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One World

 

                                                                                                September 13, 1991

   The United Nations was  created as a forum that can absorb the pugnacious propensities of the members through their polemical intensities. The gathering public opinion has through its own evolution  veered round to considering the UN as an organisation that can be vested with some military authority. An analysis of that evolution will be very interesting apart from being educative.

   Now that the Stockholm Initiative has voiced that idea, it is possible to dwell on it.  This is an idealistic suggestion that should be received as such and expanded in that sense. As one whose idealistic thoughts hovered over the world body and whose exercises in Idealism have opened up dimensions of organisational realities, I would cherish the suggestion and not stretch it.

   Organisations have real life and their realities are intense. Also the potentials they hide are great. Here I base myself on drawing upon some of those potentials that would foster the idealism of the Stockholm Initiative. Some of them may meet with the approval of the many and the opposition of few.

   The whole approach is to endeavour to give shape to the suggestion or create some base. Today the UN is an important NOBODY. Any vestige of authority given to it, however small it is, will serve as a beginning of its future role. The following are in that direction.

   The world that has realised the imperative need of abolishing colonialism, wars, and cold wars has come to realise that poverty, disease, pollution, drug addiction, and terrorism are to be abolished.

   The world that has tolerated famines now wants to abolish them. Amartya Sen goes further to say the threat of famine must be abolished.  In the last decade the fear of population outgrowing land was there. Now there is a welcome recognition that availability of food is NOT a problem, only that it needs to be produced.

   In this context of a new awareness of food production and the urge to abolish poverty, we can make ourselves bold to say that:

   -- the UN be authorised to accept invitations of member governments  to come into their territory for a short while to help us abolish famine.

  That opens up a new vista. If that goes well as a thought, we can add:

   -- the UN be authorised to accept invitations of governments to

      abolish chronic widespread diseases beyond a level of tolerance.

   -- to abolish terrorism from their soil.

   -- to abolish drug trafficking on their borders.

   -- to abolish illiteracy which has defied 50 years of their effort.

 Suppose a State of USSR now invites the UN to step in to help them cross this winter without poverty, is the UN ready now or is it empowered to act by its charter. It opens a new vista for those dreamers of a world government.



story | by Dr. Radut