"The rich nations must surrender their power to a world parliament." - Another UK Opinion

Published in the Guardian 17th July 2001 ^ | Published in the Guardian 17th July 2001 | By George Monbiot.

[vannrox]

This guy... what a bone head.

[Diogenesis]

Given this sophomoric IDIOT, the UK deserves what it has gotten:

The EU running it, and Islamic terrorists declaring that they will soon be domestically asserting themselves.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The rich nations must surrender their power to a world parliament.

It's not power they want as much as it is the wealth. The first act a world goverment would do is begin taxing the richer countries. Globalism = socialism.

[RightWhale]

He loooks French.

[Billy_bob_bob]

"The rich nations must surrender their power to a world parliament."

Why? So they can become poor nations?

This guy is a serious idiot. Worse, he's an educated idiot who knows how to sound semi-plausible.

[Steve_Seattle]

The whole thing is rubbish, but just to raise one question: In what way is the water I drink "stolen from Kenyan nomads"?

[VaBthang4]

LOL

"We acquiesce in this system every time we buy salad from a supermaket (grown with water stolen from Kenyan nomads)"

I really couldnt continue to read this tripe.

HAHAHAHA....I dont know what is funnier, the assertions of the Left or the fact that they actually believe this stuff.

I would trust this planet to a small clique of 5 year olds before I would give one right away for the benefit of these morons.

[dinasour]

Yeah, that way you may be King someday.

In your dreams, bozo. Not while we have all the daisy-cutters and you have all the loud-mouths.

[RightOnline]

Dear George:

Please. Sit down. Be calm. Take the pink pills. Yes, the little ones. Zip up your pants. Yes, that's right. Wipe your chin. Oh........of course. George, pull your head out of your ass first. NOW wipe your chin.

George......pick up the crayon. The pretty blue one; that's right. Now...........color the sky on your little paper.............thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat's it.......................

[VaBthang4]

Sorry about that... "entrust".

[Alouette]

This guy is a serious idiot. Worse, he's an educated idiot who knows how to sound semi-plausible.

Whatever. When he falls under the domain of sha'ariah law (coming soon to a European nation near you!) the authorities will know how to deal with him.

[muir_redwoods]

Well Mr. Monbiot, I've considered your arguement carefully and I have but two words for you.

Unfortunately, this board maintains some pretty civilized standards so I can't print them for you. Let me simply say to you, why don't you come here and try to take our power and make us submit to a world parliment? I know I'd enjoy the process but you and your side might not.

[GoreIsLove]

great stuff. reads like satire, only it's real. i don't think i ever stole water from a kenyan, but i might be wrong. i always thought my water was stolen from yosemite.

[VaBthang4]

Let him have it...

mail@monbiot.com

[galt-jw]

all of this, and all socialism, is based on the premise that anyone or any entity has the power to change another. no person can influence another's behavior to suit their will. we each must change through enlightenment, by self selection.

[weikel]

There is too much robbing Peter to pay Paul in WITHIN the rich nations. If the 3rd worlders are given that power soon the entire planet will be starving.

[Teacher317]

But the democratisation which may or may not result in such changes cannot even be widely discussed until we, the new world order's prosperous dissidents, are prepared to take our arguments to their logical conclusion, and let go of the power our nations possess and the disproportionate wealth which flows from it. I hope that we, unlike Orwell's bourgeois socialists, are ready for this challenge. If not, we may as well as cancel our tickets to Genoa and stay at home eating strawberries and cream.

The last paragraph is as bad as the first. The one good arrangement for national government: highly limited by a binding Constitution, independent of every other sovereign, and answerable to "we the people"... what HE is advocating invites a VERY different result.

[Uncle George]

I sure am glad my Great great great Grandad killed a bunch of those redcoats and helped us run them back to Europe. I like it: Them over there, Us here.

[willgetsome]

Who cares what this a@@ thinks? Most working people in this country would rather DIE than have the sovereignty of their local, state, and national governments replaced by some world government.

Only jacka@@es of the highest degree and die-hard communists hiding out in coffee houses buy into this.

[Arkinsaw]

I was trying to think of a word but bone-head seems to fit the bill. I might qualify it by saying "ultimate bone-head". How can someone who has no freaking clue about history or politics get a job writing.

He says:
Since then, empires have waxed and waned, but that basic economic formula holds true: we in the rich world live in comparative comfort only because of the inordinate power our governments wield, and the inordinate wealth which flows from that power.

What a load of crap. Our governments have power because of the wealth that WE generate through our WORK, our INGENUITY, and our FREEDOM. This scribbler has turned it on its head and it makes no freaking sense. The leadership of IRAQ and NORTH KOREA have more assumed powers than our government does but it does not tranlate to world power because their people are imprisoned and their economies are controlled by that power and not free. Their centralized and tyrannical all-powerful regimes have less actual power than our relatively lose democracies only because that power naturally flows from freedom and wealth and NOT because they don't wish they had that power.

Damn, Bill Gates only has the power he does because he has been gifted with a big house, cars, nice clothes, good food, and all that stuff. If I too were gifted with all those things then I would be just as powerful as Bill. Its that I don't have the same stuff he does man and has nothing to do with me just laying around the house all day watching Oprah. Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz and while you are at it buy a new couch and AK-47 for all those folks in Zimbabwe and Albania so they can join the G-8 too.