A Retired Teacher and Internationalist

I have entitled this piece "A Retired Teacher and Internationalist: After 50 Years" because after 50 years of seeing the world's problems as quintessentially global, I find the world is all of sudden joining me--and global warming seems to be the vehicle for this global push. I post the introductory paragraphs of a 38 page paper presented by the Baha'i International Community at the 50th anniversary of the founding of the UN because I think this paper presented back in 1995 perspectives that are more relevant today that they were then:
____________________
Unification of the whole of mankind is the hall-mark of the stage which human society is now approaching. Unity of family, of tribe, of city-state, and nation have been successively attempted and fully established. World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax. A world, growing to maturity, must abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish once for all the machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental principle of its life.

-Shoghi Effendi, 193​

_____________________________
The primary objective of governing institutions at all levels is the advancement of human civilization. This objective is difficult to satisfy without the inspired and intelligent participation of the generality of humankind in the life and affairs of the community.


With a focus on building institutions and creating a community of nations, international bodies have historically remained distant from the minds and hearts of the world's people. Separated by several layers of government from the international arena and confused by the media's coverage of international news, the vast majority of people have not yet developed an affinity for institutions like the United Nations. Only those individuals who have had some access to the international arena through channels like organizations of civil society seem able to identify with these institutions.
Paradoxically, international institutions cannot develop into an effective and mature level of government and fulfill their primary objective to advance human civilization, if they do not recognize and nurture their relationship of mutual dependency with the people of the world. Such recognition would set in motion a virtuous cycle of trust and support that would accelerate the transition to a new world order.

The tasks entailed in the development of a global society....see ther paper at:

_________________________
Baha'i Topics - Turning Point For All Nations[size=-1]Baha'i Topics is a service of the Baha'i International Community.
info.bahai.org/article-1-7-5-1.html - 251k - Cached - Similar pages[/size]