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striving to make a workplace color-blind, or teachers standing up for intellectual and cre-
ative freedoms—travelers can stand with them in solidarity.
I strive, not always successfully, to be tolerant. As a comfortable, white, Protestant,
suburban American, a warm welcome always awaits me over at the tyranny of the major-
ity. I recognize that intolerance can be a natural state of rest. I'm inspired by lands that
have morals but don't moralize…lands that make tolerance a guiding virtue and consider
peaceful coexistence a victory. I want to celebrate the diversity in American life by mak-
ing room for different lifestyles. And I want to help shape an America that employs that
openness on a global scale as it works to be a constructive member of the family of na-
tions.
Putting Your Global Perspective into Action at Home
Traveling to learn, you find new passions. Had I not seen shantytowns break out like rashes
in Cairo, I might not have gotten tuned into affordable housing issues in my own commu-
nity. After observing the pragmatic Dutch and Swiss approach to drug abuse, I chose to
speak out on drug law reform and co-sponsor Washington State's initiative to legalize the
recreational adult use of marijuana. Having traveled in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where
religion and government are thoroughly interwoven, I've seen the troubling consequences
of mixing mosque or church and state. In my church, some want the American flag right
up there in front, while others in my community would like to hang the Ten Command-
ments in our city hall. And because I care both for my church and my state, I work to keep
my church free of flags and my city hall free of religious commandments.
Travel becomes a political act only if you actually do something with your broadened
perspective once you return home. The challenges on the horizon today can be so over-
whelming that they freeze caring people into inaction. While trying to save the planet
singlehandedly can be disheartening, taking a few concrete and realistic baby steps in that
direction can be empowering and bring fine rewards. Because of my work, I've had some
exciting opportunities in this regard. Below are a few personal examples of how I've in-
corporated passions sparked by my travels into real action back home. I'm sharing these
in the hopes of demonstrating a few creative ways that you may do the same—on a larger
or smaller scale. Here are some concrete ways you can bring your new global perspective
into your local citizenship:
Be an advocate for those outside of the US who have no voice here, but are affected
by our policies. See our government policy through a lens of how will this impact the
poor. Travel forces voters to consider a new twist on “representative” democracy. Whom
should your vote represent? Because I've made friends throughout the developing world,
my vote is based on more than simply, “Am I better off today than I was four years ago?”
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