The Managerial Revolution: What is Happening in the World

by James Burnham

Nevertheless, it is extremely doubtful that the world political system of managerial society will be organized, within the discernible future, as a single world-state. If we leave words and get closer to practical details, the organization of the entire world under a single sovereign-state power seems to present difficulties that are close to insuperable. These difficulties are of many kinds. First, there are technical and administrative difficulties. The centralized direction of the whole world and all its peoples would be a task beyond the technical ability of any human group so far as we can judge from the behavior of human groups in the past. The job is just too vast. Second, there is the military and police problem: There seems no reason to believe that any state can organize a military group sufficiently large and sufficiently cohesive to be able to patrol the whole world. Even if, by a lucky chance, some one power might win what would look like a world victory, it could prove only temporary. The disintegrative forces would be sufficient to pull it rapidly to pieces. Third, the ethnic, cultural, social, and climatic diversities of the world are so considerable as to preclude its reduction to a political unity; and these diversities, even if they are not permanent, will continue for as long as we can sensibly pretend to predict about.