Prioritizing Our National Identity So We Can Be Better Global Citizens
Wanting to improve the world isn’t something we should shy away from and is often why someone claims the identity of a “global citizen” — someone who is connected to and improving the world beyond their country. But solving global issues is hard work, time consuming, and at times seemingly impossible, especially when it comes down to the individual. Most problems aren’t even solved, only given temporary solutions. So, claiming to be a “global citizen” — while well intentioned and appealing — simply isn’t the most effective route to global improvement. However, if we work at a national level first with issues that are commonplace across the world, then we have an opportunity to work closely with the issue and find solutions that can then be implemented in other countries. We can prioritize who we are, our values, and our actions through a national identity while maintaining a global mindset. And so that is why despite the claims of needing to promptly adopt the identity of a global citizen to best address societal issues plaguing the world, I argue it is prioritizing our nationally identity first while maintaining a global mindset that would be most effective because it facilitates solving global issues at a local scale which solutions can then be shared with the world.
Consider the global identity, you want to be a part of a bigger network to do better and improve the world, however the impact of an individual abroad is minimal. For example, solving the housing epidemic. Someone abroad can only do so much, either by donating or raising awareness through social media. In contrast, someone in their home country like in America for example, can write to their legislators, create campaigns, vote, and form local committees. Even when groundwork is being done, we see that it will take consistent work at a local level as is evident by the fact that the housing epidemic is still rampant in the U.S. with hundreds of thousands of people experiencing homelessness on any given night.
By extension, there are organizations that are the embodiment of a “global citizen” such as the United Nations that have done donations, ran initiatives in struggling countries and much more. However, we often see these are short-term solutions. Vaccines are administrated, but access to them long-term is unavailable, food donations run out and families are left waiting for the next donations, these are positive actions but illustrate the complex reality of being a global citizen, some issues are not solved, instead issues are treated in a global scale while they should focus on the local basis of why the problem exists in the first place. It is not bad to think and try to help others, in reality it is something we should be doing, but without success in our own country, we move blindly and without a blueprint to help others.
Admittedly, there are examples where a borderless world and global identity have served for the greater good. This past year we’ve seen movements spring up. The Black Lives Matter movement started in America after repeated incidents of police brutality against the African American community. Communities came together to demand justice and legislative change from their government. In March of 2021 house lawmakers passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a “…reform bill that would ban chokeholds and alter so-called qualified immunity for law enforcement, which would make it easier to pursue claims of police misconduct”( Weiner, Chloee, NPR ) and would ban no-knock warrants. All aspects of policing that have previously led to the endangerment and death of African American citizens. This issue started locally, grew nationally and then transcended across the globe as a movement for racial justice. This demonstrates how focusing on a local issue allows us to get to the root of problems and addressing them, while giving blueprints for the rest of the world to follow suite. And so while movements sparked conversations, it was the actual actions of the citizens that made it possible for change. In the movements we’ve come together, but it has always originated for a demand of change at the local and national level.
Opponents are correct when they say it is ignorant to solely consider their national identity. The world is interconnecting in fast speeds through travel, international trade, media, cultural exchange. However, realistically speaking the people who claim to be a global citizen — while I’m sure are well intentioned citizens who want to create change- frankly are not capable of creating global change by themselves and likely haven’t participated in mobilizing change at the local level, something we don’t like to admit. Americans may like to say they want to adopt a global identity, myself previously included, as many of us want to escape the negative connotations — such as the racism, death, and turmoil brought by “true Americans”- of identifying as a national citizen, but rather want to contribute towards a better world where we are all interconnected. The reality is identifying as a global citizen doesn’t add up to much. For example, when Notre Dame burnt down in 2019 Americans and citizens across the world tweeted, donated, and all but shouted to the world “Prayers for France.” However, in the same year environmental losses with the burning of the Amazon rainforest (which is considered vital in the fight against climate change which affects us all) and historic win for women with the first all-woman spacewalk both had less coverage than a — while historic- building. Consider this, which even do you remember more vividly? Which one do you think received more attention and aid from the Americans? People claim global identities, but often times no change is curated by those individuals that would actually solve global issues. It is time to redefine being a national citizen, and actually help the global community by prioritizing our national identities in order to localize, address, and specialize in solutions which we can then share with the world.
It is important to recognize this in today’s day and age age because one doesn’t — nor shouldn’t- have to stop helping others or supporting global causes, but ultimately recognize the priority to our national identity so we can actually reach the finish line and solve the issues. We look to be a global citizen to problem solve and make things better, but it is in helping our home countries and finding solutions to problems that we can then share with the world that is the best way to actually begin being a “global citizen.” Once we are able to work efficiently and improve the lives in our home countries, we can move on to be a fully emerged global citizens who are knowledgeable and skilled at solving the issues that at the end of the day are not unique to any said country. And so, remember, it’s by acting locally that we will one day be able to help globally.
Bibliography
1. History.com Editors. “2019 Events.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2 Dec. 2019, www.history.com/topics/21st-century/2019-events.
2. Weiner, Chloee. “House Approves Police Reform Bill Named After George Floyd.” NPR, NPR, 4 Mar. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/03/03/973111306/house-approves-police-reform-bill-named-after-george-floyd.
