Citizen of the World: Philosophy

Rick's Philosophy on being a “Citizen of the World”

Earth has 57 million square miles of land on it. More than half of it is uninhabitable. The result is that we share approximately 50 million square miles of habitat among nearly 7.5 billion fellow humans.

In simplest terms: We are not alone.

Because I've visited many countries and lived abroad for more than 13 years, my life experiences were honed by spending time with people in several different cultures. Those life lessons taught me that world is not as large as we think it to be and other cultures are not nearly as different as we assume them to be, either.

Children, worldwide, are always playful, loving and immersed in awe and wonder. That is, if they have the opportunity to be. In a severely impoverished country childhood often becomes a casualty to the need to provide income to a family, lack of access to education, diseases and victimization from strife.

In the poorest nations childhood dies quickly, taken by the merciless hands of the need to survive.

Hold that thought.

Meanwhile, we are entering an unprecedented age of mass extinctions driven by the actions of Mankind. We took other species for granted for too long, and are now seeing the horribly adverse impacts of arrogance, greed and apathy.

The black rhino and African elephant have been hunted down from thunderous herds to tiny, isolated populations. Their fire may die out due to a rampant illegal trade in ivory.

We are losing everything that shaped our humanity. When it is all finally gone what will we be?

Endangered children, whether Human or any other species, do not deserve to come into a world so broken that no one can ever fix it.

My philosophy on being a Citizen of the World does not require a person to travel outside of their own backyard. It only needs personal commitment to do “good” in the world. I lived that philosophy my entire adult life.

For more than 20 years I've volunteered in schools, community projects, with nonprofit animal rescue and conservation organizations and countless individual acts of kindness to those in need.

It can be as simple as paying the remainder of a grocery bill when you see someone come up short, or deciding to pick up trash in a park.

Volunteerism is not charity. It's not a gift you give to someone less fortunate. It is taking action to join hands with your fellow beings and, TOGETHER, working towards a better world.

Each time you volunteer you make the world a little better. It makes a difference...every time.