Final

What does it mean to be a citizen? What does it mean to be part of a whole, what does being in a community require from the individual? These questions depend greatly on where you grew up and the cultural formations that you were brought up in.  The factors are different wherever you come from; whether you are from Indonesia, Brazil, the US or even Morocco. All of these places have different values, however I believe that to be a citizen globally there must be certain similarities between the cultural formations. Another trait that a global citizen must have is to recognize what is wrong with the world and fight to change those wrongs. 

            The most effective way to change a groups perceptions and prejudices is to create cultural cohorts from other cultures into the cultures normal formation. A fantastic example of this is the cohort of hip-hop in Morocco. All of these musicians are good Muslim people who are faithful to their culture and religion. These people love hip-hop in a place where western culture is frowned upon; these people still pursue what they love despite these boundaries. The reason why they love this music so much is because it gives them the power to express themselves and also it provides a voice that, without hip-hop, they would never have. This group of Moroccan rappers is a tremendous example of a cohort becoming a cultural formation; they use this western music, but they make it their own.  They also use this music to try to change the current situation of Moroccan life. An example is how when Fati went on stage she was boo’d for being a woman in a predominately male art form, this did not bother her, and at the end of the show everyone in the audience loved her, thus changing the popular opinion towards women. Another example is the I Love Hip-Hop in Morocco festival; this festival reached thousands of Moroccans, ore importantly the messages reached thousands of Moroccans. The most prominent message was to make morocco for the people and to fight against terrorism.  These messages were brought to the people on a budget of only ten thousand dollars; while the military is using billions of dollars and taking thousands of lives to spread the same message. I believe that by utilizing music for good can have a far greater effect on the world rather than military action.

            I think that the passive globalization through music is another awesome way to connect the people of the world. An example of this is how a punk band from Canada can inspire a punk band in Brazil and then inspire a factory worker in Indonesia. I love this path that was shown to me through the film the punks are alright; it is the perfect example to illustrate the potential of globalization. Although everyone in that film were totally against globalization, they all found punk through a non-forceful way to globalize. Henrik, the lead singer of Blind Pigs is a great example of how a cohort can change into a formation. Most people in Brazil use punk as a cohort, but Henrike lives punk; he sees no other way of life, he met his wife through punk, he has children because of punk this is totally his life. On the other side of the spectrum punk rock changes lives, such as the life of Dolly, a factory worker in Indonesia. Dolly uses punk as an escape mechanism from his life of hard work and oppression, he is an example of a punk cohort, in that he does not have the same values of a punk in all aspects of life, such as Henrike does.

              We are literally killing people to persuade them to think the way we do, but instead of blowing up towers, were wearing uniforms and using the latest military technology. Passive globalization such as hip-hop in Morocco and punk in Brazil and Indonesia is the most effective way to be connected globally. No fighting, just peace and music.

            I’m not expecting change immediately; that would be ridiculous to even imagine such a naïve theory. The only way for us to change what is wrong is to take baby steps through cultural cohorts in order to change a collective thinking. An example would be to start utilizing American green automobiles; this little cohort will remind people that we do not have an unlimited amount of oil and some day it will run out, so this will cause people to start being more environmentally aware. Another way that would work is by buying American cars the economy with be stimulated through the purchasing of American cars and also the greenness of the cars will lessen the need for foreign oil.  These little cultural cohorts are the way to strengthen the bonds that we have with other countries, and it can all be done without killing anyone; it would be very punk rock.