Proposing a federal republic of Earth

By WND Staff

World leaders convened in San Francisco at the posh Fairmont hotel
last week for the fifth annual State of the World Forum. The Forum is a
project of the Gorbachev Foundation whose mission statement reads, “To
serve as a non-partisan forum for addressing the central concerns facing
humanity at the beginning of the new millennium.” The overarching theme
of this year’s Forum was the establishment of a planetary government
empowered to “enforce human rights.”

As the chic leftists, with their new age gurus in tow, feasted
sumptuously on $100 per plate dinners their chatter decried the plight
of the poor. Enforcing equitable distribution of the world’s resources
demands global adoption of “sustainable development,” as part of the
“environmental rights” of all men.

We might laugh it off as the final utopian scheme of the millennium
were it not for the deadly serious intent of some very influential
people. Past and present speakers at the Forum include: George Bush,
Margaret Thatcher, James A. Baker, III, media mogul Ted Turner, Jean
Houston, Desmond Tutu, futurist John Naisbitt, Carl Sagan, Jesse
Jackson, Deepak Chopra, alternative medicine star, Andrew Weil, Queen
Noor of Jordan, Earth Council president Maurice Strong, primatologist
Jane Goodall and Yashuhiro Nakasone. These luminaries were joined by
U.S. senators and business leaders (namely, David Rockefeller and Steve
Kirsch, CEO of Infoseek), Nobel laureates, spiritual gurus, indigenous
peoples’ representatives and world-class scientists. World peace,
nuclear disarmament, and ecology rounded out the six-day agenda, but the
centerpiece was a call for a “new world spirit” which recognizes the
“unity of the human family” and the necessity of a world federation to
keep peace in the family.

The $5,000 registration fee and scant promotional information ensured
that only leftist guests and liberal-pedigreed participants were in
attendance.

A roundtable discussion, “The United Nations in Ten years; The United
Nations in One Hundred Years,” admitted that the U.N. as it stood was
only a foundation for the world federation which would require a
voluntary army to “deter human rights abuses.” Moderated by Tad Daly,
director of Global Security Programs for the State of the World Forum,
the discussion featured senator Alan Cranston and Tom Spencer, chairman
of the Foreign Affairs Security and Defense Policy Committee of the
European Parliament. The two were joined by various academics and
diplomats who advocated abolishing the veto power of the U.N. Security
Council — a dated mechanism favoring the winners of World War II —
adopting instead a “Parliament of Humankind.” World peace was possible
if a “planetary patriotism” for the “Federal Republic of Earth”
supplanted nationalism. The U.N. must also restructure the General
Assembly, instituting a weighted voting process in place of the one
country, one vote system now employed. This proposal would provide an
equitable sharing of power among the more populous nations such as China
and India.

Proponents of world government welcomed the advent of the
International Criminal Court (ICC) as the framework for “enforceable
world law” which would have juridical power over individuals as well as
nations. Despite Oxford and Harvard degrees, none had an answer for a
journalist who inquired who would police the peacekeepers and the
planetary judges.

The roundtable was studded with members of the World Federalist
Association, an organization with “consultative” status at the United
Nations.

One late night “Socratic dialogue” explored “Worldviews by which we
live” which served to deconstruct the Western Christian worldview in
favor of a new hybrid which combines adulterated Hinduism, Buddhism and
New Age silliness. Discussion leaders included Daniel Sheehan the
director of “New Paradigm Initiative” for the State of the World Forum,
pantheist biologist Rupert Sheldrake, a Tibetan chant scholar and Jose
Arguelles, the author of “The Mayan Factor and Earth Ascending.” The
last evening’s Socratic dialogue addressed quantum physics and its
theological implications. Led by “mystics” interpreting physics,
including Jean Houston and Margot Anand (“Everyday Ecstasy”), the
session was preceded by an “ohmmmmmn” meditative chant while Houston
read in a hypnotic tone a “prayer” for world unity of consciousness. The
transfer of what remains of the Christian foundation of Western
Civilization to a pop amalgamation of “the best of the wisdom traditions
” was the goal of the dialogues.

Little imagination is required to see how clever a scheme it is to
make “world unity” a “spiritual imperative.”

Such global unity of mind, spirit and purpose forges a “cosmic
consciousness” to be directed at the environment, at equitable
distribution of planetary resources and at fostering voluntary
sustainable development as defined by the one-worlders. One need but
recall the distribution of environmental action kits to thousands of
American churches and synagogues last year by the National Religious
Partnership for the Environment to appreciate their victory. The NRPE
mission? “Our goal is to integrate commitment to global sustainability
and environmental justice permanently into all aspects of religious
life.”

The State of the World Forum, as the most visible arm of those
shadowy hands on the levers of world power, has devised a masterful
non-violent approach to achieving global government: Seduce the churches
into promoting planetary citizenship where national borders are
obliterated in the name of “environmental justice,” a human right.

Americans who still find wisdom in nationhood as mediator between the
individual and a “One World Destiny” the world federalists have outlined
cannot comfortably dismiss the Forum as a collection of talking heads.
The State of the World Forum and the United Nations will convene a joint
special assembly in September 2000.