Summing Up - Unit 4

"To what extent should I, as a citizen, respond to globalization?"

This has been the main, guiding question behind our studies for Unit 4. When we get dressed in the morning, not many of us consider where that favourite sweatshirt was actually manufactured. Maybe low-paid workers in a Chinese sweatshop sewed together that cloth. Who knows? And where were the coffee beans that are essential to your morning cup of joe actually picked? Perhaps they were grown by a poor farmer in Ecuador, who was forced to sell them through free-trade instead of fair-trade. The main thing is, when you get dressed in the morning or drink a cup of coffee, do you even consider these possibilities? I believe that people who do are "aware" of the world around them. And I think that by becoming aware, we are taking the first steps to becoming a global citizen, and to actually responding to globalization.

I also believe that in our everyday lives, we are always responding to globalization in some way. By chatting online, using your MP3 player to watch a podcast or listen to your favourite music, or even just by eating the foods that you do, you are embracing globalization, and therefore responding to it, also. Without the ever-expanding world of globalization, we wouldn't have the MP3 players, the Internet, or the exotic foods that are available to us whenever we choose because of the trade system.

There are many ways that we can consciously react to globalization, also. There are organizations like PETA, which campaigns for better treatment of animals in today's society, or like Oxfam, which works to get rid of poverty. By joining an organizaiton that is related to an issue that is important to you, you are responding to globalization by joining a group either locally or globally that can make a difference in an area of the world around you.

Finally, I think that in order to make a difference in a troubled area of society or the world, we have to take a stand against it. Whether it seems like something small, such as starting an organization against bullying in our own school or joining a major organization that is against the declining state of the environment, everything can make a difference. By becoming a global citizen and being aware of the issues that are out there, we can make a bigger difference than we realize. I think that responding to globalization in the first place is the key: after that, if we continue to respond to issues in our global communities, there is no end to the help we can provide. So, in response to the unit question, I think that, as a citizen, I should respond to the issues of globalization as much as I can (without, of course, going overboard and overreacting) to make a difference in my community and in the world.

Lesson 4c

What is a global citizen? According to Oxfam (an NGO working to make poverty history), a global citizen as a person who: is aware of the wider world, respects and values diversity, is willing to act to help others, and accepts responsibility for his or her own actions. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone in the world could be described this way? If everyone realized that we are all crew aboard the Spaceship Earth, and the borders between countries don't really matter when we are all so truly connected, floating in space on the same chunk of land and water.

There will always be an issue for any of us to respond to that stems from globalization. If we decide to become active global citizens, which could be within civil society or simply within our own school environment, there is no end to the help that we could provide for the world's less fortunate. If we are aware that globalization has both harmed and helped our world, in respect to issues such as global warming (negative) or the interconnectedness of everyone through the Internet (which can be seen as positive - it has helped many non-profit organizations to get their message heard to many more people than thought possible before), we can find an area that needs volunteers that is important to us, and in this way we can respond to the effects of globalization - by being an active global citizen.

Lesson 4b

I believe that we choose our own roles in the globalizing world that we live in. We have to choose to take action when we want something to change in our community, or even in our world, and without our own persuasion to act, nothing would have happened in the first place. People like Mother Theresa wouldn't be considered "active citizens" unless they had the persistence and drive to make something happen, without relying on anyone else to give them that drive.

Even as students, we can make a difference. By starting an organization to fight a certain area of trouble in our community, we can greatly affect that area because we are standing up and taking action. Just like the Harry Ainley students' program, Breaking Borders, we can also break borders in our own schools or communities.

So, anyone can choose to become an active citizen, either locally or globally, or even both. We just need to muster the perseverance to get it done and to respond to whatever level we see fit to the effects of globalization.

Also, in today's reading we read about Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and a speech that he gave that was on the topic of being a global citizen. I believe that, as he said, more and more of Canada is around the world. I hope that what we're exporting is positive: a helpful attitude and awareness of issues around the world, especially as more and more people are moving around the world from our country. We can respond to being a global citizen like Tutu explains by staying patient, polite, and helpful as we move about the world, and continue to help in areas that we are passionate about.

Lesson 4a - The Global Citizen

We are all passengers aboard the "Spaceship Earth". Some of us may even consider ourselves crew members - I believe that, like the crew of a real spaceship, the crew members will be the ones who are actively fighting for a greater, healthier, cleaner future, or "flightpath" for our spaceship. As a passenger or crew member aboard our spaceship, that also makes us a global citizen - we're all connected to each other in one way or another, and looking at a photo of the Earth just makes you realize how truly interdepent and close to everyone we actually are.

I believe that being a global citizen is different from being a citizen of the country in which you were born or currently live. Even though we live on the Earth, we don't have a passport or birth certificate that applies on a global level. I think that we can choose to become a true global citizen by taking action against some sort of global issue that can be responded to in our communities today.

By becoming a true global citizen, we are also responding to globalization to whatever extent we choose to take. By being aware of the issues around the world and considering our options on how to help the people who are directly affected by these issues, we are embracing the global citizen within, whether it be working towards a healthier environment with an environemntal organization within civil society, or supporting a governmental action against poverty. By making an effort, no matter how small, I believe that we are becoming a citizen of global proportions, as well as responding to the effects of globalization.