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.