The Global Citizen is a joint project of New Voices and the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Throughout the year, a group of former AJWS volunteers will offer their take on global justice, Judaism and international development.
      I often feel that as young people we are blessed to be of this generation. At least for me, as someone so interested in the state of the world, politics, and people, I could not have been chronologically placed more appropriately. I imagine the way I feel about coming of age in this time is similar to the way somebody into investment banking must have felt coming of age in the 1980s. Today the cliche ambition of “saving the world” is no longer hyperbole, but a widely accepted next step for 21st century political discourse. Things like vegetarianism and extreme recycling practices that once made me merely a pesky dinner guest, are now trendy. In the same odd and still puzzling alignment of the stars, I am very fortunate to be at one of the epicenters of this great leap backward, Portland, Oregon.
      Portland is known far and wide for its “green” mentality. As a true Oregonian, I approach being a global citizen in terms of acting mindfully locally. It is our generation’s very cool and paradoxical situation that Tikkun Olam, healing the world, is best done in our own homes. Previous generations fought for the right to vote, and today we enjoy an opportunity to vote and influence with every transaction we make. With every dollar we spend we are voting for a system, an establishment, an ideology.
       While the corporateocracy that defines world politics at the moment has its share of problems, it has inadvertently created a sort of more direct democracy than anyone could have previously fathomed. We, as a collective of individual actors, ARE the invisible hand. It is so easy to get discouraged, but we are not powerless. Today we are better off organizing a boycott, or growing a garden then marching in the streets. Revolution no longer looks like burning our bra’s, it looks like farmers markets and second hand shopping. This is power.
       In wrapping your head around this power and unbelievable world connectedness, I offer you a challenge that was offered to me. For one entire day consider the origins of EVERYTHING you use. EVERYTHING. So, for example, start from the moment you wake up. Where was the blanket you are sleeping beneath made, where was the cotton grown, the feathers? How was it transported to the store you purchased it from?  What chemicals went into the toothpaste you use? What resources went into composing the tube the toothpaste is packaged in? Where was the banana you are eating for breakfast grown? Were the workers that picked your banana paid fair wages? What effects on the local economy does the global price of bananas, the price you paid, have on the citizens of that nation?
        If your day is anything like mine was, you will quickly have before you a tangible illustration of the globalized world we live in. Similarly, if you are like me, you will be ready to give up by lunch time. The exercise is quickly exhausting. Your simple choice to consume a banana for breakfast may have consequences you may have never intended. Your innocent banana may be keeping entire nation’s economies on their knees. At first this realization is frustrating, but the more you begin to learn and understand, the more empowering this idea becomes. Our choices affect people around the world, and if we are mindful, those effects can be positive.
        If there is something we know how to do as Americans its consuming. And to be sure I’m absolutely not saying to stop consuming. That’s unrealistic, and unnecessary. But I invite you to begin consuming consciously. To begin consuming as a global citizen. As a rational actor who can no longer be ignorant to the way your choices echo in the lives of people you will never meet.  In my year of blogging ahead, I look forward to exploring this idea of connectedness. I look forward to finding and exploring the strings we can pull on our side of the world that can play into the power that we hold and the potential for change we are presented with everyday. Viva la revolution.
