Dreaming a really big dream – One Global Democracy

Peter Schurman made his case for creating One Global Democracy, provoking a fascination discussion at the July Central Coast Bioneers Critical Conversation. Schurman posited that having one global democracy would make it much simpler for society to deal with issues such as climate change, inequality, and imbalance of wealth. Calls have already been made to make taxation global to prevent the uber rich from hiding funds out of reach in foreign countries. Schurman explained how such a system would also increase economic opportunity, improve disease response time, and reduce human trafficking.  Borders, especially borders imposed by colonialism and war victors, are a huge part of the problem.

According to Schurman, separate countries no longer make sense. Now is the time for change, because of how connected society has become through technology, the increase in urbanization and the fact that half of the world’s population is under 30 years old.  Middle class Americans are become tired of their growing downward mobility. An unexpected statistic present by Schurman is the fact that war is actually sharply on the decline, compared to the last century. Violence has also declined, despite what the media and alarmist governments would have us believe. Pope Francis is having a profound effect on millions of Catholics worldwide, stating that “…there is an urgent need of a true world political authority….”

How can we accomplish this lofty goal? In his answer, Schurman quotes Buckminster Fuller: “Build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” New technologies and models like block chain and liquid democracy could enable voting at scale and depth like never before. The digital divide is closing and internet use is increasing worldwide. What is left now is to build the idea into a movement. As Schurman points out, who would have thought national gay marriage could have been possible only five short years ago? For those who missed Peter Schurman’s presentation, his presentation can be seen here.  https://prezi.com/vbivaobqbgzs/one-global-democracy-july-2015/  More information is also available on the One Global Democracy website. http://oneglobaldemocracy.com/