Fitness

Who would have guessed that a fitness craze -- a la fitbit and Apple watch, etc. -- would entangle the digital generation. I'm from a completely different, much older generation -- I'm a Baby Boomer. What a terrible term, compared to the melliflousness of Millenial. For different reasons, mostly age-related, I also am becoming a fitness geek. Finally the generations have something in common. And that common theme extends to a desire to protect the environment, which is a global concern. The global concern is manifested most easily in transportation, i.e. against the internal combustion engine which contributes to the degradation of the air people breathe all over the world. Hold it, didn't America invent the manufacturing of automobiles. Did American cause the automobile to be worldwide. There are many ways to become a globalister. You can be afraid that the world will homogenize over the next era, and the world needs to be seen in all its glory and diversity now. That's the Robert Ripley story. He was a syndicated columnist for Hearst who eventually founded Ripley's Believe It or Not. He loved the uniqueness of China. But during World War II he couldn't visit the enemy. After the war he visited again and was so disappointed in the communist changes that he died of a heart attack. The world will not stay the same as it is. Not for anyone. So meet it halfway; go now. Another way to become a globalister is to know that all world cultures are unique whether that is India or China or Madagascar or Kenya. And all world cultures deserve to be appreciated by someone; why not you? Another way to become a globalister is to know that a world culture can only be imbibed by being there. Another way is to believe that America's technology and innovativeness is only important in America, not other places. Another way is to know that the answer to the crumbling American era lies in some other country. Another way to become a globalister is to know that democracy is not right for everyone in the world. That individualism is not right for every country. Another way is to visit http://www.worldometers.info/ and satisfy or pique your own curiosity. House exchangers are world citizens. Not globalists, who believe that the world is one. House exchangers -- globalisters -- are very conscious of the whole world. For instance, what is the largest city in the U.S.? Easy. Right? New York. But what is the largest city in the world? And where does New York come in? By some counts New York is way down the list, number 21 on Wikipedia which uses something called "City Proper" to determine that New York has about 8.55 million citizens, whereas Shanghai in China has 24.2 million people and Karachi, Pakistan, has 23.5 million. But China comes in again at third with Beijing that has 21.5 million people. "World Urbanization Prospects", a United Nations publication, defines population of a city proper as "the population living within the administrative boundaries of a city or controlled directly from the city by a single authority." It's worth noting that Lagos, Nigeria, which tops some lists, comes in fifth on Wikipedia with 16 million people just behind Delhi, India, with 16.7 million. Where will we be in 2050. There will be many huge metropolises, because they are all growing. As is the world population. How will we feed them all? Maybe computers will have taken over all work by then, and the world's hunger may have dissipated. Right. Who knows?