We live in a globalized world. We eat foods
produced across the globe; we use electronics whose components come from dozens
of places around the world; we can communicate instantaneously with anyone
anywhere who has a computer with
wi fi or a cell phone.
With globalization has come awareness. We can
quickly know about the conditions under which people live and work in other
countries. We can find out about the plight of other species, or about
pollution or deforestation. If the nightly news doesn't report on these issues,
we can discover them through our computers in minutes. Knowing so much changes
us. Or at least has the potential to change us. It enables us to be less
tribal, provincial, and self-cantered; to think of others outside our family,
neighbourhood, and even nation; to dwell as often on those we affect as on what
affects us.
This is a good thing, but it's not an easy thing.
Being aware of global atrocities, suffering, and destruction is hard and
requires commitment, will, and effort. Being focused primarily on oneself and
one's family, friends, and associates comes more
naturally and easily. After all, we've evolved with this tribal mentality for
millennia.
The problem is that this sort of modern tribalism
backfires in a globalized world. We are not only complicit in the warming of
our planet, the toxins entering our waterways, the exploitation of others in
distant lands, which breeds conflict, resentment, and hostility; we are also
ultimately negatively affected by these things. – Zoe Weil
