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Blake Ekelund

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The World would be a better place with one government.

The World right now is struggling--different currencies, new ordeals within countries, and the fear of others is on our minds everyday.

With one government most of this would be abolished--

How is one government not better?

Topics: government
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    Krisztián Pintér 200+

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    TED Translator
    May 22 2012: competition keeps organizations in check. competition makes companies produce the stuff we want in good quality and at low prices. competition among countries keeps the states in check. the possibility to leave, or even to look at another country and see what they do limits the state in its actions. good examples can spread, bad examples can be avoided. in other words, diversity and trial-and-error helps a lot. we don't need one state. probably we need more than we have. they are already too big.

    • Timo X

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      May 22 2012: Although your argument has beauty in it, states are not actually competing for citizens like companies for customers. It is not possible to disagree to participate with the state you are in. Sure, you can go to another country and if you live there long enough you might even get a new nationality. However, you would be giving up very much in the process: your family, your friends and your home. Switching to a new state involves so much more than switching to a new supermarket. So much more in fact, that the idea of competition between states falters.
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        May 22 2012: i don't know much about your country, but here are two facts about mine:

        1. doctors leave the country like a sinking boat. the government tries to threaten them, but it is difficult, as if they are too tough, it can backfire, and cost them votes.

        2. it is common among people to compare how things go here and how in other countries. usually the formula is something like "in a normal country ...". if a neighboring country has bigger progress, it is a media event. popularity of the government in these times falls like a rock.

        • Timo X

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          May 22 2012: Contrary to what my profile says, I am actually from the Netherlands. It could very well be that what you describe is an important difference between our countries. Indeed, when comparing my country with many others around the world, there is usually very good reason to stay. However, I would still point out that citizens wanting to leave a country is not the same as another country wanting to have them.
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        May 22 2012: my second point has nothing to do with going anywhere

        • Timo X

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          May 22 2012: True, but if the threat of citizens going somewhere else isn't credible, then there is no reason for a country to change its policies. Only a credible threat can keep a country 'in check', as you put it. Elections and even revolutions are examples of credible threats, but those things can happen just as easily in world with only one state.
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        May 22 2012: but i just gave you a counterexample. in hungary, doctors freshly out of universities leave the country presumably on dedicated buses, or charter flights, they are so many. (kidding, they go on their own, no charters.) guess what, other countries welcome doctors. that was just one example. and you are right, carpenters are not (yet) leaving. one can never know. on saturday, i ate chinese food. the guy behind the counter looked suspiciously asian.

        • Timo X

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          May 22 2012: Haha, true, but even China is still full of Chinese. I did, however, not mean that citizens never leave, I meant that most of them will stay regardless of how their country compares to others. Perhaps you are right that all Hungarians would leave if your government's popularity hit rock bottom, but I just can't picture that (and therefore must discount it as a driver for competition between countries). Either way, for your sake, I sure do hope we don't find out for sure :)
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        May 22 2012: okay, here is my offer: the 2nd argument is much more important than the 1st one. deal?

    • Misha Newman

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      May 23 2012: This is probably the best counter argument I have seen, and it's a fair point. However I would suggest that a one world government doesn't have to look the way you suggest it does. It doesn't have to mean the end of competition, trial and error or diversity, local issues in different regions can still be dealt with by local governments. It could and when it comes probaly will look something like the United states or the EU where each separate state can run itself in it's own individual way but agrees to a set of rules that are enforced by a central authority. The benefits of this would be the end of international wars, and an ability to force co-operation where it is needed so badly i.e global warming, humanitarian and natural disasters, science etc...
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        Krisztián Pintér 200+

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        May 23 2012: the reply to this is the historical fact that states tend to grow and join, as opposed to shrink or divide. look at the US. federal budget compared to GDP grows like mushrooms after rain. the EU is getting stronger over member nations. so power has the tendency to concentrate. i predict that if ever a world government will be conceived, it will grow in power and slowly take away tasks from local governments.

        • Misha Newman

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          May 23 2012: Great argument! I guess all I can say to this is the idea that power tends to concentrate kind of reinforces my belief that a one world government is inevitable. If it is inevitable we may as well not fight it but rather prepare for and create the best possible one world government we can.

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