The World Is My Country by Garry Davis

A classic in the annals of world federalist history, 'The World is My Country', published in 1961, follows the odyssey of Garry Davis for ten years after he gave up his American citizenship papers in 1948 as a protest against the nation-state system that Davis felt was the root cause of war.

Davis had been a WWII fighter pilot practising legalized murder by dropping bombs on men, women, and children. His brother was killed at Salerno. Dissatisfied with both his past and postwar tensions threatening WWIII, Davis volunteered with the United World Federalists promoting democratic world government but found their policies too timid. 'I wanted a crusade, not a meeting.' World government, he felt, would have to come from the people themselves through mass action.

Following the example of another veteran who abandoned American citizenship to rebuild bombed-out churches in Germany, Davis travelled to Paris so he could officially renounce his U.S. citizenship. In the postwar posturing of diplomats and the onset of the Cold War, his ensuing antics inaugurated a firestorm of publicity. He soon found himself with a circle of supporters and well-wishers including intellectuals like Albert Camus, Francois Mauriac, Albert Schweitzer, Andre Gide, Richard Wright, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Ordered to leave France, but stateless with no place to go, Davis camped out on the lawn of the Palais de Chaillot, temporarily accorded the status of international territory due to a meeting of the United Nations. Davis was sent packing by Paris police, but soon returned. He attempted to interrupt the General Assembly in the name of the people calling for a constitutional convention to create an effective world government.

Though he was prevented from speaking there, some 20,000 people packed the stadium Velodrome d'Hiver to hear his ideas, and in the next few years, some 600,000 joined his new organization - the International Registry of World Citizens.

The stateless Garry Davis tested his self-issued 'World Passport' by trying to enter and exit various countries. In one ludicrous escapade he passed beyond the French border guard with no authorization to return, only to be refused entrance by Germany. So he built a shack on the line between the two countries to publicize his plight. In Italy, he was interned in the infamous Frascati, a walled concentration camp. Italian authorities were not amused when Davis began issuing World Passports to the other inmates many of whom were refugees.

Other adventures over the ten year period include his trip to India for spiritual enlightenment (before the Beatles!), a blessing bestowed somewhat reluctantly by Prime Minister Nehru, a petition to the Queen of England, an encounter with the actor Peter Ustinov (now President of the World Federalist Movement), the Ellsworth Declaration of World Government, the issuing of World Government banknotes, and the initiation of 'mondialization' whereby whole communities declared themselves world citizens.

Critics of Garry Davis have described him as 'a man of gestures, not an organizer, thinker or theoretician.' Yet he was praised by no less a celebrity than Albert Einstein who expressed 'recognition of the sacrifice he has made for the well-being of humanity. In voluntarily giving up his citizenship-rights he has made out of himself a 'displaced person' in order to fight for the natural rights of those who are the mute evidence of the low moral level of our time.'

Although most of the the events in this book occurred some 50 years ago, they still illuminate issues of today. The international system is still plagued by rogue states, big and small, that refuse to strengthen or abide by international law.

And we are still arguing over the best route towards democratic world government. In his most recent official report as Chairperson of the World Federalist Movement, the Canadian James Christie says '..the remarkable progress, against..all odds, of the International Criminal Court Project.....continues (to be) the best demonstration of incremental federalism. ...World Federalism largely eschews the grandiose rhetoric of world government for the more gradualist language of global governance. Increased Non-Governmental Organization access to UN Missions, careful reflection on global economic and environmental issues, and networking with like-minded individuals and organizations are... the key strategies to the realization of our long-term goal: one federated human community under law....'.

This viewpoint received a scathing rebuttal from Troy Davis, President of the World Citizens Foundation: '..James' word are very clear: it is NOT about World government, it is about the cop-out of global governance, a meaningless concept ....this is timid stuff which will not change the global power structure. ...Most people understand that we CANNOT change the world.via a small elite.... We must get MASSIVE popular support.....we need attractive ideas to fire the public's imagination.

Troy Davis is Garry Davis' son.

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The World is My Country by Gary Davis
Available from the Vancouver Public Library
Call # 321.07 D26a

Available by order from the World Service Authority