
Now, to realize that promise, we must first recognize the fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: Development depends on good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That`s the change that can unlock Africa`s potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.
As for America and the West, our commitment must be measured by more than just the dollars we spend. I`ve pledged substantial increases in our foreign assistance, which is in Africa`s interests and America`s interests. But the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by – it’s whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change. This mutual responsibility must be the foundation of our partnership…. .
The simple reason I cued this portion of the speech is to buttress the obvious fact that the childhood has right to self development even when it retains the right to be helped to develop. Africa and other third world countries have reached a stage when the greed for power and omnia-possession of what belong to all by a privileged few should and as a matter of urgency give way to true partnership in progress and collective development. The hands of the giver has reached the time it should receive from the receiver to make living a true give-and-take thus, making the right to give and to receive just as good to one as it is to another.
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