A Guru's View of World Government (Cont.)

(With world government being such a controversial subject these days, given the United Nations' abject failure to address humanity's problems, World Citizen News continues the serial reprinting of Guru Nataraja's 1956 Memorandum on World Government, which treats the subject holistically or, as he wrote, "geo-dialectically." Viewed within the context of the guru's wisdom-though he passed away in 1973 and despite his gender-exclusionary language-readers can enjoy a fresh and timely perspective on an engrossing subject.)

6. The overall functioning of the World Government

The inarticulated feelings of the soul of humanity or the emergent personality of the people of the world has to find its voice in the World Government. The point of view of the World Government has to be broadcast unhesitatingly in no uncertain terms and even with authority. Truth must be given a chance to prevail. Relativistic compromise is what makes humanity at present weak. These are facts which need no repetition here. As the World Government emerges more and more to public view, it will represent the conscience of humanity and will spotlight from day to day the errors detrimental to humanity's interests. In such a task it must keep clear from tacitly or openly becoming a tool in the hands of any existing power block. Even if help should be obtained from some one quarter more than another, the World Government must be above suspicion in pointing out mistakes. The cheap headline world of propaganda must be avoided. A 'Voice of Humanity' and a World News Agency may be started to serve the cause of the World Government.

7. The issuance of World Passports

The issuance of World Passports has already commenced. This would ease the situation arising in the cases of millions of persons who have no national status within nations. The response of nations is already there. Such persons will henceforth belong to the World Government. Their combined voice will and must be heard through the instrumentality of the World Government.

8. Proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights made by the United Nations at Paris 1948 gives a legitimate overall function covering many points so far remaining unimplemented. Many major and minor nations are already committed to the thirty articles in this Declaration. In bringing vertical pressure to bear on this matter of implementation of that Declaration, the World Government would be in fact only helping the great number of nations to be true to their avowed undertakings.

9. To have a World Committee

To have a World Committee to give assent to the World Government and its functions from time to time and to hold World Conferences to compare notes and do all that is incidental to the formation and correct functioning of the Government, are also matters which are naturally to be provided for as normal to the program of the Government as it is expected to unfold and expand quickly or gradually as the outside conditions and innate forces warrant. Powers of supervision and assent may be vested in a Representative Select Committee of those who are wise normally or who have received proper training in the Institute of Dialectics connected with the World Government.

SECTION V

JURISDICTION, REVENUE, RESOURCES, ETC.

1. Territorial jurisdiction

The territorial jurisdiction of the World Government is the surface of the Earth. It does not think about owning any limited area to run its own primary Government with land taxes, frontiers to protect, and defense arrangements. Overweighted with these items, present governments are in many ways outmoded remnants of the past which must all be subjected to drastic revision. These revisions will take place automatically when the World Government as envisaged here begins to be more and more effective. Mundialization of select units of administration is not to be ruled out.

2. Revenue

Revenue is to be derived from the principle of indirect taxation as it prevails even now. Though indirect, the revenue will be by mutual consent. Service rendered by the Government could be charged for and, while prime necessities will be exempt even from such taxation as far as possible, items of luxury could be freely taxed. Such mattes will be attended to by the World Service Authority under the World Government. Indirect taxation is a form of profit which it is open for the World Government to make against services rendered. In fact trade combines and banking corporations-not to speak of religious bodies-even now exist, which have enormous assets sometimes as large and general of many existing governments. Economic and financial experts can see through the irregularities of some of the present monetary and other arrangements in which, by words such as 'going off the gold standard' or in dividing the world into 'hard' and 'soft' currency areas, wealth is conserved in pockets which when examined by standards of absolute justice, do not belong to them. Gold is stored in vaults without use for the artificially inflated credit of power blocks, and various book adjustments are made behind the back of the common man to whom the money really belongs. World banks and world currencies exist already without the regular consent of the people of the world and what is called a loan to one country from another is not really a loan, but a long term commercial deal. It would not be impossible for the World Government to have its own credit and currency valid the world over, and planned on some rational human basis such as one day's labor equals one day's food and shelter in a 30 or 40 hour week (or even less) in a world where competition has been counteracted by co-operation, and where labor-saving devices are employed for more human conditions.

As we have already said, the most valuable single asset of the World Government is the World Citizen. Since World Citizens can be found by virtue of the rightness of the cause in any part of the world in unlimited numbers, the assets of all well-intending people anywhere in the world are already in effect those of the World Government. A revised living and organic system of accounting and budgeting has to be devised. There being no duality of ends and means in this work, receipts and disbursements need not necessarily show large figures. After all, on final analysis, large-scale banking is nothing but bookkeeping.

To Be Continued...

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