Critically evaluate recent attempts to create Global Citizens.

With the growing trend towards the creation of a global community it is becoming much more necessary for us to find a balance between creating a truly integrated global society, and remembering the needs of the local community. It is necessary for us as citizens to find this balance or to suffer the negative affects of the fragmentation reaction. With the current availability of weapons of mass destruction the idea of a unified global society is almost necessary to keep us from destroying ourselves, and each other. However, it may be possible for us to achieve a unified global society; we just need to balance the needs of the local with the global, maintaining a local environment that fosters community and unity.

One of the main aspects leading us to the conclusion we are entering into a global community is through the medium of advertising. Catch slogans like, “Help your small business take its place in the global economy, use brand X”, and “Use product Y to help you network with people across the world.” are both indicators that our planet is heading towards a globalisation of societies. It is only in the past couple of decades that the needs of the global marketplace have become more important than our local communities. If something happened on the other side of the world, it really didn’t make all that much of a difference in our own little piece of the planet. Now however there are major forces working towards pulling us into a global society.

The Media and global networks allow us to observe what is happening in other parts of the world, almost as immediately as they are unfolding. Now we can watch the wars as they happen, and we can see the pain on the face of a war victim full close up and in colour. The global media allows us to identify with others more. If you walk down the street in London you will find that people look much the same as those in New York with their style of dress and fashion. Instantaneous communication is also now available with anyone around the planet who has a computer and an Internet connection and you can even talk to the other side of the world for free via Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP). These new technologies are making local actions less efficient and more expensive considering the national rate for local telephone calls is 3.25 pence per minute via British Telecom, and that’s not including line rental.

“Everyone has duties to the community” and that everyone’s rights and freedoms are subject to limitations “for the purposes of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and meeting the just requirements of morality, public order, and the general welfare in a democratic society.

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 In Chapter Five of Christopher Pierson’s book, The Modern State, he says the notion of ‘citizenship as membership’ suggests that citizens are granted a prestigious position as members of the state upon birth.  There is a strong link with territory and citizenship and an importance placed on the concept of nationality (Pierson 128).  To be lucky enough to receive this ‘membership’ in the ‘country club’ of the state gives a person special status and privileges while it precludes others from the same luxuries.  This rather simply shows the benefits of the book and also emphasizes the inclusive and exclusive aspects ...

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