We’ve done quite a few blogs on a possible World Government (LSS passim) And one of the commonest objections we receive is “Nice idea, mate-but how’s it meant to actually work? And our interlocutors rightly point to a very substantial problem. The existing world is chock full of codes, laws, guidelines ethical systems and regulations. Some are national, some religious, some political in origin, often with wildly different interpretations of what is right and wrong. Moreover, all address a very real need: “we want to make our laws that govern us, here, now for ourselves” It is one of the most powerful human instincts: certainly one of the neuralgic driving forces in History and has always existed. As have tribes, nations and religious sects. And oddly enough that is what gave us hope. Because History shows there is at least one way to bring different groups of people together and persuade them to work for their mutual benefit, under a shared system of law.
It’s understandable that people living in some distant province made resent the imposition of law codes made up for them in a remote, snooty imperial capital. Sometimes these laws may be just and rational: but even then, they may not meet the needs and wants of locals. And at other times the law codes may be crass, insensitive and oppressive indeed. But there is another method to create a common legal system which people may accept over large areas. Even when they believe themselves to be very different in language, nation and ethnic affiliation. It is called Common Law. And in this series, we shall be examining it to see if it could be the solution to the central problem of a World Government: how to get everyone to agree to a common system of Justice, even when they start with very different ideas as to what that Justice may be.
We’ll look at what we mean by Common Law. And how a Medieval King called Henry II used it to unite the fractured war-torn regions of England into a successful united kingdom which has persisted until today We’ll see if we can make any modern tries at the lessons he and his judges learned. If anyone else is trying this in practice now, in 2026. And above all how codes of law can be created gradually and by consent. Above all, we are not doing this out of starry eyed idealism, nor do we believe in a Better Society. We are too old and two Whiggish to place much faith in improvements in human nature. But we do think the way we live now would be both safer and more convenient if there were less barriers to trade, less cause for murderous warfare and above all the deep and stable capital markets which a single world trading system would bring. We’ll start with the life and times of Henry II, King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou Maine and Touraine. Quite a job description- and we will find out how he did it.
[1]Henry II of England – Wikipedia
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