Saturday, June 20, 2009

Being a Global Citizen


Whether we like it or not, all of us are global citizens. Yes, we might be citizens of different countries, but those countries make up our planet Earth. Thus, because I am a citizen of Canada, I'm a citizen of North America, and I'm a citizen of the world. But is there any meaning to saying that I'm a global citizen? Some could just see it as some classification system that some person made up. Personally, I believe that people fall into 2 categories: the Bad Global Citizen, and the Good Global Citizen. (Yep. I'm going to add even more classification!)

My textbook, Exploring Globalization, puts it this way, "Being a world citizen is a way of thinking and acting." This is where I get my good and bad classification idea from. Being a good or bad global citizen is not genetic. It's a decision. Take love, for example. Love isn't just a feeling, it's not just attraction, it's commitment, it's a decision to love your partner, even if excited feelings go away. I think that being a global citizen is similar. We each have to make a decision, are we going to ignore injustice and live for ourselves? Or are we going to care, and take action against injustice, even if it's not fun?

I believe that a bad global citizen would have a selfish attitude when it comes to caring about other's well being. For example, a bad global citizen might complain about price raises at The Body Shop, due to fact that the Body Shop supports fair trade (trade that incorporates policies and standards that include a fair living wage for all factory employees, ample breaks, no obligation to work overtime without compensation, and a safe work environment with emergency protocols in place). The bad global citizen might decide to participate in something (say, a protest against the genocide in Rwanda) for the wrong reasons. Maybe he/she wants to impress somebody or get publicity, he/she doesn't care about the reason for the protest, all they care for is what is in it for them.

On the other hand, a good global citizen is one who cares about what happens to the Earth, it's people, and the people to come. Here are some ways my textbook suggests good global citizens act like:
1) They take Action about global injustice and concerns

2) They look ahead

3) They do what they can

Basically, a good global citizen shows concern, and realizes that one person can make a difference. Mother Theresa was a nun, famous for her compassion for the poor, including starting schools, orphanages, soup kitchens, and medical care for the poorest of India. Some people criticized her, others recognized her for her work. She once said, "We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that drop".

Especially as a student, I find it hard to get actively involved against injustice and global concerns. I find that I have so much school work, or to many activities going on in my life to make much of a difference. But I've come to the conclusion that educating one's self about what is happening in the world, coming up with an opinion, voting in elections (supporting those who can do the job that you can't, in the way that you think is best), and supporting organizations that work against injustice is a good way to start.

Being a good global citizen isn't always that fun, or easy. Mother Theresa didn't have an easy life, and neither will you or I if we stand for justice and be good global citizens. We can be almost sure that whatever stand we take, someone will be on the other side. But wouldn't it be satisfying?

Quotes/Sources:

Exploring Globalization, Ryerson, McGraw-Hill

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