ABSTRACT
The phrase "one-world" with a hyphen is used to obscure the important differences between neighborhoods and nations. This usage politicizes the term. One-world ideology thus bears on incentives. Citizens in countries being coerced to give see no end to want and feel threatened by a commons. A sense of security grows along with the felt entitlement to share in the world's resources on the basis of need. Indeed, news of a serious famine which ran from 1958 through much of the 1960s barely penetrated China's borders to reach the western world. The high priority put on self-reliance undoubtedly guided China's response to famine. Where other countries in dire straits have become accustomed to call for help, China moved to take responsibility for its own future. Habits of self-reliance may lately have been breached: The Chinese leadership reacted to floods in the summer of 1991 with requests for international aid.
