A new page, About, has been added to my Sister Cities notebook for My Idea Outlet. The contents can be found below.
You might look at the title of this project and think it's already been done. Sister cities already exist. This project is focused on a related concept, a deep and meaningful sister city relationship.
This idea started when I looked at how the world has become increasingly globalized. I'm not just discussing the increased globalization but how we're handling it. In short, our approach to globalization disproportionately benefits larger cultures.
The United States is a strong nation. In schools, we teach children a language partially of the students' choices. Usually, choices include Spanish and French. Additional languages are usually widely spoken. Why do we pick these languages? Because we want children to learn languages that they are more likely to use.
In many ways, these language choices make sense. There are also problems with this approach. We are reaching out to widely spoken languages without any concerns for less popular options. Most strong nations do the same. The same could be said for smaller nations. They reach out to those who are larger and stronger. Nobody reaches back.
Stronger and more powerful do not mean better. When it comes to languages, our outreach is disproportional. This is unfair to people who speak less common languages. In some cases, this can legitimately endanger a language.
Language is not the same as culture, but they are related. After all, how can anyone know anything about a culture if they don't understand the language that culture speaks and writes in? Simply put, smaller cultures should be treated better than what we are currently doing. How do we address this?
My idea has been to foster deep and meaningful relationships between cities. Ideally, each city should have one sister. This sister should be on a different continent and have a different culture. Generally speaking, this should include a different language. Under such a model, a large nation could have a more balanced outreach.
The idea behind this project is to look at what a deep and meaningful sister city relationship would be like. I want to look at what can be shared between cities. Under such a model, the expectation would be to involve citizens of both cities in a relationship. Among the more obvious components would be encouraging people to learn their sister's language. There is quite a bit more than that, and I intend to explain ideas.
Obviously, globalization is about more than sister city relationships. Knowing what's going on in the world can't be addressed by encouraging people to focus on a single city. I do, however, see a lot of potential in making sister relationships a part of the equation. Such a program could help ensure that the people of one culture can have others who have a deep understanding of what they need and what they're going through.
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