All of us have a bigger responsibility to "the world stage" than we have probably imagined. Consider these thoughts from R. Rolheiser.
Peacemaking is ineffectual, despite our sincere intentions and efforts, we are too blind to the fact that the greed, the wars, and the violence that we see being played out on a world stage (and that we blame politicians and world leaders for) are, to a large extent, merely a magnification of what is happening inside our own hearts and among us in our private relationships.
There is an intrinsic, never-to-be-neglected connection between what seems radically private and what is political and social. Thus, there can be no peace on the big stage when there is greed, jealousy, unwillingness to forgive, and unwillingness to compromise within our private hearts.
When we cannot get along with each other within our own marriages and families, we should not be surprised that countries do not get along with each other when we cannot move beyond past hurts in our own lives. We should not expect the issues causing violence in Northern Ireland, Israel, Bosnia, Iran, Irag and the Sudan to be resolved by better politics.
What must, ultimately, be confronted is our own greed, our own hurt, our own jealousy, our own inability to forgive, compromise and respect. More than we need to convert bad systems, we need to convert ourselves. - Our attitudes and actions, however small we may think they are, do make a difference!