The beginning

[Sector 7]

teacake wrote:

---

Well if you get this thing off the ground I'm going to the Outer Rim and staying off the grid.

I'll go with you. His "registering for citizenship" sounds a little too Orwellian for me. Many tyrannical empires began with requirements for citizenship. Citizenship should be automatic for all natives of a planet, especially Earth.

[mcmasterp]

Sector 7 wrote:

---

I'll go with you. His "registering for citizenship" sounds a little too Orwellian for me. Many tyrannical empires began with requirements for citizenship. Citizenship should be automatic for all natives of a planet, especially Earth.

We don't mean to suggest that you are required to register in order to BE a global citizen, it would just help for the mundane clerical aspects of citizenship. Picture your in customs on Rigal3, sure you can just SAY your a human but having an place on earth to verify that with is so much more practical.

The intersate highway system probably seemed just as stupid when they were laying that first mile of road.

[Sector 7]

^When we start interplanetary commerce and travel, then I'll go register.

[mcmasterp]

Sector 7 wrote:

---

^When we start interplanetary commerce and travel, then I'll go register.

fair enough. I know we'll get there one day

[CorporalClegg]

Sector 7 wrote:

---

^When we start interplanetary commerce and travel, then I'll go register.

This.

mcmasterp wrote:

---

The intersate highway system probably seemed just as stupid when they were laying that first mile of road.

The Interstate highway system is still stupid.

[Sector 7]

CorporalClegg wrote:

---

This.

The Interstate highway system is still stupid.

I remember traveling across the country on Route 66 as a child. Pixar's Cars is my all-time favorite movie for its love of The Mother Road. My favorite line, "People didn't travel to make good time. They traveled to have a good time."

[Rhubarbodendron]

Deranged Nasat wrote:

---

Essentially, I would fully support the attitude that we are one people. One who is many. [...]
I am not, however, convinced that a world government as most people propose it will be anything other than tyrannical, if not initially then inevitably in time, [...] through a combination of fear and simple psychological blindness. [...]
So many times I've seen it: people associate with a certain government, nation, religion, creed, ideology, political party, etc and become blind to its failings and abuses while condemning such elsewhere. Hypocrisy. Double-think.

That sums up my concerns as well. Inevitably certain nations with a high missionary-factor would try to tidy up the world according to their own values and believes (as they are already doing). As more tolerant nations are usually very peaceful ones, the likelyhood of intolerant warmongers and interferers becoming the leaders is almost 100%. Not a world I'd like to live in.
As for myself - and, I daresay for many of my fellow posters here - we already consider ourselves world citizens. Practically everyone here has friends abroad. We have discussions about cultural differences and mostly we accept the fact that we disagree. Usually we even disagree in a peaceful way.

Maybe what the world needs is more message boards (preferably ad-free ones, though)

[teacake]

mcmasterp wrote:

---

mundane clerical aspects of citizenship.

Riiiiiight. Just sign here, it's nothing, just some paperwork..

[BillJ]

Sector 7 wrote:

---

I'll go with you.

Make that three.

[Gaith]

I think the best steps we can take to creating a Trek-like planetary Utopia are to reduce world population as rapidly as we can while still acting peacefully and humanely - namely, by helping women everywhere get easy and affordable/free access to birth control.

It may not be a particularly glamorous effort, and even if the species-wide reproduction rate fell to below the replenishing rate tomorrow, it'd still take decades, maybe centuries, to arrive at an ideal total world population, but it's the best idea I've heard so far.

[BillJ]

Gaith wrote:

---

I think the best steps we can take to creating a Trek-like planetary Utopia are to reduce world population as rapidly as we can while still acting peacefully and humanely - namely, by helping women everywhere get easy and affordable/free access to birth control.

It may not be a particularly glamorous effort, and even if the species-wide reproduction rate fell to below the replenishing rate tomorrow, it'd still take decades, maybe centuries, to arrive at an ideal total world population, but it's the best idea I've heard so far.

Its definitely a big piece of the puzzle.

[T'Girl]

mcmasterp wrote:

---

I think a global government is a great start

One of the negatives to a single global government is that under our current ~200 nations, if a handful (or more) becomes abusive, it doesn't effect the entire Human species.

If you have a single government and it goes "bad," the populace has no recourse.

Also under the current model, there is the possibility of changing countries, migrating to one that is hopefully different/better than the one you find yourself in.

When you look at the world over the last half century mcmasterp, the trend is gradually towards having more nations, and not congregating into one "super nation."

Gaith wrote:

---

women everywhere get easy and affordable/free access to birth control

If you consider the cost of a woman's contraception over the course of her life, verse the one time cost of a vasectomy, there is a better option Gaith.

[JiNX-01]

Ulva wrote:

---

Don't let people tear you down. We need more people who believe it's possible to build a better future, not less.

I second this.

[Candlelight]

Sector 7 wrote:

---

I'll go with you. His "registering for citizenship" sounds a little too Orwellian for me. Many tyrannical empires began with requirements for citizenship. Citizenship should be automatic for all natives of a planet, especially Earth.

So you consider Facebook to be a tyrannical empire then?

[RoJoHen]

Last I checked, people weren't born into Facebook.