Cosmopolitanism, The End(CH 10)

Basic human rights are the understandable rights that should be followed and not violated by every culture across the world. These are things such as free speech, the right to own a home, a family, get married, etc. To follow up on my last blog, I stated that there should be a point of intervention when to stop a culture from committing a heinous act(in our eyes at least). I stated that I did not know where to draw this line, the line between respecting cultural values and preventing harm of individuals. Well it is now much more clear as to where to draw this line- if a right is violated form the UN declaration of rights, then we must intervene. This is because these are the universally accepted rights, and they are not subject to being violated. When this happens, cultural differences must be ignored and intervention must take place to protect the individual. This is the obligation we have to others, one that cares for them. I am glad that this document has been brought to my attention, as I now feel much better about the line of intervention. Whereas before, I felt as though individuals would be harmed and their feelings dismissed as "cultural differences", now I am assured that there is a global boundary already laid out, to assure that this doesn't happen.

A cosmopolitan at UK is anyone who understands the two fundamental principles of cosmopolitanism, the obligation to others, and the care for the individual. A cosmopolitan here would have to feel obliged not only to those here at UK, but to others in surrounding areas and across the globe. This goes back to the local versus global. It is good to make an impact in your own community, reaching out to strangers and discussing ideas, but one can only be a true cosmopolitan when they expand to a global level. This is when we truly interact with imaginary strangers. Here at UK, even if we see strangers, they are not that strange. After all, we are roughly the same age, live in the same state, and go to the same school. To be a cosmopolitan, we would need to explore people with much different backgrounds and experiences. Nevertheless, people can still act in the cosmopolitan mindset in the local setting, as long as they pay attention to the needs of others, and attempt to listen to their values, even if they differ from their own. Acting towards others in this way could really make our community come together and become more unified, or not, depending on the values we decide to pursue.