United humanity

By Bente

The world and humanity today are structured as and separated into countries. The United Nations (UN) is the means of converging for the global community of humans and their countries. The concept of nation was created and made its appearance historically, essentially only in the 18th century, just a few hundred years ago. Humans and peoples needed, devised, and created a connecting idea among populations in order to unite against the monarchs of the time, against feudalism, and to create social structures and countries. Until then, societies and peoples were structured and separated largely as to the monarch to whom they belonged. The concept of nation helped in the transition, for the subjects of a monarch to become citizens of a country, it was a means to the transition. The concept of nation was also used to unify populations under colonialism or other oppressive regimes, in order to unite these populations and stand against them, and to establish new countries. Furthermore, it was used to unify various population groups and states to create countries. The elements of convergence and aggregation of the populations to form a nation were primarily based on language and religion, or just unity against a common oppressive regime. The concept of nation was used to unite populations and to create and form social structures and countries, or was implanted in the people within a territory of already existing countries and social structures. Any conscience and identity, whether national, or of a subject or a citizen, as well as any language, religion, or other cultural element, are creations of the social structures at any given time and place.

Today, a people is the product and result of a society that is institutionally and socially organized in the form of a country. Countries are the modern, dominant, established, organized, social structures of humans. Human beings, as rational social beings, create social structures that change according to their development, and also create and shape social characteristics. Of course, diversity of social characteristics is beautiful, but it is beautiful and beneficial for all along with harmonious coexistence and interaction among them. Diversity exists within the same social structure as well as within a country. There will be diversity as long as there is human expression, that is, as long as there are humans, therefore human nature is expressed. Social structures and social characteristics have always been influenced by the geography and the manifold of human nature and will be differentiated. A country is something completely different from a nation, the country being an existing social structure while the nation is a constructed concept. Nation is a human-invented, socially constructed concept. The creation of national identity becomes a product of government policies, as do education systems. The concept of nation nowadays often becomes a source of division among humans, on an individual level, or among peoples, or among countries and raises competition and domination over other countries. Fierce competition for dominance to the point of the absurd among countries has brought and continues to bring a lot of suffering and by this process both humanity and the planet are afflicted. Countries have to aim first at the well-being of society and people and not at prevailing over other countries. That is the true purpose and essence of human society. Based also on the present situation more essential than a national consciousness, is the social and human consciousness. It would be more essential and to the point to prioritize the social and human consciousness, which is the essence of social cohesion, for the progress and well-being of society itself, and it is what is now most necessary for society and humanity. Social consciousness is something that arises from and fulfills human nature itself, as humans are social beings, while national characteristics are constructed. Countries can also promote how they could contribute to the wide communal family of humanity, the communal society of humankind, which is something that is for everyone, concerns and touches every human being. Furthermore, all humans together have to protect our communal home, the Earth. Nation is a concept that humans invented and constructed just a few hundred years ago, as a necessity of that time, as a unifying and social means of convergence and for liberation from various forms of oppressive regimes, and should no longer be the dominant, divisive factor of our time among the people of the world. The concept of nation does not have to be the today’s dominant source of division among humankind. The present social models of countries are part of our very recent history. They are simply the current state and shape of constantly evolving and changing human, social processes of many thousands of years, more specifically around 300,000 years. Compare to a 300,000-year-old human history, a human invention and construct of just a few hundred years, as the nation is, should not be a reason for division. Any identity, consciousness and other cultural characteristics are fluid and acquired; they are human and social constructs. Humans, every human organism has a common biological nature; human nature and human biology are innate to every human being.

Humanity, Homo sapiens, anatomically modern humans, appeared on planet Earth some 300,000 years ago in Africa, where from all humankind trace their origin. Before the landmark of around 60,000 years ago, some human populations sporadically came out of Africa several times, but it seems they did not manage to survive or grow, or they retreated back to Africa. Then, roughly 60,000 years ago out of the 300,000 years of human history, some human populations came out of the cradle of humanity, Africa, that being the great exodus that seems to have shaped humanity as we know it. Humans traveled and migrated, scattered, and spread across the various lengths and breadths of the planet. Traveling, migrating and wandering continued and all human populations were nomads until recently, in proportion to their overall history, when with the rise of agriculture they started the formation of more permanent human settlements, more massively. The state of humans was similar for the vast majority of our history until a process of transition began. Nomads, hunter gatherers, gradually were turning into farmers and being more stable in one place. When this process of transition developed to a considerable degree became the agricultural revolution, which happened around 12,000 years ago. We will make an attempt to enter the history of humankind on an approximate percentage scale, with the total being the some 300,000 years of the presence of Homo sapiens on the planet, based approximately on numbers and scientific data we have as humanity. Of the 300,000 years, humans essentially came out of Africa the last 60,000 years, that is, for about 80% of the common human history and human presence on Earth, humanity was basically in Africa. While wandering around the globe for about 96% of the overall human history, humans started to have settlements more permanently and massively 12,000 years ago. Any human construct of a few hundred years such as the nation seems negligible compare to 300,000 years of common human history, with humans being out of their native Africa for only 20% of their history, and in only 4% of it did they essentially start settling down. Science, the admitted and systematized knowledge of humankind, overtime and with continuity, based on scientific discoveries and findings, scientific studies and research, records the beginning and the history of human species.

The history of humanity is one of constant movement and mixing, but also one of constant interaction with the environment, just as with every other species in nature. From the beginning of the adventure of humankind in Africa – the cradle of every human organism – humans have not stopped moving and later gradually spreading to different lengths and breadths of the planet, interacting for thousands of years with the environment, geographical and climatic conditions, which has always been an on-going process. Human population interactions had been in interaction with the environment. The environment, in addition to geography and climate, contains every organism’s interaction with the world, such as nutrition. It all started based on the common human genome and any differences that arose superficially and externally, are added to the interaction with the environment. Skin tones and various external morphological features are geographically correlated, based on the interaction of our species with the environment. In fact, if we look at the complete genome of humans all over the world, these differences are added and superficial, representing only a very small fraction of the differences among humans. Today, the scientific community has proven that the concept of race is constructed, and that all humans descend from Africa. Human sciences, such as genetics, biology, anthropology etc., reveal the non-existence of the concept of race, which has no genetic, biological, or scientific basis. The concept of race was invented, constructed, and used in the 18th century, during the colonial period, long before the discovery of DNA, and is responsible for some of the greatest sufferings in the history of humankind. From the beginning the excuse for dividing humans into races was based on cultural differences and not biological ones. Races are not real and do not reflect any biological reality. The various superficial added features have been formed for thousands of years and are still constantly being formed in interaction also with the environment, while the social structures that are constantly changing at any given time and place, create and shape cultural and social characteristics. The human being is the core, with everything else being additional, the external features of interaction with the environment, such as geography and climate, cultural characteristics such as language and religion, which are human and social constructs, given by various social structures. Every organism of our species – Homo sapiens – all human beings have a common genetic origin and a legacy, that we all share as humans; a common biological identity of humans, who collectively constitute humanity and share a common nature, human nature; above all we are humans.

Organized social structures of the modern human countries, shape social characteristics, with the education system being a significant, fundamental one. Education systems are in many cases ethnocentric, just as history lessons are shaped in the light of a nationalistic distortive lens. They do little to promote the human consciousness, also to show that war is the greatest calamity for humanity, and for every human being individually, depravation is caused, while peace is a supreme value and it enables humans to develop their human virtues and thrive. The concept of nation is often used divisively and also divides humans and peoples, disorients from reality, is used to maintain the spirit of armies, creates conflicts or is used to conduct conflicts and even war. The majority of the almost 8 billion humans living on the planet at the present time is not involved in some form of extreme violence. In recent times, violence and war on the planet as a whole have been at a lower rate than ever before, which is progress and indicates that humanity can do without them. Until the 17th century, no more than 15% of the population in Europe was literate, while today more than 90% of the world’s population under the age of 25 is literate, which is hopeful for the world.

The countries of the world today, however, still ignore the true reason why they exist, that is, the well-being of people, driven by business interests and sacrificing people and the environment on their altar, or that of futile and dead-end countries’ competition and domination. The domination effort has brought a lot of suffering to humankind and the planet. In this domination process there is no end and no one wins, until an existential catastrophe for humankind and the planet. There is no meaning and prospect in this, and after so many centuries this is obvious and can be seen by today’s humanity. This pointless domination process has to be stopped. This is happening today by countries for the sake and service of business interests and at the expense of peoples and the natural environment. Peoples gain nothing but lose a lot from this. Countries have to be adapted and oriented to the well-being of society and people, which is the essence, instead of prevailing over other countries and serving business interests. Cooperation has to precede competition among humans. Humans, peoples and their countries, this applies to all, have to protect the survival prospects of humankind and the planet, and be able to promote their well-being. The destruction of the environment and the planet, our home, being a part of it, is a truly self-destructive and irrational act for humanity, acting against our own existence and the survival prospect of our kind. The protection of it is a vital and urgent, existential issue that concerns humankind as a whole.

The United Nations (UN) is an organization and a means of convergence for the global community of humans and their countries. The UN was created after the Second World War as the successor of the League of Nations, which was created after the First World War and was the first attempt to bring countries together to address the problems that concern humanity. The UN today seem increasingly dated, inefficient, and inadequate for the needs of the modern world, humanity and the planet. Institutions in general operating globally are dated. More than ever in our history, our species has to come together and work together. The planet and humanity as a species are facing challenges that are global and imperative, such as the fact that we have one planet and we must work collectively, to protect it. If the planet is destroyed, anything concerning humankind has neither meaning nor prospect. Conditions require that we work and stand together in a cooperative mood and a shared global vision. Once this is accomplished, there will be no limits to what humans can achieve communally and united.

Global problems need global answers and solutions; humankind faces common problems and challenges, and must have common solutions and answers as humanity. We are now confronting common global crises, threats, problems, and challenges, such as climate change, destruction of the environment and the planet, inequalities, human exploitation, depletion of resources, the pandemic etc. existing or about to come up. Having common threats and common goals, reveals this existential need for unity and is a unifying message to humanity. Global cooperation is the answer. We need global cooperation for humankind to face global challenges, or simply cooperation of humankind to face the challenges of our kind. Cooperation, something that is an inextricable part of human nature and has enabled humans to rise from the beginning, being social beings, is a requirement on a species level. Due to the present situation of humanity, the time has come and necessitates cooperation for humankind. We need to light the spark of the spirit of global cooperation which is vital.

Human society, having global characteristics, should address and manage global issues globally as a global community. The modern world and its demands, the issues of humanity and the planet, are common and as such they require a global, universal, human perspective and a more unified, coordinated, and imperatively more effective response.

Humanity, the global community of humans today, needs a new organization, a reform and new global institutions, a means of convergence based on the needs of the modern world: this organization should be structured on new terms adapted to the modern world, global institutions and structures of the global community responding to the present human needs; it is a prospect tailored to the needs of the modern world that today’s global community structures are unable to respond to and cope with effectively. There is a need for updating and adjusting global institutions to the new conditions at a global level, so that binding decisions are made and human and environmental issues are managed effectively. Humanity needs a new universal human organization, to make it more unified and coordinated, to manage and tackle the issues of it and of the planet, the global common issues of humankind collectively, globally and more effectively, which is impossible with the current structures of the global community. This should be an organization for humankind and the world community, an organization of the citizens of the world. We need a reconstruction of the institutions of the global community based on the modern situation and challenges of humankind.

The needs of humanity are such that sooner or later it will move in this direction, which we can hasten by taking initiative, without having to go through another a major catastrophe again, as was the case with the creation of the League of Nations and then its succession by the UN, for which humanity had to suffer the First and Second World War respectively. Maybe with the present data, this initiative can be taken before irreversible effects on the planet and humankind become more intense, with phenomena such as climate change being a very significant threat. It could start from the people, from countries or inside the UN. The United Nations is also a misnomer, as it is an organization of countries and not of national populations. After the League of Nations, and now after the United Nations, we need the United Humanity.

We should have a perception as a species, as one body, to acquire a consciousness as human beings, a consciousness as humanity. We need to acquire a global, universal, human perspective and consciousness, to face situations as one body, with common problems and challenges, to face situations as humanity. We should become aware of the universality of the human species. We need to obtain the human consciousness. The human consciousness should be established in the people of the world. This means the human being should obtain consciousness of their own species, consciousness of themselves and of their existence.

Nature is our home and our creator, as it is to all beings on the planet, and from our beginning we have been interacting with it, with our natural environment, being part of it. It is imperative for the survival of our species that we live in harmony among us and with our natural environment. Obtaining human consciousness, we need to realize that we are one species that has a common nature and origin. Back to the approximate percentage scale of the history of humankind, 80% of our history and our presence on the planet was basically in our birthplace Africa, the cradle of all humanity, in only 4% of it we essentially started settling down, while for 96% of our history we have been wandering around the planet, which of course continues uninterruptedly to this day, traveling, migrating the Earth. We start out from Africa, scattered across the planet to meet and reunite again in the global community. We have a common past, present and future, and a common purpose to survive but also to live in well-being and coexist in harmony among us and with our natural environment. This knowledge can liberate us so as to use it in the way we relate to our environment and to each other. The common human gene makes humanity a family. It’ s the common gene of the human family. Destroying the Earth, our only home, is truly self-destructive. Humanity is our family and the planet is our home. The children of the world are a paramount responsibility of humanity.

A constant evolution has been going on for every human being individually and for the human species as humanity. Diversity among humans and peoples is a beautiful thing, but it cannot and should not be a dividing factor among us. We need to understand the beauty of diversity, which is at the same time the uniqueness of every person, every human being.

Human nature is universal, every human being has a common biological origin and a common biological identity, that goes for all human populations. Humans are not one-dimensional beings, they have their contradictions. Every human being is an evolving organism, not a state, just as humanity as a species is a communally evolving body. Everyone stages their own personal struggle. There needs to be understanding for other people, all people, simply because they are humans, they possess human nature and experience a similar life state. All humans have one nature, the beautiful common human nature, a miracle of nature. What we essentially are in reality, first and foremost, beyond any other quality and characteristic, is our nature, our biology; we are humans and this is what unites us more deeply than anything. We are united by our own nature, our own essence. Human nature is deeply collective. Our nature is in such a way interwoven with its collective aspect that emanates and radiates that collective orientation is better for each one individually and at the same time for all. Human nature itself cries out for unity in humankind.

Human nature and the planet are reaching their limit, the absurdity of profit is becoming dangerous and must be confined. We should prioritize human reason and promote universal human values. The human civilization is common. Civilization is common and universal to humankind. There is a common history of one species, one civilization in the world. We have one common civilization, the human civilization, the legacy and prospect of humanity, which concerns all humans as a species, with a common home, the planet Earth. It is required that we be united not only by our nature, but also due to our own survival. We should break down the barriers within and among countries. Humans, their countries, whatever their social structures, should work together for our common present and future cooperatively for the progress and well-being of humanity.

We should create a unity of humanity for humans, for humanity itself and for the planet. We should have a global, universal, human attitude as humanity and be as one body, a human fellow-traveling society, a community of humankind. Humanity and the planet need an alliance of humans, closer and more effective cooperation, for the commonly pursued cause, a better common present and future for humanity on the planet. There should be a global universal human body, the United Humanity, for the survival, progress and well-being of humanity and the planet.

We humans can let go of what divide us and keep what unite us. There is nothing more powerful than the greatness of human nature, the greatness of humanity itself…