Asking has nothing to do with passion

In response to Mona Damluji's viewpoint in the Daily, ("Why aren't you asking yet?" 2/13/03), Sophia Kogan's response missed a few points ("Why I'm not asking 2/18/03). Mona's viewpoint was not advocating that the entire Tufts population change their majors to IR and Political Science. In fact, Mona herself is specializing in neither of those majors! Being aware of what is happening around you stems from a few concepts. One concept is accountability. Whether you like it or not, those of us who are American citizens, are in fact actors in a democratic system. Being part of a democracy means that your leaders should have been supposedly elected and chosen by you. This means that you have in turn given them a green light to act on your behalf. If you allow them, and do not protest this(demand change or get them out of power), it means then whatever mess they get you in, or whatever they decide is also something that you have directly contributed/consented to. You are thus responsible. It also means that you should also be accountable if there is some sort of failure, abuse or improper action taken by this system. It requires that you are aware of where your tax dollars are going, what your government is doing and where your government wants to interfere. That is why knowledge is so key.

This is a luxury that my parents have never been afforded living in a totalitarian government before coming to the States from Iraq. Oil revenue that Iraq accumulated in the 1970s, for example, went into buying weaponry and funding private castles, rather than going into schools and basic infrastructure. As citizens, my parents had no built-in mechanisms to change this system or have their voice heard. In fact, such information is not even accessible to them in a system of almost zero transparency. As an American citizen, you should care what happens in the world, the Middle East in particular because of the high level of US intervention and involvement in that region. For every dollar the US is using on troop deployment right now, it means that that is one less dollar to be used on education or on your public park. It also means that any war casualties are by definition ones that you have authorized your government to carry out because you are supporting their policies.

A few years ago, I spoke at Tufts about a humanitarian delegation into Baghdad, Iraq that I was a part of. A boy approached me after and told me that the Iraqi population of 23 million basically deserves suffering under the current sanctions because they are the ones who are not overthrowing Saddam Hussein and this translates into their consent for his regime and policies. Now, I found his comment unfair because Iraq is not a democracy. I told the student, "Then doesn't it also mean that normal US citizens should pay some sort of price for their policies against say Vietnam and so on?" If the US wants to use this system of accountability and responsibility against citizens of the world, or if American citizens want to judge other citizens with these measures, that means it's going to have to start thinking the same way about itself!

Outside of the system of government, this word and concept behind it, accountability, is growing more popular especially in the international sphere. If you check out the websites of a lot of multi-national companies these days, many of them have started to preach and develop systems of accountability not just to their shareholders and employees but also to their customers. Motorola for example, is upholding a system of ethics that it stands by in certain countries even when there are no laws to protect workers or consumers in that country. This whole line of thinking has evolved and emerged from the globalization we all have been experiencing during the years of growth and expansion. People are growing up in an increasingly global context. Part of what globalization means is that each decision we make as consumers or electors has an impact on global society.

At the moment, as young people, we may think of ourselves as merely students, but we must look beyond this and also realize that we are also members of many different communities, societies, states, and in the end -- members of a global system. The global dimension to citizenship is more than learning about 'global issues' such as sustainable development or international trade -- as important as these are. It is also about understanding the global factors to local issues which are present in all our lives, localities and communities. Globalization creates both challenges and opportunities. In some respects, globalization has chipped away at the rigidity of international borders and brought increased international cooperation to address problems that cross state boundaries. Yet it has also generated opposition among those who feel threatened by or left out of the globalization process. If you are feeling threatened after Sept. 11, then the only way you can combat this fear is by first understanding. Knowledge about the world is not one about passion but one about necessity. I can guarantee you that other college students across the world, whatever their majors are, are more knowledgeable about the world than most Tufts students. These things are basic. And perhaps the American isolationist way of thinking has been institutionalized in the schools systems in America. Having been educated here, I was aware of the lack of knowledge of students about the world. I am not talking about memorizing history books, but some basic knowledge that translates into how people should treat others who are different; it's about tolerance and basic respect for diversity in this world.

I will agree with you on one point, which is that many people will continue to not find the incentive to learn about the rest of the world. This is the challenge to fostering and developing a global community. I think it is unfortunate that most people first start knowing about a part of the world after it affects them, such as for example, the war on Afghanistan and the conflicts in the Middle East. The danger of this approach is that you associate those people and the region with the negative and not really grasp a deeper understanding. The reason is simple economics: We are beings motivated by immediate self-interest. It's about trade-offs and people are not going to trade 30 minutes of "The Bachlorette" for 30 minutes of watching the news. It's the same in my household. My parents are very knowledgeable about the rest of the world and are willing to read books about these topics. But when it comes to step two - action -- my father will not give his free hours on a weekend to come with me to volunteer at the homeless shelter.

I believe the answer lies in education. The teaching-learning requirements for a global community include developing a desire to attend to the moral and personal growth of each individual, with responsibility for others in the whole world community, learning our role in the social sphere of an emerging global community(with its diverse, cultures, perspectives, and views), and understanding our connectedness to this system.

Rana Abdul-Aziz is a senior majoring in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies.