Blog Post #2 - Kevin Scifres - Expanding Worldview
In this blog I want to take the lesson from my classroom and understand how global events can affect people differently throughout the world. Different countries are going to have different interpretations of the same events, and we need to look no further than climate change for an example. We have been learning how developing nations and those living on coastlines have been experiencing much more extreme weather as a result of our changing planet. Despite not being the largest emitters of carbon dioxide, these countries are suffering worse than most. It would make sense that they would be pushing hard for changes to be made, whereas countries who are not seeing the effects of their actions firsthand may be more hesitant to put in the extra work required. Despite this, we all live on the same planet, and the actions of large countries will affect people in smaller ones. It is important we all remember how connected we really are when policy makers discuss these important topics. If we want to continue thriving in a sustainable way we must not consider ourselves Americans or Chinese or Germans, rather as inhabitants of Earth first and foremost. It is vital that we get up and peek around the corner to see what the donkey looks like from Hati's perspective, not just our own. Developing countries suffer more due to our changing climate than we realize, and it is vital in our role as global citizens to consider everyone and adopt a mutually beneficial mindset.
Hi Kevin!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the Donkey plushie story with us. It was a great example and I will make sure to steal it and tell it as many times as I can (No credit given of course).
Your post particularly resonated with me. As someone who spent most of my earlier years in a contry President DJT described as a "shit hole", I realized that most of my experiences differed greatly from that of my counterparts who grew up in the Global North. Major events were interpreted very differently. Take for example the COVID-19 pandemic. I happened to be in college during the pandemic, going to office hours and turning in research papers like nothng was happening. On the other hand, my peers in the US were experiencing what they have often described to me as the most devastating times of their lives. Telling the COVID experience from one POV can either sound like the first one - "it was not that serious", or the second one- "It was so bad, I do not wish to remember it". Telling one story over the other, will be unfair as both are as accurate as it can get to the involved parties.
Ultimately, I absolutely agree with you, as a society we to consider multiple perspectives to fully understand how the world works.
Wow Kevin, I love this perspective on the global issues around climate change. While I was on the train back from Switzerland, I sat next to this guy around our age who was talking about how annoying it is to go above and beyond for climate agreements while they have to watch the U.S. neglect all regulations and considerations. He said it was frustrating to feel like what they were forced to do made no impact, which is exactly your point with how hard smaller countries work to make not even a noticeable difference in our lives. I agree we need to start seeing the world as the whole story instead of country by country. We were pretty close with large scale agreements like NATO or the Paris Climate Agreement, but how would we ensure the USA remains involved? When we pull out of treaties and goals, we set an example for the rest of the world that we want them to do the work we don’t care about. It's important to keep grounded in issues that not only affect other people, but us on a larger scale.
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