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Cosmopolitanism is the ethical claim that we have moral obligations to all human beings, regardless of their nationality or citizenship. In an increasingly globalized world, the traditional focus on justice within the nation-state seems increasingly inadequate. Why should the accident of being born on one side of a border determine one's access to basic human rights or life-saving medicine? Critics of cosmopolitanism argue that we have special duties to our own compatriots that outweigh our duties to distant strangers. They suggest that justice requires a level of social solidarity that only a shared national identity can provide. However, cosmopolitans respond that our shared humanity is a more fundamental bond than any national myth. A truly just world requires global institutions that can address the profound inequalities between nations.

How does the author characterize the 'accident of being born on one side of a border'?

  1. As the primary and irreplaceable source of the social solidarity necessary for a just society
  2. As a comforting national myth that committed cosmopolitans must actively work to strengthen
  3. As an arbitrary factor that should not dictate an individual's moral entitlements.
  4. As a necessary and justified limitation placed on the reach of global institutions

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