While the regressive-right has no problem with centralized governmental control of the military, all other federal institutions are withering from neglect, incompetence and under-funding resulting from the Reaganite aversion to big government - "the problem, not the solution." Witness the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. As long as this ideology reigns supreme in Washington, an informed and coordinated national response to the incoming emergencies of climate change, environmental deterioration, and oil depletion is unlikely.
Meanwhile, competing national economies abroad, unburdened by the extravagant diversion of national income to useless military appropriations, race ahead with scientific research, industrial development and an energy infrastructure that anticipates the coming end of the petroleum age.
As the climate, environmental and energy emergencies that are now upon us are global, so too must be our response. And the gravity of these global emergencies are such that they require an international commitment and response sufficient to render obsolete and irrelevant all remaining violent disputes among nations. For there is in fact no national interest which transcends in importance the common international interest in halting the onset of global climate change, in repairing and restoring ecological balance, and making the transition to a post-fossil-fuel world economy, thus securing common survival on a functioning planet. Those are the simple facts of the matter. Can we now at last come to appreciate that these threats before us transcend any existing tribal feuds or national disputes and can we then proceed to invest and act accordingly? Upon the answer to that question, the future of humanity will be determined. For international cooperation is no longer merely an ideal, it is now a necessity.
Meanwhile, competing national economies abroad, unburdened by the extravagant diversion of national income to useless military appropriations, race ahead with scientific research, industrial development and an energy infrastructure that anticipates the coming end of the petroleum age.
As the climate, environmental and energy emergencies that are now upon us are global, so too must be our response. And the gravity of these global emergencies are such that they require an international commitment and response sufficient to render obsolete and irrelevant all remaining violent disputes among nations. For there is in fact no national interest which transcends in importance the common international interest in halting the onset of global climate change, in repairing and restoring ecological balance, and making the transition to a post-fossil-fuel world economy, thus securing common survival on a functioning planet. Those are the simple facts of the matter. Can we now at last come to appreciate that these threats before us transcend any existing tribal feuds or national disputes and can we then proceed to invest and act accordingly? Upon the answer to that question, the future of humanity will be determined. For international cooperation is no longer merely an ideal, it is now a necessity.
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