1968 JOINT RESOLUTIONS.

tions of the human race. Just as feudalism served its purpose in
human history and was superseded by nationalism, so has
nationalism reached its apogee in this generation and yielded
its hegemony in the body politic to internationalism. The first
duty of government is to protect life and property, and when
governments cease to perform this function, they capitulate on
the fundamental principle of their raison d'etre. Nationalism,
moreover, is no longer able to preserve the political inde-
pendence or the territorial integrity of nations, as recent his-
tory so tragically confirms. Sovereignty is an ideological con-
cept without geographical barriers. It is better for the world
to be ruled by an international sovereignty of reason, social
justice and peace than by diverse national sovereignties organ-
ically incapable of preventing their own dissolution by con-
quest. Mankind must pool its resources of defense if civiliza-
tion is to endure;

History has revealed but one principle by which free peoples,
inhabiting extensive territories, can unite under one govern-
ment without impairing their local autonomy. That principle
is federation, whose virtue preserves the whole without de-
stroying its parts and strengthens its parts without jeopardiz-
ing the whole. Federation vitalizes all nations by endowing
them with security and freedom to develop their respective cul-
tures without menace of foreign domination. It regards as
sacrosanct man's personality, his rights as an individual and
as a citizen and his role as a partner with all other men in the
common enterprise of building civilization for the benefit of
mankind. It suppresses the crime of war by reducing to the
ultimate minimum the possibility of its occurrence. It renders
unnecessary the further paralyzing expenditure of wealth for
belligerent activity, and cancels through the ages the mort-
gages of war against the fortunes and services of men. It re-
leases the full energies, intelligence and assets of society for
creative, ameliorative and redemptive work on behalf of human-
ity. It recognizes man's morning vision of his destiny as an
authentic potentiality. It apprehends the entire human race
as one family, human beings everywhere as brothers and all
nations as component parts of an indivisible community;

There is no alternative to the federation of all nations except
endless war. No substitute for The Federation of the World
can organize the international community on the basis of free-
dom and permanent peace. Even if continental, regional or
ideological federations were attempted, the governments of
these federations, in an effort to make impregnable their sep-
arate defenses, would be obliged to maintain stupendously com-
petitive armies and navies, thereby condemning humanity indefi-
nitely to exhaustive taxation, compulsory military service and