Anthems are an important element for all kinds of groups. Countries have them, organizations, and sports teams. That’s why we need a global anthem for The Good System.
They are played and, mostly falsely, sung at important events or before games. In some fascist country, school kids are even forced to sing it every day.
Not everyone has an anthem
The place where you live may have a national anthem. During research, I found out there are several countries that do not have an official anthem, but maybe a song that is used.
Some have no lyrics, but we will talk about that later. And some use the anthem of another country for reasons.
But there may be one piece of music the majority of people where you live identifies as an anthem of their territory.
A global anthem as a symbol
It’s a symbol of a national state, like the flag, for example.
And since The Good System will replace national states, or in fact, every territorial unit, we need an anthem.
I wrote already about a flag, a universal language, and to a degree, holidays as symbols for The Good System.
Today I write about why we require a global anthem and what it should sound like.
Like any other symbol, an anthem helps create identification with a greater community. That’s why there aren’t only national anthems. International organizations like the EU also have one.
Anthems are not limited to national or international communities. Furthermore, other groups tend to have an anthem. In sports like football, soccer for the Americans, many clubs, and also the UEFA Champions League have anthems.
Not original
Often it’s an existing song, hymn, or march that is used as an anthem. But it can be problematic using an existing piece of music. The song may not fit perfectly, or maybe several entities use the same song, which makes it difficult to identify with.
Furthermore, the original intent can be different from the group one. Like Beethoven’s 9th symphony, which is and was used by different ideologies. But more on that later.
And there can be copyright issues.
Create a new global anthem
To prevent all these problems, you can create a new anthem. However, of course, new issues arise with this approach.
While people can easily accept contradictory contents in existing songs, the new-created song needs to fit more perfectly, which is impossible since every group is diverse.
In the process of creating an anthem, there will be a lot of discussion. But eventually, you may have a compromise that everyone can live with, and that’s what a community is built of.
Although it will be a difficult process, I would rather suggest that we make an entirely new song that represents Earth and the different cultures. But this will be incredibly difficult to achieve because there are so many influences that at the end, the anthem could be generic.
Like all anthems are to an extent. The sweet spot between being a unique piece of music and an identification for the whole planet is difficult but doable.
It should not exclude people. Yet, including everything will end in a cacophony.
But luckily, there are many talented musicians who will be able to make a masterpiece.
Lyrics to remember
That’s for the music. If we want lyrics, it will get even more complicated.
The lyrics should be memorable, so everyone can sing the anthem by heart at any time of the day. Like everyone does with national anthems.
I can’t.
The lyrics for the global anthem will probably end in describing the different landscapes on Earth and praising the global community, peace, and freedom.
But that’s a job for the talented writers and poets out there, and not for a blogger rambling about a global system.
The used language for the global anthem will be the universal language we will develop for The Good System.
Since it will be developed for bureaucracy, it may be difficult to create poetic lyrics. But maybe it isn’t necessary.
Music as a universal language
Since music is already a universal language, we do not need lyrics for a global anthem. There already exist anthems without lyrics, and people are fine with it.
In the search for a global anthem, we can look at what anthems that represent international groups in our current system are like. For example, the anthems for the UEFA Champions League, the Olympics, or of course, the Communist Internationale.
While none of these would be an accurate anthem for The Good System, there may be an existing piece of music that could fit.
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, as already mentioned, Slavoj Žižek explains why it is universally understood and used. From dictatorships to the EU, everyone can identify with Beethoven’s masterpiece.
Although, as Žižek explains, the 9th Symphony was and is used by ideologies around the globe, it is a Eurocentric view. For a global anthem, we have to include the different perspectives of the diverse cultures.
I am curious, what do you think? What do you want as a global anthem? You can write to me or comment on the Reddit post about this article.
For inspiration, I made a YouTube playlist with different tries for a global anthem.
Conclusion
An anthem is an important symbol for a community. That’s why I think it is important that we have a global anthem for the global community in The Good System.
It will be difficult to find or create one. Even more difficult than creating a flag or a language.
But it is doable if we work together and are willing to compromise.
That’s a good premise for solving any problem.
My name is Ian DeBay.
I am the founder of iandebay.com. I am a content creator, blogger, podcast, YouTuber. This is my blog where I talk about system change, sustainability and other fun stuff.
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