Why the World Needs Cosmopolitanism by James Nespole

    Given the serious issues of climate change and disease in our world today, humans have never been more connected. At this time, the biggest threats to the way of life of people from all across the world are ones that affect all of us, climate change and disease. People need to adopt a more cosmopolitan ideology because it would allow for more empathy and cooperation when addressing the shared problems of our modern world like climate change and disease.

    Cosmopolitanist ideology emphasizes becoming a citizen of the world, rather than aligning with your nation or ethnicity, which often causes disputes and conflicts. If people replaced their fiery nationalist and patriotic ideologies with an empathetic and considerate cosmopolitan mindset, this could, with no doubt, serve as a way to preserve human way of life and better our world. One tremendous issue that is shared by every citizen of the world, regardless of skin color, religion, nationality, gender, etc is climate change. Kwame Anthony Appiah says, “ Over the coming century, perhaps the largest perils we will face, collectively, will in some measure be man-made. They’ll include the political perturbations produced by climate change and extreme weather; ecological shifts, acute and chronic, will produce wars and waves of what we now call ‘climate refugees.’” (Appiah) Climate change affects everyone. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that, “2011–2020 was the warmest decade on record since thermometer-based observations began.” (EPA) This has caused food shortages, drought, and the polar ice caps to melt, which causes the sea levels to rise. The World Wildlife Fund claims, “Polar ice caps are melting as global warming causes climate change. We lose Arctic sea ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade, and over the past 30 years, the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by a stunning 95%.” (WWF) This has resulted in water levels steadily rising for years with no sign of stopping. These rising water levels put entire cities like Venice at risk of completely vanishing underwater, in turn causing thousands, if not millions, of people to have to take refuge elsewhere. Colleen Barry says, “Venice’s worst-case scenario for sea level rise by the end of the century is a startling 120 centimeters (3 feet, 11 inches), according to a new study published by the European Geosciences Union. That is 50% higher than the worse-case global sea-rise average of 80 centimeters (2 feet, 7 1/2 inches) forecast by the U.N. science panel.” (Barry) Even another foot would make the city virtually unlivable. This would require people in Venice and other cities impacted by rising water levels to have to leave.

    Furthermore, the lack of cosmopolitanism and cooperation makes the world susceptible to disease. With the increasing population and ease of travel, disease spreads faster than ever. Returning to the article by Appiah, he also states, “We can expect, too, pandemics, involving both natural and engineered pathogens.” (Appiah) Perhaps the most chilling detail about this statement is the fact that this article was written by Appiah in October of 2019, two months prior to the first Covid case in the US. The world demonstrated its lack of cooperative ability and empathy during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The disease ran rampant across the world, infecting and killing people in even the farthest corners of the world. Covid was not an American problem, an Italian problem, or a Chinese problem - it was a human problem. The world’s ability at containing the virus was terrible. The lack of cooperation or empathy for other people, whether that be your neighbor or somebody on the other side of the world, demonstrated the weakness in patriotism and nationalism. Countries like China withheld information from the rest of the world, leaving other countries completely unprepared. In addition, Covid became a political issue in the US, rather than a matter of public health. Politicians on the right and left refused to cooperate on how to handle the pandemic. The lack of communication and cooperation to stop a human problem like Covid demonstrates humans’ biggest weakness, which is a lack of cosmopolitanism and consideration for one another, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or even political ideology in the case of the US. If humans are to continue to live and thrive on our planet, it is imperative that we adopt a more cosmopolitan mindset. 

Work Cited:

• Appiah, Kwame Anthony. “The True Meaning of Cosmopolitanism, and Why We Need to Embrace It to Survive: Opinion.” Haaretz.com, Haaretz, 5 Oct. 2019, www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-the-true-meaning-of-cosmopolitanism-and-why-we-need-to-embrace-it-to-survive-1.7942944. 

• Barry, Colleen. “Flooding in Venice Is Only Getting Worse.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-20/flooding-in-venice-worsens-off-season-amid-climate-change. 

• EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-us-and-global-temperature. 

• “Six Ways Loss of Arctic Ice Impacts Everyone.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/pages/six-ways-loss-of-arctic-ice-impacts-everyone#:~:text=Polar%20ice%20caps%20are%20melting,declined%20by%20a%20stunning%2095%25.