Scope Is More Than Just A Mouthwash
Whether or not there should be a world government is beyond the scope of Leonardo’s Bridge this time, simply because I just don’t have enough time. I hope at some future time (perhaps between semesters) I will.

Instead, this post will attempt to answer the following two questions:

I think I can answer both of those questions with one analogy.

An Analogy
I love a good analogy. The surest way to comprehension when thinking about something big and complex is to reduce it to a beautifully simple, yes, elegant analogy. This analogy, I think, is almost perfect.

Let’s pretend. Let’s pretend that the entire world is shrunken down to the shape, size, and borders of the United States, which means that each state is a nation. You’ve got the People’s Republic of Maryland, the United Kingdom of Maine, and the Democratic Republic of Arkansas, for example. I’m sure you can think of other appropriate (and amusing) nation-state substitutions. Let’s just agree, however, that the UN is headquartered in Washington, DC.

As with the real world, some states are part of the union and some aren’t, but most states want to be. In order to do so, they have to agree to behave by certain rules; presumably ethical rules. Presumably they also have some say in what those rules are and presumably there are punishments (sanctions) for not. That’s a lot of presumptions.

Now let’s say that the dominant economic, cultural, and military power in the UN is… oh, I don’t know… Texas. They helped found the UN. Because they’re strong enough, bold enough, and selfless enough, they’ve been willing and able to handle most of the military needs of the rest of the states. That’s right. Texas has shouldered most of the burden of being the police, fire department, national guard, and FEMA for the rest of the country, with some support from the District and other states. We can all thank Texas for being Texas.

Whatever else you may feel about Texas, you have to admit that they are burdening themselves with this. And they don’t have to. They could bottle up solipsistic and never help another soul. But they don’t; they wouldn’t. They go out and they help their neighbors, wherever they are needed, especially if it requires a gun. I think it is reasonable to expect that Texas would actually do this.

A soldier there might say, “Whelp, looks like we gotta go kill some bad folks in Utah. Dang if I didn’t just do a tour in West Virginia last year.” And off he’d go to git some.

We’ve Got 99 Problems But A UN Ain’t One
The problem here should be obvious. One state is responsible for the emergency services of the entire nation. One state that donates more aid than many other states combined. One state with some serious ethical concerns about the relationship between its economics and its politics. One state that has the same vote as every other state and gets itchy under the collar about it. One state that doesn’t really (not reeeeally really) have to follow the same guidelines set by DC for everyone. One state that, today if not tomorrow, is strong enough not to listen if it really didn’t feel like it that day. One state that, in a nation of constantly changing technology and dynamics, might not always be Texas.

If that doesn’t seem like a problem to you, then let’s play pretend a bit more.

Imagine that one group of citizens in Alabama was oppressing, torturing, or killing another group of its citizens. Imagine that Texas was running out of oil but the Alaska had a bunch. Imagine that a rogue faction from Utah attacked Texas. Imagine that the state of Texas owed a lot of money to Florida.

Blah Blah I Can’t Hear You
If DC thinks it has a solution that would cost the least lives, money, and political capital, shouldn’t Texas listen and do what it is asked? But shouldn’t Texas also have the freedom to defend itself and pursue its interests as it sees fit? If Texas has taken on the brunt of all these nation-level responsibilities, why in the world (get it?) would they take direction from anyone else about how it is this is be handled? We’re Texans and we’re gonna handle this!

So… Houston, we have a problem. Let’s talk about this on The Far Side.
-CG