While we unanxiously await the delayed State of the Union Address, the contents of which should bring no surprises, what needs to be addressed is the State of the World upon which the state of the union depends. No nation is an island. A nation cannot indefinitely prosper without regard to the conditions of the larger community and the natural world in which it exists, nor does a nation prosper when half live in affluence and leisure while half live in hardship and deprivation.
The state of the world now is a matter of the fate of the world. Instead of expectations of an enlightened future of constantly improving world conditions that our great historical accomplishments could offer - in physical, biological, and social sciences, in technologies of industry and communication, in our education and cultural arts, and in the evolution of human consciousness; we face a dark future of never-ending turmoil, widespread suffering and declining hope for the perpetuation of civilization as we know it.
Progress in civilization has been marked by a slow evolution from individual communities to more complex societies as the nation-state, where we are still, fundamentally, today. Future progress necessary to accommodate the conflicting interests of the nation-states and the earth's burgeoning population can only be realized by a higher level of organization, such as attempted by the United Nations and a World Court. The Wealth of the World must be shared by all its peoples in some fair manner. Progress in civilization is significant only if it also raises opportunities for its individual citizens to have a satisfying and beneficial life.
Unfortunately, we are still held prisoners by the medieval fortress mentality carried over into the "wall" mentality of the past century and current times - the wall of isolation of the Soviet Union, East Germany, Mao China, North Korea, the religious-fundamentalist controlled countries, the wall of Wall Street. and now the wall against refugees, We are wallowing in walls, resulting in absurd costs for security and military, restrictions of freedom, internal and external hostility, perpetual conditions of poverty and servitude. The way out of this quagmire is if we can realize the promise of the concept of democracy dedicated to benefit the general welfare. This will never happen when we have phillistines presently in charge of our governments and our economies. Only if we have governments with leaders representing the highest level of human consciousness, genuinely devoted to democratic principles, will real human progress be possible.
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