song for theme #37B: Global Citizen

“Imagine An Election” by Stephen P. Cook

to be sung to the tune of “Imagine” by John Lennon

Imagine an election

People everywhere vote

Us global citizens

We’re all in the same boat

We travel all together

Sharing Spaceship Ear--th¹

Three issues on the ballot

I’ll explain them now

Each has a keyword

And a little know-how

We travel all together

Sharing Spaceship Ear--th

First choice is Peace yes or no?

Responsibly defend²

No aggression allowed

All out war could be our end³ 

Imagine we the people

Voting here today--ay

Next choice Freedom yes or no?

With responsibility⁴

Yes for human rights⁵

No for tyranny

Imagine we the people

Voting here today--ay

Last choice Ecoshares⁶ yes or no?

Give and take ethically

Vote no, short term greed wins

Yes, long term stability

Imagine we the people

Voting here today--ay

You and I know what they’d choose

Peace, Freedom, and Ecoshares

So let’s have this election

And the world will show it cares

SONG—NOTES / COMMENTS

1—A term popularized in the 1960s. It suggests that we live on a small, fragile planet with limited resources so we need to get

     along, treat each other fairly, and not allow our pollution to degrade life support systems. 

2—Voting “Yes” here commits one to peace and non-aggression, but defending oneself or family is allowed.

3—It is generally agreed that even the “winners” in an all out war nuclear war would lose due to vastly increased radiation,

     seriously changed global climate è what could be the extinction of the human species.

4—Voting “Yes” here would be a vote to have a say in one’s elected government and to exercise one’s freedom responsibly by

     always respecting the rights of others. Voting “No” would be for authoritarianism.

5— Human rights can be defined as basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled. Basically these are held to include

      the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and being treated equally by the law.

6—Voting “Yes” would commit one to an environmental ethic: your impact on the Earth’s biosphere should be limited to a fair

      ecoshare, based on assessment of available resources, environmental impact, computer models, and limits imposed by sustain-

      ability criteria. Widespread acceptance of it would not tolerate a human family in which a relatively few rich people have

      millions of times more wealth than billions of poor!

 Comment: this theme may have value as emotional armor.  Belief that, regardless of differences, “people are people” can lessen your fear when encountering strangers and in traveling far from home.