Learning How to Be a Friend
The plans I had for today were not so much planned as they were things that needed to happen and a federal holiday makes it easy to prioritize none work related needs. The funny thing is how much the things I needed to do relate to the impact of globalization. The diametric differences in what this day means to different people groups and how the history of this day was taught in America remind us that even with the best of intensions the impact of globalization has been mismanaged.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue… he was looking for a faster way to travel to India and convinced King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to pay for his voyage in return for the rights to whatever riches he found. When Columbus landed on Turtle Island, the riches he found belonged to someone else and the Oceanic Age of Globalization kicked off the pursuit of Naval Supremacy.
“Globalization has been a fundamental aspect of human history. There are seven distinct ages of globalization, providing a framework to understand changes in human societies over the course of approximately 70,000 years. The demarcation of human history into specific periods is somewhat artificial but essential for gaining a broader understanding of societal changes.”
As part of the Space and Military Intelligence Learning Experience (S/MILE), we will dig deep into globalization through the Ages of Globalization2 course, but today I just want to look at the impact of globalization on Turtle Island.
When two new people groups come together, there is a larger chance of misunderstandings and cultural strife. The best intensions of sharing knowledge and resources turned into sharing diseases and hording resources. The impact of different turned into a system of labeling “good” and “bad” based on limited knowledge. The uniqueness of each people group was suppressed as the advocacy for sameness turned the world grey.
Indigenous people knew how to care for the land and celebrated the colors that filled the world. The pious figures, who fled the world where indulgencies could be bought with gold, feared the “over indulgency” and built walls of stone to keep out the color of things unknown. Sickness spread, and these pious figures pointed to everything outside their doors, forcing the “new” world to bend to the pious way. Hair was cut, bodies were “cleansed,” and today we are reaping the sins against nature their pride caused.
The Removal of Personal Autonomy
When an individual decides to force their own ideologies on another, they are removing the person’s autonomy. Personal autonomy, or a person’s free will, is a debated topic because of how little humans understand about the human condition. Every day we are learning new things, but the pursuit of knowledge in a world where knowledge is hoarded as much as resources is a slow pursuit.
If we are ever going to learn how to get along, we need to learn to trust the personal autonomy of each person and stop trying to manipulate it. The personal autonomy of each person is constantly being influenced with the information they are receiving every day. Whether it is making a decision for another, censoring the sources of information, or willingly breaking the boundaries of others, each action chosen in community is at risk of taking another’s personal autonomy.
At the same point, there are moments in time that we give control of our autonomy to others. We trust other individuals to make decisions for us, and we do things that we would normally not do. We attempt to balance our physical desires with what is best for the community. We get vaccines, we wear our masks, and we stop being assholes to each other.
Learning how to allow others personal autonomy even when your personal autonomy is being threatened is the struggle of life.
XOXO, Sapiophielle 
Constructive Criticism
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