3 Quick Ways to Know the World For the 2008 American Election

The geographically blessed United States is arguably worse than France for having little need of the rest of the world. Protected on two sides by oceans and with resources to grow food, make wine and supply products the world wants, the United States has thrived on a cultural philosophy of freedom, fun and creativity in the comfort of home.

Overnight, however, the global financial crisis has forced Americans to see they are one with the world. The rude awakening to the global reality shielded from light-hearted Americans by mainstream media need neither be onerous nor daunting.

News about the world is just a click for any American with a computer. That small exertion opens the window on a world less menacing and more engaging than expected.

In that world, at this very moment, Asian Indian families are coping with global social upward mobility. America is a model and a warning as they go global and also safeguard their cultural heritage. Brits and Europeans are tracking the 2008 American elections as leaders scramble to address the global financial crisis unleashed by deregulated American freedom.

Accessing that kaleidoscope of the modern world can quickly become a habit to quick-recovering Americans. Global news can then fill out the comfort of the local newspaper with the morning cup of coffee.

To start, Google News is an astounding aggregation of global news sources about current events with direct links to every corner of the world. Hundreds of e-zines and other e-news sources about any topic can be accessed and searched on every topic from economy to politics to views about election candidates. The views on America in Pakistan, Russia and China trigger new perspectives. The best part is that there's plenty of humor to be found.

BBC News, the website of our closest European cousins, offers a stark contrast to the American myopia about the rest of the world. The wide interest in the world that is obvious on the British Broadcast System site is proof that the Brits learned lessons from their imperialist age. Their sophistication and pointed wit can offer lessons to globally adolescent Americans. Again, the added advantage is a humored eye upon the world.

Finally, the United Nations website presents a mind-boggling view of the world in all its complexity. A little too detailed and tedious for some tastes, it does encompass the scope of modern reality with all its challenges and progress. Few Americans know about the island state of Vanuatu and the impact of global climate change on islands like Tahiti. Few Americans realize that the global war on terror is fought by implementing UN treaties. Few Americans have cared so far that the world food and fuel crises are being addressed at the UN. The UN website brings alive the reality that the tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia meet up with Angelina Jolie, who is a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Checking in with those three websites can jump start America on getting pleasure out of getting to know the world. Seeing America from a global perspective, in turn, could just impact on the vote in the 2008 American presidential election.

Helen Fogarassy is a New York based internationalist writer who has worked on a contract basis with the United Nations for nearly 20 years. She is the author of a suspense novel, The Midas Maze, about murderous hijinks in UN/US relations. She is also the author of The Light of a Destiny Dark, a novel about the Euro-American cultural gap through Hungarian eyes, and a nonfiction eyewitness tribute to the UN's work, Mission Improbable: The World Community on a UN Compound in Somalia. All are available on the major web bookstore sites.

Tags : Best Shoes Teacher Training Yoga