Global Citizen?

These days, I am feeling less and less association with any one country and more with the world.

I live in Japan, my sister lives in Scotland with other family in Australia and all my friends are from many countries including England, America, France, Italy etc. Most have mixed race marriages and many have children in the same vein. My Facebook acquaintances are worldwide and I watch global news every day because the stock market runs on global information for international companies. The weather is changing and placing pressure on the world to change or be changed. While all these issues are interlinked in some way, it definitely raises the question.

What does it mean to be a citizen of the world?

While global inequalities exist, the fight for preferential systems of care and support create a big divide among it's citizens and put pressure on services. Developing nations require developed nations help for techniques and machinery however it's usually the developed world that requires the use of developing nations labor for product services. While this is essentially developed nations setting a standard for what a culture should be, there is no denying that many developing countries are following the ideals of the west and heading toward a growth based society driven by inequality. (I'll discuss this more later.)

So, look around your house. check your "Made In _____" labels and make sure you are not hypocritical in your accusations of like or dislike. I like my iPhone designed in America, sent to China by computers installed all over the world, assembled and made in China, shipped around the world by foreign built ships from Russia and Korea, using oil from Nigeria and Sudan by  foreign crews to my local Japanese store, transported by Japanese trucks and sold by local staff. I pay by credit card from an Australian bank having spent money on security to protect the transactions.

So think of the global chain and your brothers and sisters. So thank you my brothers and sisters all over the world.

Without the support of all of us however. The greedy thirst built into us from youth is hard to extinguish. Japan has really helped to open my eyes to many issues. The world is on a bit of a collision course for technological and social domination. My brothers and sisters will need to work on this.

In the near future as "free/greed" trade beckons to speed up the collapse of specialist cultures and traditional techniques, youth are provided for and do not have any dream or goal. A new homogeneous culture will need to be developed. What that includes I'd like to be a part of.

Time shall tell a new story.

By the way. My cheap sand-paper made with cheap glue simply is useless. But I forget that millions of people don't even know what sandpaper is. So is that ok. I think so for now. These people are making products they have never used before or never will use. That's the modern greed.

Russell Gander.