World citizens, unite

Afghanistan, Burma, Eritrea, Mali, Ukraine, Yemen, Somali, Sudan, Syria… Countless contemporary conflicts remind us every day to what extent collapse and suffering keep unfolding massively. Often really close to where we are, a few thousands or even hundreds of miles away.

And war is far from being the worst of our wounds. Climate change already floods island nations, starts wildfires on entire continents and displaces millions of peoples. Pandemics are also a very strong reminder of our weakness. Are we not coming out of two harsh years of coronavirus all over the world?

Obviously, there are also social plagues: poverty and lack of education and inequalities and violence against women and undernutrition and malnutrition… on and on.

Among all those deaths, catastrophes, sufferings and challenges, no hierarchy of any kind can be made. We can’t choose to mitigate the hurdles experienced by parts of societies based on personal belongings, political principals, or intimate emotions. Doing so would lead to ignoring others’ human misery by believing their suffering is less or not our issue too.

Poverty

All human sufferings are our concern, either caused by wars, social turbulences, conflicts of different kinds, corruption, poverty, famine, slavery, gregarious or racial injustice.

Doesn’t article 1 of the United Nations Universal declaration of human rights state that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” and that “they are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”?

Doesn’t this declaration also state that “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth”?

More than ever, this universalism forces us to act. The world has become too connected to be one-sided. How could we on the one hand travel all over the planet in a few hours and not perceive on the other hand how many issues need to be addressed globally?

World has become too little not to take the benefits of history. We shall learn of past mistakes. We can’t anymore choose one side and decide to solve issues one after the other. We shall rather act according to our shared humanity and our worldly needs instead of following the example of one country.

False debates

The relevancy of such a global approach is backed up by dozens of successful common political or economic organisations: United Nations, European Union, African Union, International Criminal Court, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization…

This universalist ambition has now to go further. We can’t put aside long-term issues which have caused sustainable and useless suffering for countless peoples because of leaders’ political, electoral or personal agenda. Countries can’t anymore act to please their public opinion. They have to shape a common long-term vision to end up suffering that are way beyond themselves and will last a long time after they leave power.

Populists from everywhere waste a precious time with false debates when true personal difficulties experienced by weak individuals are not taken into account seriously. As a matter of fact, all issues shall be considered fairly and impartially if we really want to end conflicts.

The world never has needed more unity as it does now. It is necessary that we unite our efforts and take measures to solve problems which sow divisions. If we can unite and teach our minds, hearts, and souls toward a unique and better world, we could end much of human misery.

I believe consent between nations is no more a choice but a necessary step for the human species to sustain. The world has become too little to hide behind specific interests, and only unity can help us overcome our differences.

Now is the time to act.