I recently printed a 3D model of the Earth without the ocean. Needless to say, I was very excited once I got it. Since I have a background in geology, I wanted to know how the countries and continents really “sat” on my palm-sized yellow model, a representation of how it is in reality.
Islands in Far East Asia did not look like what I was used to seeing on a terrainless globe, or even on Google maps. This was because they are a part of the continent of Asia, and only the elevated regions are seen above sea level and comprise the Far East islands. It sparked curiosity about the general topography of the oceans and also the geography of the Earth. One of the first things I did was look at the continent of Zelandia so that I could understand it better.
Once I understood what was what on the model, I felt like Earth was home. Not India, but the Earth (I’m an Indian).
We are divided by countries, and really the only thing that separates us are the vast oceans; however, in this day and age with technology reaching and breaking limits, we are more connected than ever. So why can’t we be humans of one united Earth? Where we all are citizens—not of the United Kingdom, the United States, or France—but citizens of the world, our home, Earth.
Of course, where we originate from will be our roots and will ground us to the Earth, but once we break free from the shackles of different countries and combine our resources both to further technology as well as combat the various world issues as one united global nation, the sky will be the limit. With time, we will be able to transcend even beyond the Earth and explore other planets. And maybe sci-fi wouldn’t be that impossible in the real world after all!
I do not have an economics background, so I don’t know if combining nations’ resources would be a boon for some countries while a bane for others; nevertheless, it is definitely something that we as children of the Earth can think about.