Just picture it

It is amazing what flicking through old drawers can sometimes reveal. I began writing this speech when I was 16. I finished it one year later in 2006.

Picture a building. This building is gloriously golden. It is surrounded by lush green gardens. It is spring and they are in full bloom… The building is surrounded by 200 flags and sits in an area that transcends all national boundaries… in fact it unites them.

Good Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen another world is possible and this world is my vision. Society is standing at a crossroads they have a choice which they must make and pursue with courage. Members of the audience, you may if you so choose remain in your routines. You are comfortable in these routines and isn’t this alone justification...?  However, if you so choose such a course be aware that it is this very attitude on which today’s stagnant democracies thrive and further it is this attitude which trapped humankind as animals, for one thousand years! We are not primal beasts! And we cannot be bound! Following the onset of the Renaissance, from this we were freed but again we are restrained. We are restrained by nationalism. Nationalism is an evil we must all strive against. Please do not confuse patriotism with nationalism. They are not the same. Patriotism advocates pride in oneself and ones nation whereas nationalism does not. Nationalism unlike patriotism goes hand in hand with chauvinism and jingoism. That is, the avocation of pride in ones nation at the expense of another’s… Globalisation of solidarity, ladies and gentlemen this is our duty and internationalism is our mace. Internationalism understands the need for greater economic, political and humanitarian cooperation between nations for the benefit of all. It is a concept eons ahead of its time because ladies and gentlemen we are forgetting the need for global cooperation we are allowing ourselves to be led into war by lies. The long-term mutual interest of any nation is of greater value then its own individual short-term needs. It is this futurism ladies and gentlemen that is our problem. We like the proactive humanitarians of Action Aid in May, 2006 who despite the dangers committed themselves too and consequently… lost their lives supporting impoverished communities in war-torn Afghanistan,  must bring such ideals to the present.  We cannot allow ourselves to be led like a horse on a noose by today’s superpower for the mere satisfaction of its capitalistic ambitions. We cannot afford to choose the wrong path. We have the choice between total war and prosperous peace…

…We cannot allow the shamefully endless struggle for the buck to continue unchecked.  The jingoistic ruts into which economic chains have bound us need to be cut. We as world citizens united in diversity must rally against any multi-national corporation which would willingly disregard its social responsibilities for petty profit. There can be no question that the values of freedom, liberty, and diversity are upheld and placed above purely economic concerns... Frankly, corporations which exploit members of third world countries, impose their values and wreak havoc on the environment deserve to be boycotted.

Ladies and gentlemen, you may suggest I am an idealistic fool… and perhaps you could be right… But I put to you, could Napoleon Bonaparte have forced liberal progress without an impossible dream? Could Nelson Mandela have withstood 27 years of unfair incarceration? And finally, could those fateful words “I have a dream” ever caused massive change…?

Recall a golden building, it is spring, and its surroundings are in full bloom, the flagpoles are tall and proud, but alas they are empty.  They are empty because presently this is reality. Why? Because we are stranded, we are stranded by nationalism, and short-sighted politicians… Time is passing, the golden building is becoming tarnished, yet the flagpoles remain empty, and the foliage is growing wild and unkempt, ladies and gentlemen can we really allow ourselves to be condemned to repeat the past…?

In 1945 Albert Einstein once said "As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable… There is no salvation for civilization or even the human race” Winston Churchill echoing Albert Einstein stated “Unless we establish some form of world government, it will not be possible for us to avert a World War III in the future..."

Currently not only is international governance inhibited by nationalism but it is fragmented and loosely coordinated. Consequently, countless opportunities for beneficial collaboration across national boundaries are missed. To quote H.G. Wells in his the Outline of History, 1922: “There can be little question that the attainment of a federation of all humanity… together with a sufficient measure of social justice… to ensure health, education, and a rough measure of equality of opportunity, to most of the children born into the world would mean… such a release and increase of human energy as to open a new phase in human history.”

This new phase ladies and gentlemen is one which can only be obtained through mutual cooperation between nations, it is one in which all people, all communities and indeed all nations, can live in harmony, a phase in which total war disappears like tears in the rain... a phase in which ALL differences are not only tolerated but celebrated… Globalisation of solidarity, this is our duty and internationalism is our mace… There is no question that the values of freedom, justice, and ecology are upheld, we as world citizens united in diversity must make a choice… and this choice we must pursue with courage.

Recall a stark and empty building blistering in the afternoon sun. Now…imagine the vary fabric of space and time begins to convulse and change, imagine the dilapidation is reversing, the foliage is again becoming tame. In the distance you stand on a hill, the sun is rising… affectionately is casts your shadow over the building as you watch 200 flags rise. The date…? – Your Choice… just picture it.