Gary, it would be colonialism if one conquered the others, or forced their way onto the others. The idea of a federation is the very same as that of the US federal system. The states are semi-sovereign bodies within the federal union. These states are all equal within the federal system. The strength they gain as the federal union is greater than the sum of the parts. Alone, the US states would quickly turn into tin pot fiefdoms vying for materials, resources, products. The concept of regional federations is what is happening in Europe, in Africa, etc. They are taking small measured steps in that direction, but fail to realize that the example of the US, during its founding, is where they are headed, and that is out of comparative necessity to gain economic advantage, does not need to be repeated, just emulated. Why? They realize that separately they cannot compete. They realize that the economies of scale benefit those with the population statistics of consumers and producers to compete against the US, and against the coming hegemony of China. If these federal regions do not evolve or come into existence, then China will have global hegemony. Xi Jinping, in his China Dream, has said that China does not seek hegemony, that it is not in their blood to lead the world. That may very well be Xis desire, to not be hegemonic, but with their population numbers of maturing consumers and producers, numbers no where on earth like them, they will have hegemony. They will have the power, prestige, following, to make them hegemonic regardless of the stated desire of current leaders. Is that bad? Yes. It means that cost of goods, services, money, will skyrocket for us smaller states - even the US, in its current form, will not be able to provide those things at good prices to its people because it too will be too small to offer competition against China. This is not a statement against China. These are the facts of life in a world of hyper-connection, instant communications with individuals, businesses, organizations, governments all around the globe. There are two solutions: the first is to create a single global economy, with free and open trade, free and open assess, free and unrestrained movement of goods and peoples, - in other words a global free market economy. This requires a huge leap for most, and some would need to set aside their apocalyptic prognostications for the good of the people (all the people, not just this or that tribe). The second option is to take a more measured approach and establish regional federations able to compete with each other and with China. These regional federations are not ideal, but they will it least offer a more stable and level playing field for the regions around the globe.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 02:00:23 +0000
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