My Privilege, My Activism.
The first time I traveled to China, I visited Beijing and Guangzhou — the nation’s wealthiest cities and ultimate tourist destinations. I witnessed all the grandeur and rich culture that China offered and was captivated by how different, yet similar, my American lifestyle was. My second visit to the rural provinces of Yunnan and Tibet — where poverty and homelessness was the unfortunate reality for a majority of the residents — revealed how these bustling, urban cities were only meer illusions to the greater reality that citizens all around the world faced. It was this trip that allowed me to recognize how prevalent the wealth disparity was behind the glittering facade of large, urban, and industrialized cities. Here I knew that despite my efforts to alleviate issues in my community, the human race will never truly be able to eradicate inequalities of the world without working together as global citizens. Though some may argue that identifying with a local or national community fosters regional prosperity and success, the concept of global citizenship allows mankind to create large scale, global change as we look beyond our own individual successes and extend our collaborative efforts to helping the greater good.
Here in America, we live in a capitalistic society that heavily emphasizes wealth and success, many times at the expense of others. I live in a city where we have grown accustomed to seeing the thousands of homeless people and beggars living on the streets, while professionals stroll past them as they head to their multi-million dollar homes. Though poverty and unequal wealth distributions are issues that exist in all modern societies, I recognize that this has become an issue that we have learned to normalize in America, but is actually the norm in many foreign nations.
What exactly does this mean? It means that, in general, even the poorest residents of America have higher living standards and availability of resources than a majority of citizens in underdeveloped Latin American, Asian, and African nations. A 2019 study reviewed by Dr. Henrique Schneider, professor of economics at Nordakademie University, revealed that the poorest 20 percent of Americans consume more goods and services than the national averages for all people in most affluent countries. In other words, if the poorest 20 percent of Americans were a nation, it would be one of the world’s richest. As an American citizen, I feel privileged to have access to clean water, a steady food supply, a roof over my head, and access to a great education and healthcare system. In return, I feel a moral responsibility to use these resources and actively work as a global citizen to help those around the world struggling to live day-to-day.
If we look at our world from space, we see how unified we are with no lines, divisions, walls, or borders — we are all interconnected as citizens of the world. The only boundaries we have are how we see ourselves and how we have pit nation against nation. We can dedicate our entire lives to gaining the financial resources necessary to eradicate poverty in our local communities, but this will not automatically translate into bettering the lives of the billions of other poverty-stricken citizens around the world. According to lifewater.org, two-thirds of the world population lives on less than $10 a day and over 700 million people live on less than $1.90 a day — the World Bank’s international line for extreme poverty (Ortiz-Ospina). I can choose to ignore this plight and instead focus on earning enough money to live a lavish life and buy a penthouse in NYC, but instead, I recognize that bringing success and wealth to my local community will do nothing to better the lives of the other 7.6 billion members of the human race.
Admittedly, homelessness, poverty, and a multitude of other inequalities and injustices exist worldwide. And though some may argue that being a global citizen may be impractical and lead to a disconnect with one’s own community, global citizenship is more effective at creating substantive change as it allows those more fortunate to help those less fortunate. I simply recognized that living here in America, a first world country, has given me an advantage compared to those living in countries that may be suffering from poverty, hunger, and injustices that don’t burden me as much. Similarly, identifying as a global citizen doesn’t mean we can’t take pride in our nationalities, ethnicities, or cultures — nor does it mean we neglect the needs of our local communities. Citizenship is no longer just a status of being from a particular country or place; it is the responsibility handed to us to influence and promote social well being for all other citizens. Ultimately, it is our interconnected coexistence and shared human existence that renders us as global citizens. Where we are born can no longer dictate who we are or to what we owe our allegiance to.
As our world begins to recognize the advantages of having an interconnected society, we have looked past the limitations of our local and national boundaries. We have moved away from the false dichotomies of parochialism and entered a new era of cosmopolitan collaboration. It is this very activism that will give us the momentum to accelerate large scale positive change around the world. We can no longer isolate ourselves and our nations from one another, nor can we continue believing that solving one issue at our doorsteps automatically solves the entirety of the same issue globally. The whole world is our responsibility, and we have an obligation to actively collaborate with others to make our planet more equal, fair, and sustainable.
