After concluding that the unification of society is the only option for the salvation of mankind, we must first consider whether it is possible to achieve something so unprecedented. Specifically, this possibility includes two main aspects: First, we must determine whether or not a large unified society can carry out effective governance. If effective governance cannot be implemented, the idea of establishing a unified society is purely theoretical. Secondly, we must examine the difficulty of realizing human society unification. That is, in terms of today’s situation, what are the favorable conditions and unfavorable factors that will ultimately affect our move towards unity?
SECTION ONE: THE GOVERNABILITY OF A UNIFIED HUMAN SOCIETY
We have learned from experience that transportation and communication are the first conditions for successful governance of a large nation. It is impossible to achieve effective rule without convenient transportation and communication.
The larger the territory and the population, the more complicated various unidentifiable political, economic, social, military, and natural elements will be. If it takes three or four months for news of a natural disaster in a remote area to travel to the governing center, effective measures will not be taken in time. If any major policy or action took one or two years to communicate and implement over the entire regime, it would become outdated before going into effect.
The world power in a unified society would have to deal with all human affairs, from the Antarctica to the Arctic, from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere. Unexpected events would happen every day. The world power would have to send out policies and instructions every day. Without convenient transportation and fast communication, effective management would be impossible. Therefore, communication and transportation capabilities hold veto power when it comes to the establishment of a unified society.
The governance of a unified society includes many factors, such as the feasibility of various political, economic, cultural, and social issues; issues of religious inclusion, ethnic integration, language, and written word exchange; and matters of transportation, communications, media, and others forms of information dissemination. Factors like religion, ethnicity, language, and the written word can be solved through human actions; thus, we call these “soft conditions.” Technical conditions like transportation, communications, and media are limited by the levels of science and technology in various periods; they can only be dealt with by existing means. Since the unified society is dedicated to the restriction of scientific and technological development, such technical conditions cannot be changed, only adapted. Therefore, these conditions are “hard conditions”; we can also call them “hard technical conditions,” or “technical conditions” for short. Since soft conditions can be changed and hard conditions cannot, governability of a unified society depends entirely on the hard conditions of that time—that is, whether the technical conditions can meet the requirements of global governance. The main requirement for successful global governance is the smooth delivery of government decrees.
One: Smooth Delivery of Government Decrees
Broadly speaking, the smooth flow of government decrees in a unified society consists of two aspects. First, the law must be upheld across the globe and in all areas of humanity, and the world power, as well as all levels of local government, must be produced in a legitimate process. This “law” refers to the unified law of a unified society, and it should be based on legitimate procedures. It should cover the whole of mankind—each individual, every group, all organizations, and all institutions. Second, all decisions and actions taken by the world power must be within the scope of law authorized by the unified society and all levels of local governments. These actions should be necessary, prompt, and effective. They should also receive timely feedback.
In order to study the smooth delivery of government decrees, we must first understand the methods and procedures of governance. Generally speaking, they can be broken down into the following aspects:
1. The Birth of Governance
The key to the governance formation of a large unified society is the birth of the world power. Only the creation and successful operation of a world power can ensure smooth, successful local governance. According to the commonly used forms of political power in human society today, the emergence of a world power consists of two key parts: the emergence of a world government leader, and the emergence of world parliament members.
Just from a technical perspective, democratically electing government leaders and politicians is the most difficult way to form a world power. In order to produce these people in a truly democratic manner, all electoral candidates will need to be known to all global voters. Voters will have to understand not only their political opinions, but also their moral character, ability to govern, language expression, demeanor, and so on. With such a massive area and a large population, the technical conditions to truly achieve democracy would be the prompt, expeditious, and vivid reflection of each participating candidate to each and every elector. At the same time, voters would need to be able to select their satisfactory candidates conveniently and accurately, conveying their votes in a timely and accurate manner to generate election results efficiently. The above conditions dictate that democratic governmental elections will require much more complex technical conditions than non-democratic government appointments. Non-democratic government appointments need only be discussed in a small area, and the designation of individuals can produce successors to power. Such a procedure requires less complex technical conditions.
2. Communicating Political Situations
Communicating political situations refers to the prompt communication of all major issues in the world that are related to the survival, work, and education of the people to the local government departments at all levels through various channels. Based on the importance or scope of these situations, local authorities will then promptly report to the top-level government authority (i.e. the departments of the world government).
3. Relaying Government Decrees
Based on the political situations reported by various region, the relevant departments of the world power will formulate various policy measures and decide on actions to take within the scope permitted by law. Some of these policies and actions may need to be implemented globally, while others may need to be implemented by groups. Some policies and actions may require implementation by the different levels of government agencies, while others may need direct operation and implementation by the world power itself. At the same time, new decrees may be improvements or new demands on preexisting laws and regulations. In any case, these decrees must first and foremost be communicated immediately to every officer who will fulfill them. In the face of natural disasters, manufactured disasters, and social unrest, it is especially important for decrees to be issued immediately to those concerned.
4. Execution of Decrees
Once decrees are successfully relayed, they must be executed. A world power that governs global affairs will most likely issue decrees of strong principle that will require disassembly by all levels of government authorities before being passed down. Specific implementation and operation of such decrees must also be discussed between the levels of local governments. In either case, the treatment of such decrees must be comprehensive, truthful, timely, and uncompromising. If each level of the government allows some small room for compromise while carrying out a world power decree, the decree will change drastically by the time it is implemented on the final scale. Due to the scope of the unified society, it will require more accurate, effective, and timely implementation of government decrees.
5. Supervision of Decrees
The supervision of decrees refers to the supervision and examination of government decrees. It requires that any deviations and out-of-date situations be promptly corrected, and that those who have performed well be awarded and encouraged accordingly. At the same time, supervision of the decree should also amend the decrees by looking at the practicality and accuracy of the decrees.
Two: Modern Means of Exercising Government Decrees
Modern means of exercising government decrees have developed exponentially. The fruits of the Industrial Revolution have allowed such means to make a qualitative leap in the past 200 years. These means can be broadly classified into three categories: communication, transportation and media.
1. Means of Communication
The discovery of electromagnetic induction provided a theoretical basis for the widespread application of electricity, including electricity in the field of communications. The earliest application of electricity to telecommunications was cable and then radiotelegraphy. However, the advent of a series of new means of communication has basically phased out telegraph services.
The phone is a vital contender. Telephone communication is very direct and produces a strong sense of realism and intimacy. After the landline was invented, scientists invented wireless phones. With artificial satellites in space, it is now possible for wireless phones to communicate globally in any environment, with little or no geographical constraints. Due to their convenience, speed, and low cost, personal mobile phones have developed rapidly and become universally popular in recent years.
Another development in telephone technology is optical fiber communication. Optical fiber communication can replace high-frequency microwaves with light as a medium and replace cables with optical fibers. It allows for greater capacity, higher quality, and lower cost phone calls.
Video telephones are another form of the telephone. They convey both voice and video across great distances. As long as there is a market demand, further cost reductions will allow for widespread use of videophones.
Faxing is another means of communication that is tied to the telephone, which allows the fax machine to convey everything on paper from one place to another, including text and pictures. The combination of telefax and satellite communications now allows for instant reception of messages and faxes using mobile phones, and laptops have become commonplace as well. The Modern communications industry has undergone tremendous change compared to its state before the Industrial Revolution.
In recent years, the emergence of the internet has revolutionized communication technology. This includes both the computer internet and the smartphone-based mobile internet. At present, the number of internet users in the world has reached billions and is widespread.
Multimedia communication on the internet can provide sound, video, picture, figures, data, and text. It is a product of the combination of communication technology and computer technology. Users have full interactive control in this type of communication. On the internet, friends can chat face-to-face across the ocean; colleagues from multiple locations around the world can conduct meetings to discuss issues; trade negotiations with distant clients is possible, and product samples as well as contracts can be demonstrated immediately during such negotiations.
Through the internet, computer hardware and software resources can be shared; real-time transactions can be conducted on stock markets and foreign exchange markets; E-mails can be sent to multiple recipients at the same time (these e-mails include texts, pictures, videos, and sounds); instant news and other kinds of information can be read; entertainment is readily available; virtual companies, virtual schools, virtual cities, and even virtual countries have appeared on the internet as well. The internet is bringing the world into a new information era.
2. Means of Transportation
Although horses and wagons as well as non-motorized vessels are still used as ancient means of transportation, modern means of transport have fundamentally changed the way people travel. The fruits of the Industrial Revolution have not only created new land and water transport methods, but have brought humans into the sea, sky, and space.
Once the steam engine was invented, people wanted to apply it to land transportation to replace traditional carriages and ox carts. The earliest application was the train. Within two hundred years, the train progressed from steam locomotives and diesel locomotives to electric locomotives. With each passing year, train locomotive power is increasing, speed is accelerating, and pollution and noise are decreasing.
In 1964, Japan built the world’s first high-speed railway: the Tōkaidō Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka. High-speed trains can reach a speed of 210 kilometers per hour. After Japan accomplished this, France, Britain, Germany, and China also built their own high-speed railways. In addition to these nations, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Sweden, and other countries have built operating high-speed trains as well. The high-speed train “Eurostar,” which runs through the Channel Tunnel, links London, Paris, and Brussels. China’s high-speed trains run through all provincial capitals except Tibet and generally exceed three kilometers per hour in speed.
After the invention of the steam engine, people began to make efforts to use steam engines for water transport as well. In 1907, the first steamboat was successfully manufactured. Today, the internal combustion engine has replaced the steam engine as the source of power for ship transport. As a result, the largest ships can carry six hundred thousand tons of payload. Ordinary passenger and cargo ships have a maximum speed of over thirty nautical miles per hour, while special ships travel even faster. The speedboats used by public security officers can reach eighty to ninety knots.
Nuclear-powered ships have also been invented, but nuclear power is mainly used for aircraft carriers and submarines. Today’s submarines can submerge hundreds of meters underwater and can stay days in deep sea. Unfortunately, these submarines are usually developed as weapons of war. Submarines used for scientific research can dive into sea trenches several kilometers deep.
Today, the most widely used alternative to wagons as a means of land transport is the car. The car has far exceeded the carriage in terms of loadcapacity, speed, comfort, and durability. We can see all kinds of cars everywhere in the world, as well as highways extending in all directions—especially in developed countries.
The birth of the aircraft brought mankind into a whole new era. The earliest use of the aircraft for civilian transport was in 1918, when regular postal flights were opened between Paris and London, and between New York–Washington–Chicago. Today’s airplanes are an indispensable means of global transportation; however, they are also indispensable tools of war.
Aircrafts have been constantly developing and increasing in speed, and today they can travel more than three thousand kilometers per hour. The ordinary subsonic aircrafts we usually ride on can reach a speed of one thousand kilometers an hour. Subsonic aircrafts are also capable of flying long distances; for example, the Boeing 747-400 can travel thirteen thousand kilometers without refueling. The Airbus A380 can carry up to eight hundred passengers and travel a maximum range of 15,100 kilometers. The creation of aerial tankers has opened the door for even longer ranges of aerial flight.
After realizing the dream of flying, humans began to further explore the possibility of flying out of the atmosphere and into space. In 1961, Soviet astronaut Gagarin flew into space riding on the Oriental No. 1 spacecraft, finally realizing the human dream of leaving Earth. The United States Apollo Moon Program in 1969 put astronauts on the moon for the first time. On October 16, 2003, Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei rode the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft into space, making China the third country to achieve travel outside of Earth.
In the meantime, human space probes have successfully mounted extraterrestrial explorations of planets like Venus, Mars, and the planet type moon Titan and have conducted close-range observations of all seven other planets (excluding Earth) in the solar system. Space probes have even flown out of the solar system. Today we have a space station above Earth, allowing scientists to stay in space for longer durations and carry out various scientific research projects. The space station has begun to receive tourists as well.
3. Means of Media
Early newspapers and magazines were all printed in one place and then distributed all over the country. Those in the same city were able to read news in a timelier manner than inhabitants of other cities who to wait for a long time. For example, during China’s Qing Dynasty, it took three or four months for newspapers to travel from Beijing to the cities south of the Yangtze River more than one thousand kilometers away. By this time, it was no longer news. Most newspapers and magazines did not even deliver to more rural areas, due to the constraint of technological conditions like transportation and communication.
Under the technological conditions of that time, major news that occurred in the areas where newspapers and magazines were located could be communicated in a relatively timely manner, but major news in other places—especially in remote areas—could not be reported in time.
With the advent of the telegram, the telephone, and other means of remote communication, this situation has undergone qualitative change. Nowadays, both news and communication technologies and press and printing technologies have undergone fundamental leaps. News can now be sent to news agencies, newspapers, and magazines from all over the world by email, fax, and telephone. The application of modern computer editing systems in particular has brought together communications technology and computer technology. News pieces can be written directly on-screen and sent directly to a magazine’s central system from any corner of the earth, and computer photo-editing systems can complete layouts automatically and efficiently.
The application of satellite communication technology and optical fiber communication technology has freed global news from geographical and topographical constraints and improved definition, accuracy, and even confidentiality. In addition, newspapers and magazines are being printed and published in completely different ways, and edited content is sent to all regions of the world for local printing and distribution. Major newspapers and magazines are able to convey news to their readers quickly and efficiently.
The advent and application of radio and television was another major breakthrough in traditional media. The immediate and transmissible nature of broadcasting quickly made it a widespread new media tool. Cable broadcasting has also become prevalent, especially in socialist countries like the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Televisions developed simultaneously with radio and cable broadcasting.
With the advent and development of satellite communications technology, today’s radio and television networks can broadcast news from all over the globe in real time, be it from land, sea, or outer space. Due to the realistic nature of radio and television media, the impact of such media today has exceeded that of newspapers and magazines.
Another major breakthrough in media was the advent of the internet. Through the internet, we can read news and information from the world’s major newspapers, magazines, news agencies, radio and television stations, various websites and self-media on computers and mobile phones, and from various government agencies, enterprises and institutions, schools, and research departments. These news stories are vividly illustrated instantaneous, and capable of reaching a wide range of consumers, marking the internet as a truly historic media breakthrough.
Many people today prefer to watch TV shows, movies, and news on the internet, and they are more willing to receive a variety of other information from the internet as well. The internet has woven itself into many aspects of society.
Three: Decrees of a Unified Society under Current Means
1. The Birth of a Political Power
Decrees are issued by the prevalent political power. The formation of this political power depends on the legal process of a large unified society. Measured by today’s political values, the unified society should be a democratic society (there will be a special account of this later in this chapter). For discussion purposes, we will presume this unified society to be a democratic society.
A democratic regime should be elected by voters, either directly or through a representative system. Before being elected, each government official or politician should make themselves known to their constituents. Such understanding includes not only policy proposals and political performance, but also personal demeanor, family situation, and other important factors.
Aristotle, a thinker living in the Greek city-state era, described the ideal country in his book Politics. He thought that the population and size of an ideal country had to be just right—that is, the country’s borders could be viewed within a glance and all adult men could hear the commands of the highest commander during wartime. According to his description, the ideal country would not exceed a population of one or two million people. Aristotle believed that only such a small country could enable everyone to have the opportunity to directly participate in the affairs of the state in a democratic manner. Aristotle’s student—Alexander the Great—created a nation of unprecedented size spanning Europe and Asia, but it was a monarchy instead of a democracy.
Since entering the modern era, many democracies have emerged in the world. Some have populations totaling hundreds of millions and span millions of square kilometers. It is obviously impossible for such large countries to adopt direct political systems; thus, a system of representation is usually adopted. Voters elect politicians who can express their views to form representative organizations so as to indirectly participate in politics. Government leaders are either directly elected by voters or indirectly appointed through representatives.
The most extensive election of the unified society would be the election of world government leaders and parliamentary members. This type of election would involve all humanity—a scope unprecedented in human history.
Whether or not elections in such a vast area can achieve true democracy depends on whether each citizen eligible for election can cast their own vote objectively and impartially. The first condition to satisfy this will be for each voter to easily understand what he or she is choosing from. That is, he or she must be able to understand the political principles, policy proposals, behavior, and character of the candidate.
Achieving this goal on a global scale was unthinkable just a few decades ago, but it has become possible today. Through means like newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the internet, candidates are able to state their policies in a timely and clear manner. Their voice, demeanor, and manner are readily available through the internet or on TV. Candidates who want voters to experience their charms more directly can even fly to all parts of the world by plane to meet their constituents.
Voting processes can be arranged either in a centralized place or individually at home through the internet. Computer systems on the internet can scientifically and rigorously verify the identity of voters and the validity of their votes. Global ballot papers can be rapidly processed by central computer systems, and the statistics of billions of votes can be displayed in seconds.
Many scholars believe that under today’s conditions of information dissemination, direct referendum can be achieved through modern scientific and technological means, no matter the size of the country. The ideal democracy of Aristotle’s small country can now be achieved in a global, unified society.
2. The Communication of Political Situations and the Relay of Government Decrees
The basis for policy decisions is the communication of political situations. In a unified society, situations at various levels of power must be communicated to the highest order of world organization—that is, the centralized departments of the world regime.
In a world regime, the political situation of the world will encompass the globe and cover all aspects of politics, economics, society, culture, ethnicity, and religion. The correctness and timeliness of world decision-making will depend on whether political situations in all parts of the world can be promptly and accurately reported to the relevant departments. In particular, some situations will require immediate attention, such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, and other disasters. They will need immediate rescue and response measures. Large-scale crime and social unrest will also require immediate resolution. If such situations cannot be promptly reported to the relevant departments of the world regime, very serious consequences may occur.
In 1976, the 7.6 magnitude Tangshan earthquake in China killed 240,000 people instantly and left nearly one million people crushed under the rubble, awaiting rescue. Reporting this catastrophic event to the central government as soon as possible was crucial. Tangshan was less than two hundred kilometers away from Beijing, but at that time the earthquake had destroyed the wired telephone lines and there was no wireless satellite communication. The messenger had to intercept a truck to send word to Beijing; it took almost seven hours for the news to reach the capital, and this was only forty years ago.
Such an inefficient method of reporting disasters will obviously not be viable in a large, unified society. Any major natural disaster tens of thousands of kilometers away will require timely communication in order to report the situation and send aid immediately; otherwise, the loss of life and property will be unimaginable.
The level of communication we currently have is enough to accomplish our intended goal. Telephone, fax, and email are all efficient tools for sending instant messages globally.
It can also very convenient to issue government decrees under such conditions of communication. The government decrees formed by the world regime, regardless of whether they need to be spoken orally or require the use of audiovisual or graphic forms, can be instantly relayed to their executors. Even original documents can be sent in a day or two using planes, trains, cars, or other means of transportation.
Sometimes the issuance of decrees requires meetings with people from all over the world in one location. Such a meeting would not take more than one or two days to organize. This would not have been possible before the Industrial Revolution—it would have taken at least a year to notify attendees and convene a conference back then.
Moreover, there are many ways in which meetings can be held nowadays. If the meeting does require physical attendance or is especially urgent, conference calls, videoconferences, or internet conferences are all viable options. Science and technology has made the world a much smaller place—that is why we call it a global village.
3. Implementation and Supervision of Decrees
The execution and supervision of decrees is closely related to transportation conditions. Let us start our analysis by looking at reactions to natural disasters, large-scale crime incidents, and social unrest as examples.
Under modern transportation conditions, if an earthquake or flood occurs and the world government decides to mobilize disaster relief personnel and relief supplies, air transportation will be the most immediate method. Even in the worst situation where resources need to be allocated to the furthest parts of the earth, response time will be a day and a night at most. Of course, it is more likely that the world government will allocate personnel and supplies in a reasonable manner on a global scale. In the event of an emergency, the first batch of personnel and materials will likely be transported via aircraft, while subsequent large-scale rescue actions will be transported by train or ship—both of which are extremely convenient with modern transportation.
If large-scale crime incidents or social unrest need to be dealt with, the military will be the main force mobilized by the government. Military response speeds should be rapid and they should be immediately available. Rapid reaction forces can be fully mobilized via aircraft or ground vehicles as soon as possible.
As for the supervision of decrees, government personnel in the various levels of the world regime should conduct inspections all over the world and promptly report the situation to corresponding departments of the world political power. With such convenient and efficient traffic conditions, as well as such timely means of communication, government inspectors will be free to fly to any part of the world for inspection and supervision. In most cases, any time spent in transit will not exceed one or two days.
In the meantime, supervision results can be immediately reported to relevant authorities via phone, laptop, or text. If face-to-face reporting is necessary, it will only take a day or two to do so.
The implementation of government decrees not only requires the effort of relevant government personnel, but also the cooperation of all global citizens; thus, various forms of media will be needed to inform people of the importance of each decree. The convenient, and speedy media forms will be a reliable guarantee for the effective governance of a unified society. Today’s newspapers and magazines can be delivered all over the world on the same day. News from around the world and guidelines introduced by the government can reach the public on the same day too. Radio and television can immediately disseminate government policies and decisions, as well as broadcast live speeches from political leaders. People will be able to form a clear, unbiased understanding of their government’s intentions. The internet can also be an important medium of communication. Its immediacy, popularity, and huge information capacity will help the world regime promote and implement necessary principles and policies.
We can see that the fruits of modern science and technology have provided powerful guarantees for the smooth flow of government in a large, unified society. These are the necessary technical conditions for the effective governance of a united world.
We know that historically, Zeno, Kant, Marx, and Engels have all proposed similar ideas of human unity, but the technical conditions of their times were simply insufficient. Even in Kang Youwei’s era, technical conditions for global management were not yet mature. Today, all these technical complications have been solved to satisfaction.
What needs to be clarified is that current transportation, communication, and media levels only mean that the technological conditions for a unified society have been met theoretically. The above expositions are all based on the universal application of existing scientific and technological achievements. Realistically, these technological conditions are not yet widely used by all people, especially in poorer countries and regions. In order for a large, unified society to be effectively governed, it is imperative that these technical achievements be widely applied to all regions and groups of the world. This is entirely achievable through human efforts.
It must also be emphasized that all scientific and technological achievements must be screened before being promoted globally. If any scientific and technological achievements are likely to endanger the overall survival of mankind, they must be limited. For example, whether the internet is suitable for promotion in a unified society requires additional in-depth study to determine.