How to Build a Global Community
I found this poster up in Coffee to the People.
Think of no one as “them”;
Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety;
Talk to strangers;
Imagine other cultures through their art, poetry and novels;
Listen to music you don’t understand;
Dance to it;
Act locally;
Notice the workings of power & privelege in your culture;
Question consumption;
Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: wake up and smell the exploitation;
Look for fair trade and union labels;
Help build economies from the bottom up;
Acquire few needs;
Learn a second (or third) language;
Visit people, places, and cultures - not tourist attractions;
Learn people’s history;
Re-define progress;
Know physical and political geography;
Play games from other cultures;
Watch films with subtitles;
Know your heritage;
Honor everyone’s holidays;
Look at the moon and imagine someone else, somewhere else, looking at it too;
Read the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Understand the global economy in terms of people, land and water;
Know where your bank banks;
Never believe you have a right to anyone else’s resources;
Refuse to wear corporate logos; defy corporate domination;
Question military/corporate connections;
Don’t confuse money with wealth, or time with money;
Have a pen/email pal;
Honor indigenous cultures;
Judge governance by how well it meets all people’s needs;
Be skeptical about what you read;
Eat adventurously;
Enjoy vegetables, beans and grains in your diet;
Choose curiosity over certainty;
Know where your water comes from and where your wastes go;
Pledge allegiance to the earth: question nationalism;
Think South, Central and North - there are many Americans;
Assume that many others share your dreams;
Know that no one is silent though many are not heard. Work to change this.
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