The Global Spread of Knowledge

Posted by: eric on October 21, 2009 at 3:18 pm

Generation We is acutely aware of the gradually spreading availability of higher education, both within the United States and around the world, and they view this as a trend with potentially enormous beneficial impact. It’s something they see at work in their own lives. In fact, many participants in our focus groups spoke with pride about how they’ve enjoyed greater educational opportunities than their parents or grandparents could have dreamed of, and how this has opened doors in terms of lifestyle and career that otherwise would have remained forever shut.

In a broader sense, Generation We is benefiting from an emerging sense of unity among the world’s peoples as cultures around the planet become shared and linked. It’s something they can see, hear, and feel happening all around them. They see “world music” as their music. Problems of poverty, disease, and hunger in Africa and Asia are their problems. Opportunities for women in traditional societies to finally control their own destinies and for children to receive the nutrition, healthcare, and schooling they need to live full lives are their concerns.

This movement toward planetary integration can have either a negative or a positive impact. If it is controlled by plunderers, financial speculators, arms makers, megamedia, or energy companies for their own benefit, its overall impact will be negative, resulting in a world where individuality and indigenous cultures are homogenized or replaced by corporate-controlled replicas and where the wealth of local economies is channeled for purely private gain. But if the peoples of the world, especially the youth, insist that it be used for the benefit of all, its impact will be incredibly positive.

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