But I have spent time with six year olds and I would not be
counting on any of them to save the world anytime soon. Teenagers I might buy but not pre-teens. Teenagers have the nice obsessive interest
levels which would help them in training, they have the drive to prove
themselves better than the adults around them.
I still like the concept though and I find his view of the
political world interesting. Right now
I’m going through the Shadow series, which focuses on Bean and the events on
Earth after Ender’s great victory. I’m
no political theorist but the model of the world that OSC is manipulating makes
sense to me. Nations, like people, get
complacent in success and comfort.
Unification would be possible, but not by conquest. Conquest leads to resentment. A charismatic enough leader might well be
able to unify the world in a single lifetime, especially with the thrust of a
charismatic villain to play against.
But could such a unification hold past a single
lifetime? We’ve never had a historical
example of voluntary unification on a mass scale. Alexander the Great, the Romans, the British,
China, they all conquered their expansive territories. And the empires of conquest invariably fall
apart. It may take centuries, but it
happens.
Then there’s the problem of rulership. A single leader can be efficient and
effective, particularly if he doesn’t have to worry about public opinion. But that kind of power inevitably attracts
bullies and despots who are hungry to use the power as a hammer against their
enemies, both real and imaginary. OSC
recognizes this and has his Hegemon give up power to committee rule after his
lifetime.
Except that committees make crappy rulers. Consensus turns quickly to tyranny of the
majority and fear of unpopular decisions, no matter how right and
necessary. Eventually bureaucracy
overwhelms effectiveness and governments become easy prey for the charismatic
bullies once again.
Maybe the knowledge of sentient extraterrestrial life would
make a difference, forcing us to band together.
But I think humanity still has a lot of growing up to do before a truly
beneficial world government would be possible.
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