Xenophilia?

The perfect title for my new blog came to me in a flash of brilliance: Xenophilia. Wikipedia defines xenophilia as "the love for, attraction to, or appreciation of foreign people, manners, customs, or cultures." Perfect. That's exactly what I hope to discuss. My husband made a face when I told him the name, but still, my heart was set on it until my sister discovered an alternate definition implying "sex with aliens." Uh, no. Scratch that. Back to the drawing board. Regardless of the title, I still plan to talk about my love of people from other places, and their customs and cultures.

I am blessed with the great fortune of having traveled to forty countries on six continents. I’ve met tons of people all over the world and have a deep friendship with many of them. What I’ve learned from my travels and my relationships reinforces what I’ve always known: people from different places have differing cultural norms but have the same fundamental motivations, dreams, and desires. These days it is incredibly easy to communicate with people across the globe even if you don’t travel, and I believe the more we talk with each other, the less likely we are to kill each other.

We hear so much about xenophobia these days as this nation of immigrants has been led to irrationally fear the citizens of other countries. Every human being who lives outside the U.S.? Obviously a bad actor who wants to take your job, rape your wife, and sell fentanyl to your kid. Whenever a large group of immigrants moves into any country, there are questions and concerns. We all have affinity bias, a preference for people who are like us. This includes an innate human tendency to fear 'the other', but we've let fearmongering in the U.S. get ridiculously out of hand.

Is globalization a bad thing?

The words globalization and globalist have become slurs in the mouths of certain people. Once again, these words have multiple definitions depending on who is using them. Is a globalist someone who according to Wikipedia "attempts to understand all the interconnections of the modern world" or an evil conspirator set on building a New World Order that will bring about the end of days? The problem with using the word globalist as a pejorative is that we’re all globalists these days, whether we like it or not.

The interconnectedness of the world isn't a matter of opinion. Trade and technology have forged unalterable bonds between nations. We're all dependent on each other. It’s simply a fact, the reality of our time. As Director of International Education at a community college, it was my job to help students, faculty and staff understand our interconnectedness and to become less fearful of what that means.

What are your Global Connections?

Most of the students (and many of the faculty/staff) who worked at the semi-rural community college where I taught and worked for close to 30 years didn't have a lot of experience with international travel or international people. The area used to be a huge manufacturer of furniture and textiles. Many people who lost their jobs to offshore manufacturing place the blame on the the countries in which jobs were relocated instead of on the American business owners seeking lower costs who made those decisions to relocate their factories. And lest we forget, the lower prices we pay for manufactured goods are a result of this shift to cheaper labor.

To demonstrate the modern world’s interconnectedness, I ask students to raise their hands if they think of themselves as global citizens. Not many hands go up. I then ask a series of questions which I say will determine whether they are, in fact, global citizens. They’re always a bit surprised at the questions.

Question 1: Do you wear clothes?

Looking around, it is easy to ascertain that most of my audience is indeed wearing clothes. I then inform them that according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association, 97% of the clothing and shoes we wear in the U.S. are made in other countries. Without the world's help, Americans would be mostly naked.

For added emphasis, I have them check the labels in each other's shirts to learn where it was made. Can you find Vietnam/Guatemala/Indonesia on a map? A real person in a country you may know little about sewed together the pieces of your t-shirt. That person has a name, a home, and a family. They probably didn't earn a lot of money for making your shirt.

We can buy products made in the U.S., but the cost will be substantially higher, due to the greatly increased labor cost. I’m all for owning a few nice things rather than a bunch of crappy things, but not everyone can afford that and not everyone wants that. Most people would rather pay $15 for a shirt made in China than $45 for the exact same shirt made in the U.S. To reiterate, there’s an upside to cheap labor for American consumers.

Question 2: Do you drink coffee or eat bananas or chocolate?

Every now and then, someone claims not to eat bananas or drink coffee. Occasionally, someone will even claim to not like chocolate. Regardless, coffee, chocolate and bananas are all staples of American culture even though none of them grows in the continental United States. Coffee, chocolate, and bananas are 'foreign foods.' We import seven BILLION dollars worth of coffee alone to the U.S. each year.

According to the Rural Migration News from UC Davis, we now import 40% of the vegetables and 60% of the fruit we eat. So even if you don't love sushi, don't want to try escargots, or have never heard of haggis, you're almost certainly consuming a lot of internationally produced food and drink. Your tomatoes are probably from Mexico, your cashews from Vietnam and your grapes from Chile.

Buying local produce and eating foods in season are great practices but try to imagine your life without coffee or chocolate. For me, that is a horrifying nightmare. I could live without bananas, but I can’t imagine never enjoying a piece of chocolate cake and a hot cup of joe.

Question 3: Do you drive a car?

If you live outside of a major city, chances are that you drive a car. Americans rank first in the world for car ownership per capita. At one point when my kids were teenagers, we owned five (old) cars for four people. Now we’re down to three cars for two people (one of which is an El Caballero rotting in our crappy garage that my husband refuses to part with for sentimental reasons.)

If you want to drive a completely American-made car, you’re out of luck. There are zero cars assembled in the U.S. from parts manufactured in the U.S. According to the American Made Index, the four most American car models are all Teslas, with a starting price of over $40,000 and ranging to $98,000. While Tesla assembles its vehicles in the U.S., they source parts from all over the world, even though they do not openly advertise their suppliers.

Not an Elon Musk fan or not rich enough to afford a Tesla? Rounding out the Top Ten of the most American cars are models from: Honda, Volkswagen, and Acura. Surprised? It’s not until spot 16, that an “American” company grabs a spot with the Lincoln Corsair. Looking for a Ford or a Chevy? The Corvette Coupe comes in at 19, but Ford doesn’t make the list until spot 38 with the F150 Lightning Pickup.

Global Citizens

The point is that we’re all global citizens. It’s not a matter of preference or politics; it’s a simple fact. We are dependent on other countries for clothing, food, transportation, and much more. And while many Americans have been hurt by losing their jobs to offshore manufacturing, we can’t forget the upside of much lower prices for goods and services. You can buy things made in America, but it’s not cheap. If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that there’s an upside and a downside to most things.

Every time we read a blog on the Internet, we are connected to the World Wide Web. We can use technology to communicate face-to-face with people around the globe in easy ways. As someone who grew up with outrageous charges for long-distance calling, I still find the facility of international communication to be incredible. I loved watching my students in rural North Carolina chatting via Zoom with students in Argentina, France, Jordan, Kurdistan, and Russia. Witnessing the similarities and differences in students across the world was truly amazing.

Having global connections makes us stronger, not weaker. The more I travel and meet people, the less fearful I am. This is not due to naivety but to a substantiated belief that mutual understanding can lead to a more peaceful world. Sure, there are bad people in the world and bad things happen everywhere. However, I challenge you to decide for yourself. Engage with someone from another place with curiosity, openness, and respect and see what you can learn. I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised.