Humans, at least the the modern ones, have no option but to create multiple organizations. This is so because our needs and wants are and have grown beyond the productive capabilities and skills of individuals or small groups. Amongst the vast variety of organizations that we humans need and have created, government occupies a special and important place. It is so because governments provide the basic and common needs of individuals and organizations that are a prerequisite for leading comfortable and peaceful life and commencing and sustaining productivity.
A government essentially is in the business of protection and they meet their expenses through preemptive taxation. Protections provided include protecting the life and property of its citizens, protecting their savings through appropriate monetary and fiscal policies, protecting their contracts from being violated, protecting the geographical territory under its control, protecting consumers against monopolistic producers and so on. The governments also provide some redistributive justice through positive discrimination programs at the cost of better off taxpayers.
Traditionally governments have also been in the business of establishing requisite infrastructure including education and healthcare, for productive activities. However with the build up of capital outside governments, private organizations are making inroads in this area. Today one of the most extensive and essential infrastructure - the one for mobile telecommunications - is mostly owned by private organizations. Similarly some of the best schools and hospitals too are owned by private organizations.
Now, one wonders why is there such a vast multiplicity of governments in the world? Of course, governments form themselves in a hierarchical fashion. But the question is not in the context of governments at level 2 and below - states can be considered to be at level 2 while municipal corporations and other local self government bodies are at the next level. The question is why do we have so many level 1 governments in the world? Level 1 governments are important in as much as the functions of protecting the geographical territory and savings of its citizens, in other words defense and fiscal and monetary policies are invariably its responsibility. Also, it cannot be gainsaid that these level 1 governments are fierce about protecting their sovereignty and sovereign powers and that is why level 0 organizations like UNO and IMF have never really attained the level 0 status envisaged for them.
The question arises - is there an optimum size of terrain or population for a level 1 government? Or is it limited by the considerations of racial, cultural, religious, and lingual homogeneity? Or are the different sizes merely results of historical accidents based on the strength, vision and fancies of original settlers / conquerors? Or have all of these factors have played a role in bringing into existence today's level 1 governments.
Whatever be the original cause, today all these bases for forming a level 1 government are getting weaker and less and less relevant. Air travel, telephony and data communication have considerably diluted the concept of distance. The very same technologies have brought different cultures and races together by knitting together locations across the world in the totality of production and distribution processes. It is remarkable that while governments have remained constrained by geographical considerations and national boundaries, the business corporations have transcended these boundaries and become multinational.
Thus state-of-the-art technologies point to a distinct even if distant possibility of bringing the entire human race together under a single level 1 government without any need for coordinating bodies at level 0! But for today's technologies and organizational capabilities this possibility could not have emerged. Of course, many more things other than dilution of distance and some mingling of people from varied cultures and races, will have to be done to achieve this possibility. But what we can be sure of is the fact that all these efforts, howsoever hard, will be quite worthwhile.
The list of advantages that would accrue if we could ever realize the possibility presented before us, the possibility of having a single nation of humankind, the HumaNation, are mind boggling. It is so because the resources devoted to inter-governmental activities and processes are enormously gigantic. Let us take a look at the list of things that will just vanish into thin air and release hugely enormous resources we are talking about.
A government essentially is in the business of protection and they meet their expenses through preemptive taxation. Protections provided include protecting the life and property of its citizens, protecting their savings through appropriate monetary and fiscal policies, protecting their contracts from being violated, protecting the geographical territory under its control, protecting consumers against monopolistic producers and so on. The governments also provide some redistributive justice through positive discrimination programs at the cost of better off taxpayers.
Traditionally governments have also been in the business of establishing requisite infrastructure including education and healthcare, for productive activities. However with the build up of capital outside governments, private organizations are making inroads in this area. Today one of the most extensive and essential infrastructure - the one for mobile telecommunications - is mostly owned by private organizations. Similarly some of the best schools and hospitals too are owned by private organizations.
Now, one wonders why is there such a vast multiplicity of governments in the world? Of course, governments form themselves in a hierarchical fashion. But the question is not in the context of governments at level 2 and below - states can be considered to be at level 2 while municipal corporations and other local self government bodies are at the next level. The question is why do we have so many level 1 governments in the world? Level 1 governments are important in as much as the functions of protecting the geographical territory and savings of its citizens, in other words defense and fiscal and monetary policies are invariably its responsibility. Also, it cannot be gainsaid that these level 1 governments are fierce about protecting their sovereignty and sovereign powers and that is why level 0 organizations like UNO and IMF have never really attained the level 0 status envisaged for them.
The question arises - is there an optimum size of terrain or population for a level 1 government? Or is it limited by the considerations of racial, cultural, religious, and lingual homogeneity? Or are the different sizes merely results of historical accidents based on the strength, vision and fancies of original settlers / conquerors? Or have all of these factors have played a role in bringing into existence today's level 1 governments.
Whatever be the original cause, today all these bases for forming a level 1 government are getting weaker and less and less relevant. Air travel, telephony and data communication have considerably diluted the concept of distance. The very same technologies have brought different cultures and races together by knitting together locations across the world in the totality of production and distribution processes. It is remarkable that while governments have remained constrained by geographical considerations and national boundaries, the business corporations have transcended these boundaries and become multinational.
Thus state-of-the-art technologies point to a distinct even if distant possibility of bringing the entire human race together under a single level 1 government without any need for coordinating bodies at level 0! But for today's technologies and organizational capabilities this possibility could not have emerged. Of course, many more things other than dilution of distance and some mingling of people from varied cultures and races, will have to be done to achieve this possibility. But what we can be sure of is the fact that all these efforts, howsoever hard, will be quite worthwhile.
The list of advantages that would accrue if we could ever realize the possibility presented before us, the possibility of having a single nation of humankind, the HumaNation, are mind boggling. It is so because the resources devoted to inter-governmental activities and processes are enormously gigantic. Let us take a look at the list of things that will just vanish into thin air and release hugely enormous resources we are talking about.
- There will be no need for defense budgets, armies, spy organizations and defense technologies like nuclear weapons! Possibilities of invasions by aliens remain remote and infinitesimal. Disarmament in one go!
- No need for maintaining huge departments by multiple nations for administering to complex import and export regulations. Same goes for immigration departments. There will be no need for GATT and WTO either. For that matter all level 0 bodies and their activities will cease.
- The savings from closing down of embassies and high commissions too will be tremendous. Just look at the number of these establishments all over the world.
- There will be nothing like foreign exchange management, trading and related risks.
- There will be no tax havens or Swiss banks to store one's black money.
- Need to fight crimes like illegal immigration, smuggling, havala transactions will vanish as these crimes will cease to exist by definition.
- Administration of worldwide (multinational) corporations will be greatly simplified.
One of the stronger risks in this new HumaNation will be capture of the unified political power by wily elements or the highly gifted politicians of the variety found in our country in good numbers. Terrorists and fundamentalists too will train their sights on the same aim. If they were to succeed, there will be little hope for the mankind. Can we find a way of positively avoiding this risk? In the meantime you could keep your entry for the anthem of HumaNation ready for submission.
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