Global Citizenship

            In a society where discrimination is so prevalent, the responsibility to become an individual global citizen becomes much more essential. As Thomas Turino alludes to in his text, very rarely does one individual make a macro change in a global sense single handedly; however, it is through combined action that these macro changes are possible. Taking the time to understand different lifestyles encourages cultural acceptance and cultural growth.

 Different types of music have very different impacts on society. Studio-art music, high-fidelity music, and presentational music all share the same ultimate goal of personal gain through the acquirement of money. These capitalistic forms of music are based on the individual and do not promote intimacy. From these types of music, it can often be assumed that these countries are more developed. In order to listen to high-fidelity music, a machine is needed to play the recording of the song. Some of these machines like mp3 players and iPods can be expensive, so a society dominated by high-fidelity music can be assumed to be a society of greater wealth. On the other side of the spectrum, participatory music has the means of globalizing and synthesizing cultures from all around the world. Its primary message of preaching togetherness and solidarity cries out for a globalized world without divisions of race, nationality, or religion setting each other apart. Participatory music is often associated with less developed countries that have less money due to their lack of capital. That being said, I really doubt that they would change their culture if they did have the resources to purchase an mp3 player. There is so much that can be learned from understanding a particular society’s music. Although there are many different types of music throughout the world, every culture values and can relate to some form of music. In fact, some cultures put music and dance extremely high on their priority list of priceless realms of life. Societal values can easily be learned based on the music of a certain region. Lyrics in high-fidelity songs can often give a good understanding of what some cultures value. For instance, many people in the United States value friendship/family, love and spirituality. Based on participatory environments, we can often learn their values of solidarity in a local and global sense. Music influences society by providing entertainment and a way of life for millions of people. Small communities benefit economically from music performances near their town. Larger cities draw in larger crowds who spend their money at local restaurants and local hotels, which provide communities with more financial stability. Music gets people who share similar interest and taste in music to think alike. Its influence on society is honestly immeasurably great; the list could go on and on. Although it is highly unlikely, a transformation of millions of social cohorts to a much fewer social formations is the beginning to a more globalized world. The participatory framework can alleviate large-scale problems through small communities. Turino asserts, “For me, good music making or dancing is a realization of ideal – Possible - human relationships where the identification with others is so direct and so intense that we feel, for those best moments, as if our selves had merged.” I really do believe that this assertion is true in regard to music and its influence on society. People start to think together when they music together.

In order to be a global citizen one must be cognizant of where they stand with the rest of the world while being open-minded and inquisitive to cultural difference. Being an effective global citizen could involve a lot of small things: riding your bike to work instead of releasing harmful emissions into the world’s atmosphere, purchasing local produce at markets to help out your community economically while helping the world by reducing harmful chemicals released into the environment through planes and trucks, supporting local functions such as Bloomington’s Contra-Dance, and being informed and accepting of different cultural values. Being like Heinrich from The Punks are Alright is a great way of being a globalized citizen. He works with less fortunate people to improve the quality of their lives. While bettering their lives, he also is accepting of their culture, which is clearly different than his. The ideal globalized citizen does their part, which may seem ineffective, but with combined efforts of other globalized citizens does make a large-scale difference in the world for the better.

            Effective global citizenship involves doing your part. That is the overall main responsibility. Combined efforts are the only method of successfully becoming more globalized; it is a group effort. Additionally, it is everyone’s responsibility to be culturally aware and accepting of everyone. Discrimination destructs the world, so that is why it is so important to see everyone as humans rather than belonging to different cultural cohorts. The more we know about people, the more we humanize them and the more we humanize them, the more we connect socially. If America were more inquisitive than we currently are about different cultures, the rest of the world would be a lot different from our perspective. Currently America values corporations much more than it values individuals. This needs to change to make the world a better place. For imagining the self in these circumstances, it may give some people a sense of false hope. Although I feel as though everyone contributing will help the situation on globalization, I am fully aware that there is no such thing as a universal practice. Most people in developed countries will not abide by the guidelines, which will hurt global efforts.

            Overall, the concept of globalization is set based on an existing utopian society. Although the idea of globalizing sounds perfect, it is literally too good to be true due to lack of participation. Although small communities do make an impact on the world, its impact will only be noticeable through many communities doing the same thing, and until that happens, globalization is just an abstract intangibility.