The inspiration for this pledge came from social critic Marya Mannes (1904-1990), who wrote, "I pledge allegiance to my fellows, and to the world that gives me life...." To the best of my knowledge, she did not publish a complete pledge. I know that the idea of a World Pledge or a Pledge to Humanity has been thought of independently by many people, and that there are similar texts floating around. I welcome the efforts of others to write a better pledge and to translate this one into other languages. I note the potential criticism that if humanity colonizes Mars and, as envisioned by the late Carl Sagan (1934-1996), becomes a biplanetary species, then obvious textual revisions will be required. But let's cross that bridge when we come to it. The challenge now is to get people to think in life-affirming planetary terms.
Please feel free to reproduce the World Pledge and encourage its use.--Michael Walter
UN flag image by Jean Kaiser. |
