The election of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of the United States has been touted as the biggest political change since the war, and as such will be hard for many around the world to process.
But we don't have the luxury of time to ponder. The challenges ahead of us are too numerous and too great. Right now we need to dust ourselves off and keep championing the causes that transcend any one election or political figure.
The result, I'm afraid, confirmed that too many people have become accustomed to the false comforts of the echo chamber, hearing only those voices that chime with ours. The political class were not only dismissive of Trump as a person, but failed to grasp the despondency and frustration felt by many Americans who feel left behind by rapid technological, economic, and social changes. We failed to adequately comprehend the extent to which so many people feel dismissed and disrespected by political and economic elites who have been the winners from 30 years of globalization.
We cannot respond by turning our back on the big global challenges that define our mission. It's much too important. Globalization has also helped lift millions out of extreme poverty.
We need to win the battle of ideas with those who seek a more insular world, and we need to respect their aspirations and fears in the process. Whoever is president, our task is the same as it always was: to organise, agitate, activate and inspire. More than ever.
As Global Citizens, we must redouble our efforts to convince friends, family, and neighbours that retreating to national and ethnic enclaves is the wrong way to build the world we want for ourselves and future generations. We can't turn our backs on each other. We can’t turn our backs on the millions of people in the developing world whose progress in life is stymied by poverty, preventable disease, corruption, sexism, and sectarian hatred. They need our activism more than ever.
We cannot change the outcome of an election. But we can double down on our commitment to each other as fellow Global Citizens, both in the US and around the world in support of our mission and in support of the Sustainable Development Goals. We must not disengage from the political process, but instead organise more and more effectively. We need to win the battle of ideas with those who seek a more insular world, and we need to respect their aspirations and fears in the process. Whoever is president, our task is the same as it always was: to organise, agitate, activate and inspire. More than ever.
Millennials have a reputation for not fighting for much. We’re supposed to have been handed the world on a silver platter. Now we know that’s not the case. This is our time to step up. This is our time to start fighting for the world we believe in.
This is the time we stand tall and build the movement for all those Global Citizens who today are desperately looking for a home, and a mission worth fighting for.
We stand with and for our Global Citizens. We have a responsibility to get back to work for them. I’m sure there are more of them today than there were yesterday. They just didn’t know that’s who they were yesterday. Together we can create a culture — one of humility, kindness, empathy — and one tethered to the mission of Global Citizen; to end extreme poverty by 2030.