Sure. Hostile alien invasion.
I had this discussion with my work colleagues before COVID was a thing. I asked the question along the lines of “If aliens were to come to earth and pose an existential threat could you see the world uniting as one”
I don’t believe so. I think although we would weakly work together the big world players still could not put aside their issues and trust enough to get the job done.
Then COVID occurred and I brought this question back up citing that even a global pandemic couldn’t generally get us to put aside our differences and work for the benefit of the world.
In the back of each countries head would be “How do I as a country emerge from this threat as the dominate force”.
I disagree on the COVID point somewhat
We DID actually coordinate for a bit, but I think once it was clear that we were getting a handle on things the selfishness came back. A large part of that was a few populist world leaders taking advantage of the situation for political gain.
Hoping we can do even better next time
Yeah I see what your saying and COVID did test us like never before but;
-We had a nation blatantly allow their citizens to spread throughout the world (I assume because they were not wanting to admit they had a problem).
-We had a somewhat coordinated effort (but was thwarted due to political gain/manouevering in a lot of countries).
-I think the selfishness, at least in my country started pretty much straight away. And made it harder the whole way through.
These points above, in my mind were enough to show me that we really can’t together when it counts. Another example is global climate change, we are staring that in the face and we still can’t get it together.
I imagine seeing on the news NEWSFLASH: Aliens have arrived and seem threatening… We wold have;
-One country trying to make friends with said aliens to gain an upper hand.
-Another country trying to be the worlds hero and go it alone by attacking them.
-Governments quickly trying to take their chance at gaining their last bit of control by clamping down on citizens.
-Nations trying to help themselves only and foregoing other nations (eg. Yeah nuke that nation to save ours)
I do hope we do better but past experience doesn’t give me hope.
Maybe if we eliminate the concept of countries and borders and national identity
In the EU we are already working on just that.
Alot of sci-fi is based on this, star trek for example talk about how humans are able to create almost unlimited energy and the discovery of the replicator. And yet it took several generations for humans to focus on science, medicine and art and specializes them self in different subjects, you didn’t have to do so but not doing so was looked down upon. So if we all just focus on unlimited power! And a machine that can reproduce anything with just energy we should be on a good way to function together. I’m still afraid that religion will still be a chaotic fraction in than equation.
I’m guessing people would still want power over others. If there is no scarcity in resources, then we will find something else to fight over.
there’s always racism/ethnicity. need a few thousand years of interbreeding to get rid of that issue
Land. Sexual partners. Values/morality. Those are the big two (and a half) that I could see.
Until VR is perfected (to the degree touch/taste/smell/sight/auditory/proprioception/etc. all match exactly what reality would deliver), things like views (wouldn’t you want your house to be on the shore of Malibu?), proximity to activities (if everyone suddenly found themselves wanting to be a surfer, the beaches will become pretty crowded), proximity to others (whether that’s immense crowding of folks into massive cities, or the loners who would want space and again, views [like of forested hills]) and other similar concepts would still motivate people to be in conflict. There would definitely still be winners/losers in all of those areas.
I’d say the sexual partners idea speaks for itself. Even as we appear to be at the zenith of sexual freedom in the west, there are lots of problems (such as incels/the concept of incels) cropping up that cause conflict. Probably a small chance of giant, intercontinental conflict, but who knows.
And we already see the imposition of values or morality by laws. I very seriously doubt that would diminish. Perhaps unlimited energy and whatever-matter-on-demand-you-want would allow people to move to where others’ thoughts align with theirs, but if you could get away from local imposition of opposing values, it would be setting the stage for regions then being in conflict. Would a faction that believed homosexuality was the source of remaining human suffering allow their neighbor to engage in free love? I think we have our answer already in the form of genocides that have occurred in the world; ones where divisions were drawn based on nearly arbitrary lines. Throw pseudo-religious ideas/values into that mix, and you have yourself a war.
Nations are defined by contrast to the outer world. So I don’t think what you are dreaming of is possible. It will always be Us vs Them.
