Paths to a Provisional Government of Earth
June 2, 2024
by William P. Meyers

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People who realize the traditional governments of earth have failed are working on establishing a global government that can solve the earth's problems. Most notably, they aim to bring a quick end to the carbon regime that is driving global warming and the catastrophes associated with it. As outlined in Provisional Government of Earth, My Thoughts, other goals include bringing local and global ecosystems back to health and fair representation of all human individuals on our planet.

People with power rarely give up power without a struggle. Setting up a Provisional Government is likely to be difficult. An organization to that effect will likely be opposed by most or all existing governments. Even if some group of people, up to a nation, aligns with the provisional government of earth, that would leave governance contested between the old and the potential new global regime.

The transitions of governance have been well documented by historians and studied by political scientists and political leaders. Here I will point out a few pathways that could get us to a sane, ecologically sound, and just governance of earth. And some roadblocks.

In a democracy the citizens might simply vote to join a global government and align their national government's policies with the global policies. However, while theoretically easy, in the real world many roadblocks exist. I will use the United States of America as an example, since it is a democracy and a republic. Most Americans have trouble thinking outside of the two party system. So while a third, pro-provisional government of earth, party could be organized, it might work better to try to capture or reform the Democratic Party. That party currently has problems establishing majorities in Congress. It has had difficulty getting an internal concensus to act decisively to stop global warming. To join in a unified government of earth would require passing a constitutional amendment, or perhaps signing a treaty that would make us subject to considerable international control.

Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote of both the House and the Senate, followed by ratification of three-quarters of the state governments. That looks unlikely at present, given the denial of climate change by a majority of Republican politicians and the control of many small population states, with their two Senators each, by those same denialist Republicans. Although the Constitution has been amended several times over the past two centuries, using this path would be a difficult road until enough people are angry enough about the effects of climate change to throw the deniers out of office.

Making a treaty is slightly less difficult. The executive branch would negotiate a treaty. Then a two-thirds vote in the U.S. Senate would be necessary for the treaty to become law. Then the question of whether, or to what extent, treaties can negotiate away powers of the federal (or states) government might be in dispute.

The same conundrum exists at the global level. There currently exists a sort-of global government, the United Nations. The United Nations does some good things, but its power is very limited. The five permanent members of the Security Council (The U.S., United Kingdom (England), Russia, France and China) have veto power, and there is no current mechanism to end that veto power. Funding for the U.N. is voluntary. A real global government would need the power to tax and the power to make, at the very least, environmental regulations.

Despite the difficulties, consider transitioning the United Nations to a true global government based on ecological principles and basic human rights. It should be based on the one-person, one vote principle. Say it would have 800 Representatives for humans to represent the current 8 billion people in the world. That would mean one representative per 10 million people. Countries with less than 10 million people would need to be lumped together. They might also have an ambassador to the reconstituted U.N., but only for purposes of communication. Nations that do not currently allow elections would need to hold them. Nations that do not conduct fair elections would need to be supervised.

The other way to go about shifting from a provisional government of earth to a true government of earth would involve setting up a separate institution to rival a current government. It could be set up by some nations, or by the people themselves. It would have to gain power over the humans of the earth by the usual methods, eventually replacing the U.N. as the primary international body.

The same is true in the United States, or any other nation or unit of territory. A provisional government, aligned with the Provisional Government of Earth, could work towards replacing the current U.S. government, rather than capturing it from within. This has never been done successfully since the founding of the current U.S. government. Then again, there has never been a crisis of misgovernment before that endangers every living creature on this earth. The advantage of organizing outside of the current structure is that those in the current structure would have more difficulty impeding progress. If we are still a democracy, at some point in the future a decision could be made to switch from one strategy to the other. With enough people supporting the aims of the provisional government of earth, the option of replacing the current personnel within the current electoral process might become more feasible than forming a new government from scratch and then overthrowing the legacy government.

Given the complexity of human society on earth, this process is likely to succeed earlier in some nations, or sections of their societies, than others. It may be necessary to use economic coercion, or even embargoes, to bring the some recalcitrant nations into line. We can expect some nations to use classic authoritarian methods (imprisoning supporters, even murdering them) to prevent an ecological provisional government from gaining power. However, many politicians could flip when they see which way the people of earth are heading.

Finally, a comment on the word revolution. It has been applied to many circumstances. The creation of the Roman Empire (and other empires) was a revolution. The end of feudalism in Europe was a revolution. The American Revolution, French Revolution, and Russian Revolutions are classics studied by many historians. The Industrial Revolution, however, was not mainly political in nature. Revolutions do not need to be violent. Much depends on the nature of the opposition. If politicians (and others) abandon Chevron and the all-growth-is-good mentality, we can see a peaceful transition to an healing world. If they insist, we cannot let the world die. We must insist. Our insistence on healing change must be stronger than their grip on power and wealth.

Clearly this is a very brief summary. If you want to save the world, consider the many avenues available to educate about a need for a Provisional Governemnt of Earth. There is dialog, and social media. There is voting and running for office. There are many kinds of action, including doing anything that disrupts the global carbon dioxide machine. There will be much longer discussions of strategy and tactics in the future. Keep yourself informed, and try to use good judgment. But remember, given the slow motion apocalypse we are already in, inaction means death. Slow action means failure. So act up, as best you can.

To get the people of earth to recognize the need for a Provisional Government of Earth is the first task. Each nation should form a provisional government organizing committee, though they may use other names. Perhaps even multiple committees, following multiple strategies. In the near future some international coordination of these committees should get underway. At the same time, we are trying to get beyond nationalism and the old ethnic and religious feuds. So committees might form at any level.