Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Everyone of us is familiar with the term “global village.” The term was coined in the early 1960s by Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan, who was writing about the newer technologies of his day, such as radio and television. It became popular some time at the beginning of 1990s, at the birth of what we call Internet today.

But, do you really understand and “feel” about the global village?

Did you ever live in a village in the countryside?

In a village, everyone knows each other and very much supports each other. No one is unknown and nothing is unknown. The village is very much like your immediate family with dad, mom, and several children – there is no stranger and no secret.

“Global village” means just that – the entire globe, the entire world, is a village where everyone knows each other and supports each other, no one is unknown and nothing is unknown.

Have you ever felt that sense of “global village” in your heart. If not, you are severely behind the time – your mind is not functioning at the level that our time demands.

Our time demands that you see the entire world as your own little village in Thái Bình or Lao Cai or Đồng Nai or Cà Mau. If you don’t see the world in that way, you are lạc hậu (backward).

Why is this important?

The reason is simple: If you are backward, you keep your country backward. You must take the responsibility for your country’s moving forward or backward.

You have no moral right to say: “I don’t know.” You have the duty to know the environment you live in – your world, your global village – in order to nurture it every day.

If you are not clearly conscious about your world and your responsibility to your world, you don’t belong to the intellectual circles, even if you have 3 doctorate degrees in your pocket.

We intellectuals are the grey matter of our society, our country and our world. We must pay attention to the world around us – our living environment.

What happens in our environment affects our health and spirit. We must pay attention to our environment and work together to keep the environment healthy and safe for all. That is the task of the intellectuals – the thinkers – of the society.

So, my intellectual friends, please keep your eyes and your ears open, for the sake of all other brothers and sisters, our families, our cities, our country and our world.

If we intellectuals don’t do that, no one else does.

Wish we all take up our responsibility.

With compassion,

Hoành

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Trần Đình Hoành
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