The nation state is a rotten idea
17 November 2010
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace ...
John Lennon - 1971
There was a time when most people belonged to natural communities or roamed the earth as free agents.
The creation of the nation state was accompanied by borders, armies to defend or take them, governments, laws, bureaucracies, taxes.
Idealists have imagined a global republic founded on our common humanity. Is this a naïve or foolish hope and in either case, a recipe for chaos, confusion and misery?
Perhaps we should embrace the nation state for what it is - a larger entity that enhances our individual lives; a source of pride and security, financial and emotional?
It is important that audience members are seated by 6.35pm as the event will be screened live.
Speakers
- To be confirmed
Further details to be announced. Please check back.
Chair:
Dr Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre. Simon spent five years studying and working as a member of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Having won scholarships to study at Cambridge, he read for the degrees of Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy. He was inaugural President of The Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics and is a Director of a number of companies. He is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Foreign Policy Association, based in New York. Simon has been Executive Director of St James Ethics Centre since shortly after it was founded.
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