Nation

Nation, Earth Order Before and After the Fact

By John Taylor; 2007 June 07

Let us get back to basics, just you and me. Let us draw a line between us and measure its length. I will write it down here in this little notebook. Next, let us put him on our right and her on our left and draw lines among the four of us. I will now write down these distances separately, and then calculate the average length and, while I am at it, I will note the longitude and latitude of that single point, the location where the lines among the four of us intersect.

 Our next step may require an upgrade to my notebook, a computer, supercomputer or, even better, a distributed, virtual computer.

 In any case, now we draw a line between every one of the seven billion human beings on planet Earth. Got it? Good, write down the distances, calculate your mean and averages, and finally note the longitude and latitude of the average point of intersection among all the lines. This is the midpoint, ground zero, the center of humanity. Here is the most convenient place for the most people to come together and meet. Here we can build the capital city of Nation (United Nations is a misnomer, if not an oxymoron, for if nations really were to unite they would form one, one word, one nation, or Nation).

 I am not saying that it is practicable to build a real city at this point. For one thing, if the lines between each human are all perfectly straight the average intersection point would be somewhere underground, perhaps at the earth's molten-metal core. Even restricting ourselves to great circle or geodesic lines on the surface of earth, the midpoint might well end up under an ocean or on a high mountaintop. But nonetheless, this is the theoretical center, and here, geographically and mathematically speaking, rests the center, the most convenient, ideal A Priori location for a capital city of Nation.

 No, we cannot build or visit that absolute A Priori center point, but maybe it has an influence nonetheless. The radial center of the physical planet is not a point in space that we can occupy without being burned and squeezed to death, but nonetheless our bodies are being pulled by gravity towards it constantly; no matter where we go on earth or what we do there, we are incessantly pulled towards one theoretical point at the center of the planet. Does the central intersection point among all humans exert a similar influence on mind, heart and spirit?

 I had been inspired to enter into these speculations about a theoretical midpoint of humanity late last night. Then I read this, by Giovanni Battista Vico: "Mathematics is created in the self-alienation of the human spirit. The spirit cannot discover itself in mathematics. The human spirit lives in human institutions." This sent me back to the drawing board, back to my little notebook. How can we calculate a midpoint among us all that is located where our spirit resides, in human institutions?

 Clearly, there is more to us than the space we occupy, the point where we happen to be on earth. We can imagine all the lines and physical relations we wish, and we still will not have begun to cover everything. Our bodies have needs, basic physical needs; they require food, clothing and shelter. But "Man does not live by bread alone." We also have non-physical needs; our mind, heart and spirit long for the true, the good and the beautiful. A sort of matrix of these six needs, food, clothing, shelter, the true, the good and the beautiful, would have to be factored in together in order ever to derive an institutional central point among all humans.

 The matrix of six modifiers would easily pull our center point out of the ground and away from oceans and mountaintops. The A Priori capital of Nation would have to be a center that best answers all six of the basic human needs. It would be (or be capable of becoming) a center of food production, of textile industry and construction. It would also have to be true, good and beautiful, that is, it would be a center of learning, of ethical behavior and moral probity, and it would be well endowed with gardens and works of art.

 I can hear my Baha'i brothers and sisters jump in here pointing enthusiastically at the map, saying, "Here, Mount Carmel, is the point of intersection. It answers basic needs and is at the physical center of the three biggest and most populous continents." I do not disagree; Haifa in all probability will one day be the capital of Nation. But in the meantime, there will be others, steps to the final destination.

 My point is that to choose this or that city would be an A Posteriori choice. A Posteriori takes things as they are and works from there. I have been talking up to this point in purely A Priori terms, of a mathematically derived juncture where a new capitol city would be built by a newly founded Nation. If the juncture of matrices happens to be in a desert, Nation would found a new capital city there.

 I must make one concession to A Posteriori thinking. I have to admit that the land masses of earth are divided by huge oceans into a half dozen continents. It would be most practical to found an A Priori capitol in each continent and then link every individual to them. After that we could proceed to the calculations that would arrive at a world center, a universal capital at the center of everything.

 The continental division is not my idea. Winston Churchill originally proposed it when the structure of the United Nations had not been determined. Rather than have all nations squabbling together in one huge room, why not divide into regional, democratically elected assemblies on each continent? Then they would in turn elect a few individual representatives onto the world body, the United Nations, or in our case, Nation. The idea was rejected because it would have been less subject to "Great Power" manipulation (a more descriptive word would be "Petty Powers").

 Within each continent there is at least one point that is closest to the central location where everybody lives, and where our needs can be met most efficiently. Take that and found a city, call it Primus, the founding capitol of the first continental assembly. In Africa it would be called Primus Africa, in Asia, Primus Asia, and so forth. Next time I will talk about how we might go about calculating, designing and building a Primus continental capitol.