Being a Global Citizen 4 - 懂你英语 流利说 Level7 Unit3 Part1

Answer 1

But despite all of this momentum, we face some huge challenges.

See, you might be thinking to yourself, how can we possibly persuade world leaders to sustain a focus on global issues?

Indeed, the powerful American politician Tip O'Neill once said, "All politics is local."

That's what always got politicians elected:

to seek, gain and hold onto power through the pursuit of local or at very best national interests.

I experienced this for the first time when I was 21 years old.

I took a meeting with a then-Australian Foreign Minister who shall remain nameless -- [Alexander Downer] (Laughter)

And behind closed doors, I shared with him my passion to end extreme poverty. I said, "Minister --

Australia has this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. We can do this."

And he paused, looked down on me with cold, dismissive eyes, and he said, "Hugh, no one gives a funk about foreign aid."

Except he didn't use the word "funk."

He went on. He said we need to look after our own backyard first.

This is, I believe, outdated, even dangerous thinking.

Or as my late grandfather would say, complete BS.

Parochialism offers this false dichotomy because it pits the poor in one country against the poor in another.

It pretends we can isolate ourselves and our nations from one another.

The whole world is our backyard, and we ignore it at our peril.

See, look what happened when we ignored Rwanda, when we ignore Syria, when we ignore climate change.

Political leaders ought to give a "funk" because the impact of climate change and extreme poverty comes right to our shore.

Now, global citizens -- they understand this.

We live in a time that favors the global citizen, in an age where every single voice can be heard.

See, do you remember when the Millennium Development Goals were signed back in the year 2000?

The most we could do in those days was fire off a letter and wait for the next election.

There was no social media.

Today, billions of citizens have more tools, more access to information, more capacity to influence than ever before.

Both the problems and the tools to solve them are right before us.

The world has changed, and those of us who look beyond our borders are on the right side of history.

So where are we?

So we run this amazing festival, we've scored some big policy wins, and citizens are signing up all over the world.

But have we achieved our mission?

No. We have such a long way to go.

But this is the opportunity that I see.

The concept of global citizenship, self-evident in its logic but until now impractical in many ways,

has coincided with this particular moment in which we are privileged to live.

We, as global citizens, now have a unique opportunity to accelerate large-scale positive change around the world.

So in the months and years ahead,

global citizens will hold world leaders accountable to ensure that the new Global Goals for Sustainable Development are tracked and implemented.

Global citizens will partner with the world's leading NGOs to end diseases like polio and malaria.

Global citizens will sign up in every corner of this globe, increasing the frequency, quality and impact of their actions.

These dreams are within reach.

Imagine an army of millions growing into tens of millions, connected, informed, engaged and unwilling to take no for an answer.

Over all these years, I've tried to reconnect with Sonny Boy.

Sadly, I've been unable to.

We met long before social media, and his address has now been relocated by the authorities, as often happens with slums.

I'd love to sit down with him, wherever he is, and share with him how much the time I spent on Smoky Mountain inspired me.

Thanks to him and so many others, I came to understand the importance of being part of a movement of people --

the kids willing to look up from their screens and out to the world, the global citizens.

Global citizens who stand together, who ask the question "Why?," who reject the naysayers,

and embrace the amazing possibilities of the world we share.

I'm a global citizen. Are you?

Thank you.