One useful ethical cornerstone in such an interconnected, “glocal” world is the notion of ubuntu, a Bantu term that Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others translate roughly as “I am because we are” and that involves defining ourselves in our interactions with others. Much like Buddhist principles of first doing no harm and then doing as much good as possible, ubuntu emphasizes the connectedness we share and how much we help or hurt ourselves as we help or hurt others. As Nelson Mandela has noted, even if one wants to improve his or her own lot in life, this should be done in a way that does not make it harder for someone else to do the same thing; rather, we should seek to capitalize on those positive-sum opportunities that can uplift all people or, at the very least, will not lower some in the process.
Chris Harth serves concurrently as the director of global studies and world languages at St. Andrew's Episcopal School (Mississippi), and as president of the Global Studies Foundation.