Garry Davis was a man with a crazy vision of a world without nations. Albert Einstein was a believer in Garry Davis and once said Garry was a man devoted to the survival of humanity on earth.
As a young man, Davis was an actor on Broadway. He was a rising star until his acting career was interrupted by World War II. Davis’s brother was killed in the war. Davis joined the air force to fight against the Nazis. During this time, he was ordered to bomb a city full of civilians. Seeing the deaths of so many innocent people horrified Garry. Wanting to prevent World War III, he started down a lifelong road toward world peace.
After the war, Davis went to France to attend the United Nations. He interrupted a meeting of nations demanding that war be outlawed, and human rights around the world be respected. Using his natural charisma and speaking skills that he learned as an actor, he gave a passionate speech to a crowd of 20,000 about his vision for a peaceful future. The next day, the UN voted and passed a law protecting human rights around the world.
Not long after attending the UN, Davis went to the US embassy in Paris and renounced his citizenship. The following year he started the International Registry of World Citizens. His newly created World Government of World Citizens issued IDs, marriage licenses, and passports. Over the years, close to 1 million people around the world have registered as World Citizens. At first, his World Government was not recognized, and some countries even locked him up. But slowly, something amazing began to happen. Some countries began to accept his World passports and stamp them. Suddenly refugees around the world without the right of citizenship now had a possibility to get official documents and passports.
Taking pride in where we are from is natural. Humans are tribal animals and have been that way since we evolved from primates. We come together as nations for safety and comfort but also for war. Garry Davis passed away in 2013, but he had a lifelong vision of a world without nations and without wars. He believed that the only way we would survive would be to come together as one people. What do you think? Do you think it’s possible for us to transcend our tribal nature and become unified as one world?
Vocabulary
- rising star
someone who is gaining popularity and becoming successful in their field or profession - pass a law
to vote on and approve a new law - over (time/years/months/days)
gradually - lock someone up
to put someone in prison or a place they are prevented from leaving - take pride in
to feel proud of something - come together
to unite; to meet; to work together successfully - pass away
to die
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