The Acid Diaries (Christopher Gray) / quote 98 of 125
Afraid a world parliament would actually work?
Later that year George Monbiot was to bring out The Age of Consent, the sequel to his success with Captive State. In it he tries to trace all economic and political problems back to a single source, lack of communication. Faithfully reflecting the spirit of the gatherings in the park, he suggests that ultimately the only solution is radical reform of the electoral system worldwide and the creation of a truly democratic World Parliament. Could something like an authentic—radically revised—United Nations be created? If so, how could delegates remain accountable? How could such a parliament exert effective power without becoming a tyranny in its turn? How could it retain economic independence? The sense and sincerity with which Monbiot tries to answer these questions are hard to fault, and I couldn’t understand why I was feeling increasingly restless . . . until I came to the following passage: If you respond with horror to the idea of a world parliament, as many do, I would invite you to examine your reaction carefully. Is it because you believe that such a body might become remote and excessively powerful? Or is it really because you can not bear the idea that a resident of Brussels would have no greater voice in world affairs than a resident of Kinshasa? That the people of Mexico would, collectively, become two and a half times as powerful as the people of Spain, while the Indians would cast seventeen times as many votes as the inhabitants of the United Kingdom? That, in other words, the flow of power established when a few nations ruled the world would be reversed? Are you afraid that this parliament might threaten democracy, or are you really afraid that it would actuate it?1