© NCSU Student Media 2010
Society is constantly becoming more globalized and horizontal. It’s hard to find pictures of giraffes and lions prowling the African savannah without seeing golden arches in the background. If you’ve taken a class that involves global politics, you’ve probably seen this phenomenon. Globalization has led people to believe that traditional conceptions of governance will not be valid for much longer.
There has been a strong push over the last 20 to 30 years to try and develop a stronger world governance, whether it be in the Kyoto Protocol, nuclear non-proliferation treaties or NAFTA. These treaties have potential benefits: environmental, economical and self-preservation. But there is no real enforcement. Nations benefit from cooperating with one another, but the lines of sovereignty need to be enforced.
Unless you sympathize with Karl Marx or Jean-Jacques Rousseau you probably concur that what you own is yours and what someone else owns is his or hers. The same rule can be applied to countries.
Sovereignty allows us to maintain individuality and have a sense of patriotism for our respective countries. It enables us to become proactive in political decisions at a local, state and national level.
But if the world community continues to push for more global governance, citizens risk losing these enumerated powers. If you feel as though your vote doesn’t count now, imagine how you would feel on a global scale.
History has shown that certain groups of people will never agree. Look at the polarization of conservatives and liberals in our own country. You could only imagine the problems the whole world would face.
These differences can be seen on many levels, whether communist against capitalist or Muslim versus Christian. These groups do not cooperate when they are separated. Imagine the controversy we’d see if they were under the same authority. I’m not suggesting that these groups continue to fight amongst each other; quite simply, they must have mutual respect for one another and realize that people have differences.
We all benefit from some aspects of globalization — often economically or culturally — but this does not suggest we should all expect to live in a world of rainbows and candy kisses. Many of you will suggest that the imaginary lines of sovereignty have caused wars to occur. While there is some truth to that, I would suggest that primarily it is not the lines of sovereignty that cause wars, but those who try to cross them.
War should be a last resort, but if there is corruption there must be consequences. Who decides what is right and wrong is up for debate. But mutual respect for one another should be applied to people’s everyday lives, especially on a global scale. Countries should work together to try and better the lives of those within the country while maintaining the right to make their own decisions — within some level of moral justification. When a neighbor puts up a fence, it doesn’t mean he or she wants to keep everyone out. It only indicates a desire for personal privacy.