ON BEING A GLOBAL CITIZEN

ON BEING A GLOBAL CITIZEN

I don’t know your political stance and I’m not trying to convince you.  I’m only telling you my experiences and where I was coming from.

Many people will say that 9/11 was a watershed experience for them – that their reality was transformed so that they didn’t look at the world the same way after 9/11 as they did before then.  My watershed experience wasn’t then, but it was later – when the US attacked Iraq and murdered over 100,000 men, women, and children with their “shock and awe” bombs.  And this was only a couple of weeks after more than 5 Million people demonstrated in the streets in the largest demonstration in the world for all history.  And the only recognition those 5 Million demonstrators got was the President’s social finger.  I knew then that we did not live in a democracy.  No other democratic country could have a demonstration that size and be totally ignored followed by such illegal international killings that were unprovoked. 

But rather than being angry and upset with just the administration (Bush, et al), I was upset with the whole of society that let him get away with the murderous acts without any accountability.  I was as upset with the society as I was the administration.  But I also knew that just being upset doesn’t accomplish anything.  It was then that I decided I did not want to be considered an American citizen and that instead I would be a Global Citizen. 

But then I asked myself what it would mean to be a Global Citizen?  I hadn’t seen any “definitions” of it so I began to do some reading.  One book I read was about Global Citizenship and was talking about the United Nations and the work of the NGOs (Non Government Organizations).  I realized then that there was a lot that we in the US do not know about the United Nations and these NGOs.  Almost always, when we think of the UN, we only think of the work with the government sector – not the civil sector.  But the work of the UN Agencies, UNESCO, UNICEF, WHO, etc. do a tremendous amount of good with the civil sector. 

I then saw an opportunity to take a series of six or seven workshops and become certified through the United Nations in Reconciliation Leadership.  I wasn’t sure what Reconciliation was going to do for me and my life but I viewed this as an opportunity to get to know the UN from the inside, so I signed up.  Several of these weekend workshops were held at the UN and so I found myself going there.  I found a hostel right around the corner from the UN where it only cost $75 a night.  After several visits, I became very familiar with the UN, especially the UN bookstore, the meditation room, and took the tour several times – often with friends who had never been to the UN before.  I also discovered that the Reconciliation Leaders certification was a good tool to develop leadership skills and that although the reconciliation aspects dealt with areas in conflict (like Bosnia, or the Philippines), the same principles applied for conflict management in our interpersonal lives and even in our personal lives.  We are often experiencing conflict internally and we need to develop skillsets for resolving those conflicts – both internal and interpersonal.  We all are exposed to spousal abuse, child abuse, peer abuse, elder abuse, etc. and one doesn’t need to be a full time social worker to find it helpful to have developed some skills in dealing with these conflicts either as a participant or as a third party independent intermediary.  And we seldom think of developing skills for dealing with our own personal internal conflicts – but it is a good experience to do that.

While at the UN, I discovered that every year they had an annual DPI/NGO weeklong conference.  (Department of Public Information and Non Government Organizations).  This was the marriage of the collaborative leadership within the UN and representatives of the more than 25,000 NGOs (as represented in CONGO – the Congress of NGOs).  During this weeklong conference, there would be speakers of international acclaim, as well as many roundtable discussions, and special events on that year’s theme.  I asked around until I found a non-profit organization that allowed me to go as their representative and so I attended just to observe and listen.  I was probably the only one there that was there really as just an individual and not a representative.  The first year I went, the theme was based on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the progress around the world that the various NGOs were making.  I think the theme the second year was the work of the NGOs with women around the world.  I found it fascinating to find out about all these things being done and no one in our society was even aware of this unless they happened to be in a participating non-profit organization (like Oxfam here in Boston).  I found myself trying to promote the work of the MDGs through the NGOs at different events locally.  I set up a table on the UN’s work with AIDS at the local high school when they had a performance of the play “Angels in America”.  I also set up table displays of the work of the UN and the MDGs at other local events like Girl Scouts, peace rallies, etc.  I even wrote a story and prepared a presentation that I would give to Rotary groups or whatever to educate people on the MDGs.

One time, while returning from an event at the UN, I had stopped in their bookstore and purchased a book about the UN’s work in the business sector with the Global Compact.  This is the promotion of the principles of Triple Bottom Line Accountability which later has become known as Sustainability.  This is holding companies, corporations, and especially transnational corporations accountable not only for financial success/progress, but also environmental progress and also Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) progress.  (Hence, Triple Bottom Line (TBL) accountability).  I read this book on the train on my way home and realized that this was all about business processes which is my forte. 

It seems that Europe and other places in the Far East were much more advanced in Sustainability than the US was.  The next time I was at the UN, I stopped in at the Global Compact center and loaded myself up with all kinds of material.  I studied all about it and then volunteered to evaluate the annual Sustainability reports from the companies participating in the Global Compact for the UN database of Sustainability reports.  I found out that Brazil was way ahead of the US in Sustainability and also economic development.  I set myself up as a mentor for local non-profits who wanted to participate in this program  but didn’t know how and didn’t have the expertise to develop the program internally.  I found out that the main way that Sustainability is measured is using the standards as presented by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) so I paid my own way to go to a week long course in Ohio and became certified.  Later, I wormed my way into a week long course to become certified as a management consultant in Global Compact Reporting in Vienna, Austria – again, by paying my own way.  This was a course for management consultants working in Developing Countries – mostly the countries that split off from the USSR and also China.  I was the only American there and again, I was the only one there on my own and not representing a company or organization. 

I also set myself up as a mentor to a group here in the Boston area called Net Impact.  These are MBA students and graduates who have, or will have MBAs and are looking for opportunities to pursue a career in Sustainability here in the US.  (Sustainability has become much more de rigueur now in the US.)  They weren’t necessarily involved in the Global Compact, but I would work with them to educate them about the Global Compact and how to assist a company to become established in the UN program for Sustainability. 

All of this has led me to realize that one doesn’t have to be involved in these types of activities for their job.  I have been working in Raytheon full time all this time (until last September).  On the local level I have led a Conversation Café every month for a couple of years.  Although this did not focus on the UN, nor on Global Citizenship, there were times when I could interject some of these principles.  One of our best conversations was on the theme of “What are we doing to prepare our children for the world?  And to prepare the world for our children?”  I remember one of the most poignant questions asked was how to protect our children from assuming a materialistic world view when everything around them is based on it.  The response was to take the children on a vacation to a developing country rather than Disneyworld.  It doesn’t have to be to take them to one of the least developed countries, but even to a developing country like Mexico, or Brazil.  To let them see a culture that is not so materialistically based. 

I participate in blogs both in writing blogs as well as responding to others’ blogs and I find ample opportunities to express the values that I have established based on being a Global Citizen.  I have found that by stating I am neither a Republican nor a Democrat, nor a liberal nor a conservation, but a Global Citizen, people will listen to me.  They realize I am talking from own reflections and not just stating a party line that they have heard before and know how to counter already. 

I am also a member of the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) in trying to promote dialogue when dealing with issues instead of presentations of spin talks or debates.  I have found that the best way to start a dialogue on an issue is to ask the question “How is this handled in other countries?”  We in he US are so provincial that we don’t realize that the same issues we experience are also being experienced in other countries.  By knowing how these issues are being handled elsewhere, we can use that as a starting point and then discuss the pros and the cons and build from there.  I find that discussing how these issues are approached in other countries is a good starting point for constructive dialogue about politics, health care, transportation, gun laws, abortions, defense spending, secularism, social safety nets, corporate salaries, unions, etc. etc.  All of the contentious issues where usually each person present their already established views and doesn’t really listen to the others and so nothing is learned.  Explaining them how these issues are handled in other countries almost always leads to a learning experience. 

David Kimball