A Constitutional Convention of the Earth

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine demonstrates the need for a Constitutional Convention of the Earth. We have been reassured that this conflict is not the start of World War III, because the world’s economy is so interconnected that it would be disastrous for everybody if other nations became involved in the conflict. Economic sanctions are the way to go. It turns out though, that we don’t want to make the economic sanctions against the Russians too harsh, because the world’ economy is so interconnected that harsh economic sanctions against the Russians would be bad for everybody.

If the world’s economy is that interconnected, then perhaps nation states have outlived their usefulness. They interfere with our ability to freely trade with anyone in the world. They recruit our young men into armies and navies, and then hire out those armies and navies to oligarchs so they can keep the oil flowing. Instead of armies and navies providing for our security, they are targets themselves. They make life more dangerous for everyone. Nationality is one tool in the divide-and-conquer toolbox used by plutocrats and oligarchs.

If our plutocrat masters think of national governments as nothing more than subsidized security services, then perhaps we should stop subsidizing their security. If our plutocrat masters refuse to pay taxes to our national governments, then we should do the same. A government of the Earth should govern as little as possible, but ensure the conservation of resources and promote the health and welfare of all humans. One simple way to do this would be to eliminate all income taxes, sales taxes and excise taxes. Instead, we could tax anyone who mines or harvests any of the Earth’s resources. Such a tax system could take into account the limited nature of a given resource, and the damage that extracting the resource could cause. Oil companies and coal mining companies might pay a higher tax rate than farmers.

The revenue derived from taxing the extraction of resources from the Earth could be used to develop sustainable food and energy systems, facilitate free and fair trade, serve the interests of justice, promote education and dismantle the world’s weapons systems. Farmers and miners would pass along the cost of their taxes to the rest of us. We would be taxed according to how much we consume instead of how much we earn. This is merely my own suggestion. Such questions would need to be discussed at a Constitutional Convention of the Earth. We would need to make such decisions collectively.