A Shift in Global Mindset
Over the last century there has been a shift in mindset on a widespread scale towards global awareness. The globalization that hit politically and economically as technology and nations have collided and companies became international, has trickled down to individuals. No longer is it common for people to be born, raised, and die in their small hometowns. For my parent’s generation it was rare for children from small towns to go to the next city over for college. Yet now it is more and more common for people to go to other countries to study abroad or live abroad. Most teenagers are world travelers from vacationing with families to school trips. Technology has paired and aligned with shifts in politics, economics, and education to make this possible, for globalization to reach the individual level. I’m looking to share this story, how political, economic, technological, and educational trends have promoted a shift in global thought and perception amongst the masses.
The change in flight technology is incredible over the last few decades and how it reflects innovation and invention.
As I dive into this shift I intend to analyze it from several different perspectives, while limiting my focus as not to go too broad. The marker of air travel will be included, from the first commercial flight in 1914 to the current age, as the increase of commercial airlines and flights has grown incredibly over the last few decades and has encouraged international travel, as well as how the prices of flying have become less and less expensive, meaning that national and international travel is more available to all people, no matter their economic position.
Via Darrin Qualman
Via bits of science
The political influence in this shift is undeniable as politics have shaped public opinions but also how the public opinions have shaped politics. I will depend on the political timeline in my essay to align with the rises and falls in air travel and how wars have impacted the public’s global focus. But further, I’d like to look at this term, “Global citizen” which I encounter so frequently, but how that term connects to different opinions within nationalism and the immigration and refuge debates and crises. This political aspect will likely be the largest facet to my analysis as it is such a complex part of the shift.
The economic part of the shift does need to be touched on at least briefly as the term globalization originally applied solely to the companies that took on the global market and expanded out of their original countries of origin.
And finally, I will highlight how this shift has been manifested within and encouraged by the educational field. Studying abroad both on the high school and university level has become extremely common amongst current students, as well as simply attending universities abroad. A large section of students at Penn State are international students and there are thousands of more around the country who have come to the U.S. seeking a better education. This has created global citizens who have been exposed to different cultures and have expanded their perspectives.
This shift is expansive but evident in so many aspects of everyday life. It is incredibly important as well as it has shifted ideologies and values for so many people and has changed how the masses approach and digest political and international situations as their mindsets have been opened to a great beautiful diverse world. As such, this shift must be fully understood and warrants this level of in depth analysis as it is clear that it presents a complex change in social awareness. Further in order to understand if this shift has had a positive or negative impact it must be analyzed deeply, if it is even possible to do so.