Yes, I know the song (and in the original Harry Secombe version) – if I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring etc.  Scarcely a feasible option, since the nature will unquestionably refuse to heed your command, but it made me wonder what I would do in the somewhat unlikely event that I found myself a benevolent dictator (I would never be evil) in charge of all nations on planet earth.

I suppose there would be some room for personal prejudices in the form of laws to ban things I don’t like (and many spring to mind but it would be unfair to single out any here!), but that would be petty and vindictive, altogether not my style.

So then, what might I do if I had power over all peoples of the earth, above all politics and religion, trusted by one and all?  Let’s start with a few easy ones:

1. Armed conflicts forbidden, with enforced arbitration of all disagreements on condition that my decision is final and accepted by all parties.
2. Weapons industries turned to peaceful purposes and dedicated to saving life.  Sale of all guns, explosives, nuclear arsenals, chemical weapons and other instruments of death and torture forbidden and handed over for destruction.
3. Material prejudice of any description punished as appropriate, including racism and homophobia.  The culture within the my world would be one where people are recognised on their merits, potential and work ethic.
4. Guaranteed standard of living for all, with jobs appropriate to skill levels for everyone and rewarded in terms of their contributions to society, such that care workers should be paid well and footballers, entertainers etc. in accordance with their talents and what they put back into society.  No zero hours contracts and no hire-and-fire mistreatment.
5. Ample support and help for those who cannot work for whatever reason, with help to encourage them to use whatever skills they have and make a positive contribution to society.
6. A genuinely integrated universal healthcare and social services welfare system, one not used as a political football.  Training to encourage more graduates to becoming doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals, along with flexible rewards to ensure loyalty to the NHS.
7. Focus on preventing disease by removing the right of pharmcos to patent drugs, and instead to distribute for the good of all, not financial gain.
8.  As I’ve previously blogged, political parties should be replaced by issue interest groups, and democratically elected MPs in all nations would be accountable directly to their constituents with the power to throw out any that failed to live up to their responsibilities.
9. While some competition is desirable, the primary motives for all endeavours of mankind should be to co-operate and collaborate for the common good.  In particular, sharing of knowledge should be highly desirable and keeping secrets the anathema of societies everywhere.
10. An end to poverty and hunger by focusing resources on need, not ability to pay.

OK, not going to happen, and yes, I know this is pie-in-the-sky naivety to hope that the scales will drop from the eyes of all and sundry, but we can all have dreams!  Funny thing is that many people have exactly the same visions, which makes you wonder why, if we all want the same things, we can’t achieve them.  Could it be that politicians are green-eyed with jealous of their own power base and would do anything to prevent peace and collaboration between all peoples?

What are your dreams?