Globalization has become an unavoidable part of our world. The earth has flattened, so to speak, and people across the globe are now interconnected in ways unprecedented in mankind’s history. Technology, economy, learning, music, and ideas flow from people to people, from country to country in rapid and almost immediate ways. Certainly, there is a negative side to this but like most things, globalization has the capacity to do good if its negative effects are managed and its positive effects are nurtured. The task of being a productive and engaged global citizen seems daunting; the world is so large, and I am so not. However, it is this very discourse that is the obstacle standing in the way of instigating change and becoming an active voice in the global conversation taking place in this world.
It is easy to write off globalization and capitalism as the root of all the problems facing the world today, throwing blame on the greedy, abusive American corporations who have reached out their fat fingers into the rest of the world, exploiting poor laborers and destroying cultural diversity across the globe. After centuries of imperialism and colonization, the West is often held liable for all the war, violence, poverty, and environmental destruction occurring everywhere. Although there may be a thread of truth in this, in accepting this worldview, responsibility is sidestepped and shrugged off; not responsibility for the problem, but responsibility for the solution.
Being a productive and engaged global citizen does not require a humanitarian mission trip abroad, nor does it necessarily call for the learning of another language or full immersion into another culture. There is no denying that these are all excellent things to do; however, the world I personally know exists in more or less a fifty-mile radius around Indianapolis, and if I expect to see real change in my life, it is this piece of the world that I should be claiming citizenship of. Not only is it the area I know the best, but I have a vested and immediate interest in its well-being. As Thomas Turino says in the final chapter of Music as a Social Life, “individuals can make an important difference, but it can only begin as a small difference, and it can only begin where they are and with the people around them” (228). My world happens in front of me everyday: the people I talk to, the places I go, the food I eat, the clothes I wear. These parts of the world are realistically the only parts of the world I am capable of consciously affecting, and it is here where I should be focusing my concern and attention.
Some might protest this seemingly narrow way of looking at things. The earth is so much bigger than the fifty-mile area around Indianapolis- open your eyes, silly girl, and see how the world really is. In response, I reiterate my point that globalization is an unavoidable component of our lives; the implications of that fact are not solely felt in foreign nations across the globe. The United States does not sit atop the globe and shower its consumerism, economy, media, and entertainment down on everybody else. It is a two-way street, and the community I live in is just as much a part of the global community as Dolly’s community in Jakarta, Indonesia. Everyday I am faced with millions of choices of how and what I am going to say in the global conversation. I can buy food at the Farmer’s Market or I can shop at Target; I can visit the Runcible Spoon in town, or I can take a trip over to the Tibetan monastery down the road. I can ride a bicycle or drive a car. I can join the community orchestra, or I can volunteer at the Lotus Music Festival. I can watch the news on television, or I can buy a newspaper. Millions and millions of choices run by me everyday, and because globalization is now an integral component of our lives, my decision to buy or not to buy the Nike sneakers trials all the way to the other side of the world, and it does affect Dolly in a palpable way. My world exists in the fifty-mile area around Indianapolis, and so does the rest of the world.
In the words of our very own Professor McDonald, “How you music is how you live.” I, however, would say how you do anything is how you live, if that something is repeated to such an extent that it is absorbed into a person’s subconscious and turned into a habit. Certainly, music can be an incredibly influential tool for altering habits of thoughts and action. Because music operates in our minds at the iconic and indexical level, it holds a significantly greater amount of power in instigating change in our thoughts and minds. History confirms this notion in the story Nazis Germany as well as the civil rights movement in the United States; time will tell how effective hip-hop and punk rock will be as catalysts for change around the world. Being a productive and engaged global citizen means supporting and participating in activities that are in coherence with your values, or the values you wish to promote within yourself and your community. In purchasing a CD because it is ranked number one on all the music charts, the ideas of consumerism and trendiness and support of popular entertainment are promoted in your life. Other activities that support consumerism, trendiness, and popular entertainment are then more easily reinforced in your life because the semiotic objects of both are in agreement. In a musical performance or recital of a strictly presentational setting, that music can becomes a sign for order, structure, and hierarchy. Activities outside of the recital hall that also exist as signs for order, structure, and hierarchy are reinforced and strengthened because, again, the semiotic objects are in agreement. The more activities that are engaged in that have a similar sign-object chain promote a sense of agreement and accord within the self. However, if a purely participatory music session, such as a bira ceremony or a pick up jam session, is the chosen mode of entertainment, activities that signal order, structure, and hierarchy or consumerism, trendiness, and popular entertainment are less likely to be supported because the two do not hold the same semiotic conclusion. Humans’ innate desire to eliminate cognitive dissonance prevents an individual from happily, comfortably partaking in activities that do not harmonize for any length of time.
But is not just music. Anything can be and everything is a sign for something else. Music often operates below rational, cognitive thought, and that is why it is so significant in the dialogue surrounding this issue. Other activities require a certain amount of consideration and deliberate action. The decision to go to Starbucks, for example, or frequent the local coffee shop; that is a conscious choice, a choice more readily realized at the rational level; the repercussions of that seemingly simple decision are extensive, especially in terms of global citizenship. Capitalism may be blamed for many of the problems facing the world today; but the funny thing about capitalism is that it responds to consumers’ demand. I am a global citizen as well as a global consumer, and that is where my individual power lies in the global economy. If change is what is wanted, and change is what is needed, it is decisions like these that need to undergo the greatest scrutiny.
These things, however, are slow in coming. Habits of thought and actions are rigid, but over time, ideas and patterns of behavior can be adapted and amended. Small cultural cohorts can evolve into larger, more permanent cultural formations. Music can be an effective catalyst in this conversation, but so can daily decisions and behaviors. To be a productive and engaged citizen of this world, I must realize the significance of my lifestyle choices and accept responsibility for the current state of our world as well as the direction it spins in the future.
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