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Global Citizenship: My Personal Philosophy Replaces Religion

joe1776

Well-Known Member
I was born with a mind incapable of faith. Consequently, early in life, I rejected the Catholic faith that was a tradition in my family. That put me on my own to find a direction for my life. Here's a sample of what I came up with:

Global citizenship is a very old idea.
Diogenes (400–325 BC) said: "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world." When the leaders of our social groups, our nations and our religions, advise selfish behavior that will conflict with the welfare of the global community, a global citizen will ignore them.

The goal is global harmony. We humans are at our best when we cooperate in a worthy cause. And there is no cause more worthy than global harmony. When we think of ourselves, first and foremost, as global citizens, we give our lives meaning beyond survival and our own interests.

Global citizenship eliminates group pride. Most people mistakenly think of group pride as a virtue. Yet we know intuitively that a man very proud of being Irish and Catholic would be just as proud if, by some twist of fate, he had been raised to think of himself as German and Lutheran. He thinks of his groups as superior because he is superior and they are his groups. Group pride is disguised arrogance. Moreover, group pride and group prejudice are simply opposite sides of the same coin. (Our group is superior to their group!)

"All for one, one for all" A global citizen will take for granted that the global community has, since the origin of our species, been involved a cooperative endeavor. The motto "all for one and one for all" efficiently and effectively describes the essential nature of any worthwhile cooperation. Cooperative people give their fair share to the group effort and have a right to expect a fair share of the benefits in return.

A global citizen will support the idea that every child in the global community should be born with rights that are actually equal. The right to own private property is not actually an equal right, for example. People born genetically predisposed to high arrogance, high intelligence, greed, and to wealthy parents, can hoard community resources far beyond their fair share. Consequently, the unfairness of property rights undermines the effectiveness of a system built on cooperation for why should people born without those advantages cooperate?

The Selfishness Paradox applies: When our selfish interests cause harm to others, our brains punish us with the pain of guilt. When we treat others with kindness, our brains make us feel good about it. In this way a paradox is created. The Selfishness Paradox can be expressed this way: We serve ourselves best when we act with the welfare of others in mind.

Comments? I have thick skin so please feel free to criticize.
 
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bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
"All for one, one for all" A global citizen will take for granted that the global community has, since the origin of our species, been involved a cooperative endeavor. The motto "all for one and one for all" efficiently and effectively describes the essential nature of any worthwhile cooperation. Cooperative people give their fair share to the group effort and have a right to expect a fair share of the benefits in return.

A global citizen will support the idea that every child in the global community should be born with rights that are actually equal. The right to own private property is not actually an equal right, for example. People born genetically predisposed to high arrogance, high intelligence, greed, and to wealthy parents, can hoard community resources far beyond their fair share. Consequently, the unfairness of property rights undermines the effectiveness of a system built on cooperation for why should people born without those advantages cooperate?

The Selfishness Paradox applies: When our selfish interests cause harm to others, our brains punish us with the pain of guilt. When we treat others with kindness, our brains make us feel good about it. In this way a paradox is created. The Selfishness Paradox can be expressed this way: We serve ourselves best when we act with the welfare of others in mind.

Comments? I have thick skin so please feel free to criticize.

It reminds me of the Utopian societies of the 60's that all failed. The problem is everyone can only support everyone, if everyone pitches in equally and there is enough for all. When groups of people don't pitch in they need to be disciplined and when there is a shortage hard decisions must be made. We are all individuals and each has their own idea of equality who judges which of us is wrong.
 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
It reminds me of the Utopian societies of the 60's that all failed. The problem is everyone can only support everyone, if everyone pitches in equally and there is enough for all. When groups of people don't pitch in they need to be disciplined and when there is a shortage hard decisions must be made. We are all individuals and each has their own idea of equality who judges which of us is wrong.
All societies need to be governed. And they won't work if they are poorly governed. All societies in the past have failed because we haven't yet invented a governing system that isn't inept, corrupt, or both.

Every society is essentially a cooperative effort. If we can't make that work, we're all in trouble.
 

bobhikes

Nondetermined
Premium Member
All societies need to be governed. And they won't work if they are poorly governed. All societies in the past have failed because we haven't yet invented a governing system that isn't inept, corrupt, or both.

Every society is essentially a cooperative effort. If we can't make that work, we're all in trouble.

So How do you make a government that will work and is not poorly governed. Understanding individuality and not suppressing it and dealing with shortages and over population.
 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
So How do you make a government that will work and is not poorly governed. Understanding individuality and not suppressing it and dealing with shortages and over population.
I think that can and will be done one day but explaining how would take me off on a serious tangent.

As for individual rights, any cooperative venture involves trading individual rights for greater benefits. If you want the right to poop anywhere you like, you have to live in the wild. If you go into town, you are entering a cooperative effort where you will trade in that right for greater benefits.

We can all agree that good government will not infringe on individual rights anymore than necessary.
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
I think that can and will be done one day but explaining how would take me off on a serious tangent.

As for individual rights, any cooperative venture involves trading individual rights for greater benefits. If you want the right to poop anywhere you like, you have to live in the wild. If you go into town, you are entering a cooperative effort where you will trade in that right for greater benefits.

We can all agree that good government will not infringe on individual rights anymore than necessary.

But if you start restricting what a person can own you've already sucked the life out of your society. It seems that ideally in your model everyone has to become compliant and complacent to the "greater good". This leads to an easy path to totalitarianism and outright slavery. Individual rights should always come before a contrived "perfect" society.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
I was born with a mind incapable of faith. Consequently, early in life, I rejected the Catholic faith that was a tradition in my family. That put me on my own to find a direction for my life. Here's a sample of what I came up with:

Global citizenship is a very old idea.
Diogenes (400–325 BC) said: "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world." When the leaders of our social groups, our nations and our religions, advise selfish behavior that will conflict with the welfare of the global community, a global citizen will ignore them.

The goal is global harmony. We humans are at our best when we cooperate in a worthy cause. And there is no cause more worthy than global harmony. When we think of ourselves, first and foremost, as global citizens, we give our lives meaning beyond survival and our own interests.

Global citizenship eliminates group pride. Most people mistakenly think of group pride as a virtue. Yet we know intuitively that a man very proud of being Irish and Catholic would be just as proud if, by some twist of fate, he had been raised to think of himself as German and Lutheran. He thinks of his groups as superior because he is superior and they are his groups. Group pride is disguised arrogance. Moreover, group pride and group prejudice are simply opposite sides of the same coin. (Our group is superior to their group!)

"All for one, one for all" A global citizen will take for granted that the global community has, since the origin of our species, been involved a cooperative endeavor. The motto "all for one and one for all" efficiently and effectively describes the essential nature of any worthwhile cooperation. Cooperative people give their fair share to the group effort and have a right to expect a fair share of the benefits in return.

A global citizen will support the idea that every child in the global community should be born with rights that are actually equal. The right to own private property is not actually an equal right, for example. People born genetically predisposed to high arrogance, high intelligence, greed, and to wealthy parents, can hoard community resources far beyond their fair share. Consequently, the unfairness of property rights undermines the effectiveness of a system built on cooperation for why should people born without those advantages cooperate?

The Selfishness Paradox applies: When our selfish interests cause harm to others, our brains punish us with the pain of guilt. When we treat others with kindness, our brains make us feel good about it. In this way a paradox is created. The Selfishness Paradox can be expressed this way: We serve ourselves best when we act with the welfare of others in mind.

Comments? I have thick skin so please feel free to criticize.
The irony with the above is that, even though you may have left the Catholic faith materially, you actually didn't leave it spiritually as your basic points above do reflect Catholic moral theology.
 

Estro Felino

Believer in free will
Premium Member
Cosmopolitanism is a beautiful concept that describes how harmony can reign in egalitarian societies where cultures coexist pacifically and enrich each other..it is surely the goal of a perfect mankind

Also...I think it's the only solution at a global level, because it's intolerable that we the West live without caring that the rest of the world suffers and struggles
 
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Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
I'm neither a fan of nor interested in the idea of global citizenship. I strongly prefer pluralism to universalist ideas like that. You don't need a universalist philosophy to treat all things with basic dignity and respect, and universalist philosophies typically underwrite or erase diversity in ways that I'm not a fan of.




 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
But if you start restricting what a person can own you've already sucked the life out of your society.
Greed doesn't drive most people.
It seems that ideally in your model everyone has to become compliant and complacent to the "greater good".
Most people see the benefits of cooperation. That's why we have so much of it.
This leads to an easy path to totalitarianism and outright slavery. Individual rights should always come before a contrived "perfect" society.
You wouldn't have a society if individual rights were to prevail over the interests of the group. Most of the people who think that their rights are more important than the group's are in jail or on their way.
 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
I'm neither a fan of nor interested in the idea of global citizenship. I strongly prefer pluralism to universalist ideas like that. You don't need a universalist philosophy to treat all things with basic dignity and respect, and universalist philosophies typically underwrite or erase diversity in ways that I'm not a fan of.
Maybe you can expand on your objection. I don't see how treating everyone as an equal, or putting the interest of the global community first, threatens diversity.
 
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Global citizenship is a very old idea. Diogenes (400–325 BC) said: "I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world."

He also slept in a jar, masturbated in public and took dumps in the theatre in his desire to reject political and cultural conventions :D

I don't think his global citizenship was the kind of thing you are thinking of.

Global citizenship eliminates group pride.

Unfortunately this is an intrinsic part of our nature, as numerous scientific studies have demonstrated. Group identity can take many forms, but we cannot transcend our need for need for identity.

"All for one, one for all" A global citizen will take for granted that the global community has, since the origin of our species, been involved a cooperative endeavor.

There is no such thing as a global community. Just different societies comprised of different individuals with differing and often contradictory goals and aims. Since the origin of our species this has always been the case, and everything from human history tells us that this is intrinsic to human socialisation.

Ultimately the idea that there exists a universal community that can be united under a single ideology is a product of the universalist monotheisms and at least they had a god to help them on their way.

The world is too diverse for this, and attempts to assimilate differing cultures tends to have a counterproductive effect. We are a value pluralist species, which means while some things can be considered universally good/bad, the majority of views fall within the boundaries of personal and cultural preference. Considering that the whole world should align with one culture's values is simply conceit.

While well meaning, evangelical globalists imo ask the wrong question. Instead of "how can we make everyone like each other and live as one?" the best question to ask is "how do we live in a diverse world where we often don't really like each other without resorting to violence and antagonism?". Less romantic perhaps, but more practical when dealing with a flawed species such as our own.

Utopianism usually ends up causing the very problems it seeks to eliminate due to the unfortunate effect of reality on lofty dreaming.
 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
He also slept in a jar, masturbated in public and took dumps in the theatre in his desire to reject political and cultural conventions :D
:eek:No. That's not the lifestyle I endorse. But his quote is famous. That's why I used it.

Unfortunately this is an intrinsic part of our nature, as numerous scientific studies have demonstrated. Group identity can take many forms, but we cannot transcend our need for need for identity.
I'm not sure what you mean about a need for identity. I identify as being a human being and part of a group I'm calling "the global community." It's a simple free will choice.
There is no such thing as a global community.
If you don't want to recognize it, that's up to you.

The world is too diverse for this, and attempts to assimilate differing cultures tends to have a counterproductive effect.
The USA has been doing exactly that throughout its history and we are learning to get along.

Utopianism usually ends up causing the very problems it seeks to eliminate due to the unfortunate effect of reality on lofty dreaming.
There's nothing utopian about my philosophy. It's optimistic, sure.
 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
The irony with the above is that, even though you may have left the Catholic faith materially, you actually didn't leave it spiritually as your basic points above do reflect Catholic moral theology.
I left my Catholic faith behind. Any resemblance between my philosophy and the teachings of the
Church are purely coincidental.
 

pearl

Well-Known Member
The irony with the above is that, even though you may have left the Catholic faith materially, you actually didn't leave it spiritually as your basic points above do reflect Catholic moral theology.

It reflects Catholic teaching on Social Justice. Globalization must include a global 'ethic' and is that not anything more than the thorough working-out of the Golden Rule in every area of life, economic, political, social and cultural?
 
I'm not sure what you mean about a need for identity. I identify as being a human being and part of a group I'm calling "the global community." It's a simple free will choice.

But ultimately you define the global community in terms of your own culturally conditioned values.

If you don't want to recognize it, that's up to you.

It was just a description of reality. Recognising something does not make it exist.

The USA has been doing exactly that throughout its history and we are learning to get along.

People who voluntarily accept the values of a specific cultural entity as enforced by the laws of a nation state. There is no such authority on a global scale, and no such voluntarism as not everyone in the world desires to become an American.

There's nothing utopian about my philosophy. It's optimistic, sure.

In terms of a personal philosophy fair enough, but in terms of something that leads to global governance it's utopian.
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
There's nothing utopian about my philosophy. It's optimistic, sure.
As @Augustus and others delicately put it, one of the great problems for those who suffer from utopian ideals is that they do not recognize them as such. That's where the ideals tend to go to hell in your proverbial handbasket.
 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
It reflects Catholic teaching on Social Justice. Globalization must include a global 'ethic' and is that not anything more than the thorough working-out of the Golden Rule in every area of life, economic, political, social and cultural?
When I left the Church, before the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, its position was that only Catholics would go to Heaven It was an arrogant position that made the Church less-than-endearing to the global community.

I'm happy to see that that the Church's hierarchy has made moral progress in my lifetime. But I was right to leave it because I was able to apply conscience, and my ability to reason, to move faster in making moral growth on my own.
 

joe1776

Well-Known Member
As @Augustus and others delicately put it, one of the great problems for those who suffer from utopian ideals is that they do not recognize them as such. That's where the ideals tend to go to hell in your proverbial handbasket.
Simply labeling my ideas "utopian" isn't an argument. I invite you to try making an actual argument. What about what I wrote strikes you as utopian?
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
Simply labeling my ideas "utopian" isn't an argument. I invite you to try making an actual argument. What about what I wrote strikes you as utopian?
The whole shebang strikes me as utopian drivel, frankly. It smells like warmed over Marxism if you want my honest opinion.

Ok, I'll critique your piece. Hopefully your skin is as thick as you claim....
 
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