Bringing the World Home
An essay written as part of the application to the Bringing the World Home summit.
Bringing the world home is important to me because I think there is a great disconnect between what the American people are like and what the world thinks the American people are like. This disconnect was exemplified when the 2004 Election played out. Polls of foreign citizens clearly showed a desire to remove George Bush from office, but when the results came in, they were shocked to see that America had reelected him. I think this shows the strong difference in goals and values of the two groups. It is obvious that there will be a difference, but I think that neither group even understands from where the other is coming.
Like any relationship counselor will tell you, the key is communication. The key to bridging this divide is to get citizens of different countries talking and exploring their differences. This need not be something formal; these connections happen spontaneously every time people get together. The challenge is to get these people together so the dialog can start flowing. That’s what bringing the world home means to me.
The benefits of increased communication are many. The immediate result, as I mentioned previously, is that understanding between Americans and the rest of the world is increased. This understanding spreads among friends and from child to parent and leads to a much broader segment of the population having less trepidation regarding foreigners. Less fear leads to more travel, which leads to more communication. Bringing the world home means to me giving this cycle a helping hand.
Updated Nov 14 - Didn’t make the cut. Maybe next year.
