I’m a Universist — and You Should Too!

by Tom Shafer

December 23, 2020

So, I have been thinking about diversity, and of course, that it will likely be a significant issue in the 2020 election.  During a recent discussion with a good friend, when asked why I didn’t support the idea of nationalism, I responded, “Because I’m a universist.” 

Okay, you may be thinking that I just made up a word, and well, you might be right, but I am.  I am a universist.  I have always thought more universally than nationally, perhaps because of my love of the Star Trek television series I grew up with in the 1960s.  I think I liked the idea of people living on Earth referring to themselves as Earthlings, and not as Soviets or Japanese or Americans.  We were unified because we were just one of many, many worlds – and because we were threatened by enemy races like the Romulans, the Klingons, the Ferengi, and the Cardassians (aren’t they everyone’s enemy?).

During deep discussions with my students way back when I was an educator, I frequently mentioned that I really wasn’t meant to be alive at this time, that my ideas and philosophy were evolved well beyond the “petty” issues that are bogging down this generation: abortion, euthanasia, border security, the second amendment, the climate crisis.  I always told them that none of these “problems” will mean a thing the moment an alien race presents itself to our world.  They always agreed emphatically.

So why aren’t we thinking this way?  Why can’t we continue evolving as a race, striving to make the world a better place for every single human because we are not competing globally, but universally?  I know some of you may be thinking that I’m just presenting – and entering – a new rabbit hole.  But, isn’t human existence about evolution – just like it’s always been?  Shouldn’t we be endeavoring to be better human beings rather than better Russians or Japanese or Americans?

I love thinking about where we came from, how at some point, after a meandering multi-millennial struggle, a singular humanoid finally emerged from the primordial ooze – and somehow survived, procreated, and evolved.  And evolved.  And evolved some more.

I proffer that we have stopped evolving as a species, and may in fact be devolving.  Evolution has continued steadily throughout our human history and cultural development, and reached a sort of climax with the birth of our nation, birth of a true democratic society and government.  The world took notice, particularly the then-threatened autocracies, and the idea of freedom began to sweep across the globe.  Two world conflicts and a cold war secured this fledgling “freedom,” but its security has since been threatened by autocrats who want to counter natural evolution and drag us back to that primordial shoreline.  Devolution has begun.

But we should trust our unity in diversity.  It’s an integral part of our advancement at an evolutionary level, and how we have survived incestial dilemmas over time.  To evolve, we must trust the neighbor, the stranger, the foreigner.  We must because it colors our history in so many ways.

I always marvel at our founding fathers and their wisdom.  I know that they were aware of history and recognized just how important America was to the human timeline.  But were they also aware of the evolutionary scope of their work – at least at a subconscious level?  Perhaps they were. 

The Great Seal of the United States sports one simple Latin phrase, E Pluribus Unum – meaning “one, from many.”

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One human, from many attempts, crawled out of the primordial brew.  One country was formed from many disparate people – and states.  And perhaps, one governmental philosophy, from many, to lead them all. 

We shouldn’t wait until the twenty-third century to “evolve,” to board the USS Enterprise with Captain Kirk, Bones, and Spock and go “where no man has gone before.”  We should continue to go “where no man has gone before” right here, to continue our work being better humans. 

So join me, you evolutionists.  Be loud, proud universists!  It’s literally in your DNA. 

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