Osho,
A sociologist has a theory that Western civilization is taking over the whole world. Already the way of life in all the big cities of the world is the same, and wherever there is progress, it is according to the ways of Western civilization.
It was said that one of the by-products of standardization would be that communism and capitalism would become so similar that they would merge into a world government, so powerful that no minority could exist.
Is that going to happen, or is there a way to avoid it?

It is true that Western civilization and culture are taking over the world. In almost all the advanced countries, the way of life is according to Western standards. Up to this point the sociologist is right, but to conclude from this that communism and capitalism will become so similar that one day they will merge into a world government – there he is simply guessing. It is not going to be so.

Communism has a philosophy, while capitalism has no philosophy. Communism is uncompromising, particularly on the fact of materialism; the Western society, although materialistic, is ideologically spiritualistic. It believes in God, it believes in the soul, it believes in eternal life. So on philosophical grounds there is no possibility of any merger.

The communist countries are full of hate against those who have; they still belong to the world of the have-nots. So, economically it is not possible that they can meet.

Politically, communist countries are dictatorial: they believe in the dictatorship of the proletariat. They don’t have any respect for democracy; to them, democracy is a cunning device to exploit people, to keep the poor, poor, to make the rich more rich. In the name of freedom, it is nothing but exploitation. And there is some truth in it. So politically, the gap is vast, and meeting is impossible.

What is more possible is a world war, rather than a world merger and a world government. And man has proved so stupid in the past, without exception, that the possibility of creating a world government still remains utopian. Only people like me think about it. When a communist thinks of a world government, he thinks in terms of a communist world government. When Ronald Reagan thinks of a world government, he thinks in terms of a capitalist world government.

In the vision of communists, capitalism has to be destroyed; only then can man evolve. And in the mind of the capitalist, communism is a cancer. The meeting of the two is impossible. There are no signs indicating a meeting of communist and capitalist governments making one world government – which would really be, if possible, immensely powerful.

But powerful against whom? Power is meaningful only against someone. Power in itself is meaningless.

Communists would like to be more powerful than America – which is the spearhead of capitalist imperialism. America would like to be more powerful than Russia. Power is a relative phenomenon. But if they both meet, certainly two great powers would make the greatest power the world has ever known. But against whom?