My Local vs. Global Debate

So. As I was walking home today with my Freshens smoothie in hand (which may be hypocritical to this blog entry since i'm fairly sure their cups are made out of some sort of styrofoam...smooties helping killing the earth :-( sad day)... I was thinking about the honors thesis that I want to write. The one I will sadly not be writing, since it is not specific enough nor directly in line with my class Making Things Right with Professor Schwehn. And that's all okay. I'm going to learn a lot and hopefully write a good paper without killing myself.

But I was thinking that I still want to write the paper that I have inside my head. And maybe its because I'm such a word person. That's how I make sense of things. I either talk things out or write things out...and a lot of times I think about things way too much before I do either of those things. But I feel like unless I get these thoughts down on paper I have no chance of understanding or grasping those ideas or ever doing something that will help make some little tiny part of this world right.

My thesis for my ideal honors thesis that will never be written is this:

What is the best way to go about making a difference in this world: locally or globally? How can you best make things right, or is this one of those questions that is not an either/or but a both/and. What does it take to bring about a transformation? Why are the Gandhis and Dorothy Days and Martin Luther King Jrs of this world so few and far between? Or is that just an illusion? And how do you get past the fact that despite all of the corruption, selfishness, pain, suffering, anger, and violence in this world...really we all live in a hodgebodge of hope and love and relationships...or at least the desire for all of that.

I want to look at movements like fair trade and groups like the UN that have a global focus. Non-profits like the Red Cross, Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Engineers without Borders, etc. Government organizations like the Peace Corps and the State Department, Inter-Governmental Agencies like the World Bank, IMF, NATO, and the role of International Law and treaties in bringing about a more peaceful world. I want to look at how soup kitchens and food banks and local governments and community organizations bring about individual change and community transformation in local communities. And I want to look at the connection between the two...how things like education and awareness within our communities connect us with others around the world. I want to look at who groups like SALT and the Church and national governments must have a dual focus. I want to explore whether elements of this debate have always been at odds or whether forces like globalization and increasing global interdependence have made it impossible to do one without the other.

Is this too big of a thing? I don't know. This is probably a longer life type of debate that I'll continue to look at.

Last year about this time I came to the conclusion that what brings my studies and interests together can be described in one word: community. I'm interested in how communities work, how they communicate within and how they work with other communities. I'm interested in how communities are built, how they change, and how conflict tears them a part. And I'm interested in how the communities of the world interact on a global stage.

My central question since last fall has been how individuals interact in these communities and help bring about positive change.

Someday I'll write a paper about that question too. But for now, I will turn in my intensification form tomorrow and embark on honors thesis research. Stay tuned for more.