Defining Global Patriot — Global Patriot

The Foundation

The concept of Global Patriot was born in 2003 while writing a novel. The phrase exemplified the hero’s character arc as he shifted from being a life-long national patriot to adopting the broader ideal of serving the best interests of the entire planet. That was Patriotism Without Borders.

For five years the notion of Global Patriot stayed on the back burner as I continued my career path in the business world. It wasn’t until the summer of 2008 that, through a combination of personal and professional shifts, it became apparent to me that the time was right to give the idea its due.

As I considered which subjects should be addressed in the blog, from the perspectives of business, politics and society, the following list of interrelated topics arose. It was impossible to touch on one issue without the conversation slipping into the others, as they collectively define who we are, how we act, and what we need to do and be in order to survive.

Hunger
Disease
Poverty
Warfare
Activism
Education
Patriotism
Capitalism
Democracy
Equal Rights
Social Justice
Sustainability

Each of these topics shall be addressed at Global Patriot. I invite you to participate in the discussion.

The Big Picture

I’ve always been fascinated by views of the earth from space. Nothing but land masses, oceans, and patterns of clouds. From this vantage point there are no borders or governments, no laws (other than the laws of physics, of course) or regulations, no hatred or prejudice, no poverty or hunger, nor any greed or selfishness.

From a purely scientific perspective, the earth is spinning on its axis at over a thousand miles per hour while orbiting the sun at some 67,000 mph. This sun of ours, stationed some 90+ million miles away, is itself traveling at 140 miles per second in a circular orbit within the Milky Way galaxy, taking 225 million years or so to complete a single galactic year.

The Small Picture

Placing one’s feet on terra firma, there are just over 6.7 billion people inhabiting this planet of ours, precariously divided up among 195 countries. As to ethnicities, the most recent census included 126 categories, while anthropologists and sociologists have identified over 2,000. Religion is even more difficult to ascertain, depending on granularity, but if you break it down to a reasonable level, even the top ten become hundreds of much smaller slices.

Back on Topic

So why interject the big and small picture into a conversation about defining Global Patriot?

Because we’ve managed, over many centuries, to build a world full of borders, laws and regulations that have fractured the planet’s population into a splinters of race, religion, ideology and geography. And in the process we’ve developed this high-and-mighty attitude that believes we can govern, rule, control and own this small spec of cosmic dust that represents less than a single grain of sand from a universe perspective.

At this point you could say that we have lost all perspective, and this sad fact has not served us well. War, poverty, hunger, sickness, violence, greed and apathy are the offspring of this failed approach.

Make it Simple

But what if we could strip it all down to the often used phrase, “One Planet, One People.” Is that the essence of Global Patriot? I come back to patriotism without borders, once again looking at the earth from space, and can’t avoid this innate feeling that while it seems impossible, it might be that simple.

In the end, this blog is about us, and our ability to create a sustainable planet.

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