Cosmopolitanism is basically a moral stance requiring every human to be concerned with the wellbeing of every other human being on earth. As such, it tends to privilege cosmopolitan--urban and culturally elite--populations while suppressing more "place-bound" groups. Cosmopolitan education constitutes a form of abjection whereby non-cosmopolitan children are seen as a threat to global progress. In music education in many places, classical cosmopolitanism is manifest through a near-exclusive focus on classical music, the proliferation of multicultural music curricula, and a somewhat myopic promotion of digital technologies. In all three instances, the aim of music education includes the mission to "free" children from local perspectives and ways of life. The result, however, is a form of cultural colonization of local peoples and places. A better alternative is to fully recognize the importance of and to celebrate local musical practices and avoid placing higher priority on global values.