20
ISSUES: Citizenship
Chapter 2: Active citizenship
Being a responsible citizen
E
veryone has a duty to be
a responsible citizen. But
unfortunately, not everyone
takes this responsibility seriously.
There are plenty of people the world
over who do not know what being a
responsible citizen means and these
are the people who destroy our
communities. For being a responsible
citizen results in a happy and
harmonious community – if everyone
else does the same.
Being a responsible citizen covers
many areas – some of them legal
obligations, some social and some
moral. So of course, because not all
of them are legal obligations, being
a responsible citizen is not as easy
as staying within the law. In fact, to
be a truly responsible citizen, we
sometimes must go out of our way
to do things which help our society –
give a little of our time and effort for
the greater good.
Legal obligations
No one can be a responsible citizen
without staying within the law. It is
as simple as that. Criminals, by their
very nature, are not behaving as
responsible citizens. Laws exist to
protect citizens, the communities
they live in and their property. So
to be a responsible citizen, we must
respect these laws and abide by
them. Harming others or others’
property does not equate to being a
good citizen.
Social obligations
Social obligations really form the
bulk of being a responsible citizen
and what this means. To be a
responsible citizen, we should help
our communities and those who
live in them. So, being a responsible
citizen can encompass things such as
volunteering.
Volunteering, the third sector, is
worth billions to our economy and
even more to those who are helped
by volunteering. But in the interests
of being a responsible citizen, this
could include smaller things too.
So, volunteering for the Samaritans
is a noble job to do and one which
is certainly needed. But the elderly
lady who lives alone may need
someone to do her shopping and this
demonstrates responsible citizenship
just as much as volunteering in an
organisation.
Other social obligations of being a
good citizen can include things such
as helping local businesses. This may
means buying the meat for Sunday
dinner from a local butcher rather than
a supermarket, or using a small local
bookstore rather than the Internet.
Being a responsible citizen also means
being involved in our communities. This
may be demonstrated by being on the
school parent teacher association or
the village hall committee. It may be as
simple as attending events organised by
these people.
Moral obligations
Moral obligations of being a responsible
citizen are harder to pin down because
different people have different moral
codes. But one place we can all start is in
helping the environment.
The environmental problems society is
facing are of our own making and we
all have a moral obligation to do what
we can to change this. So by living an
environmentally friendly life as possible,
we can help fulfil our moral obligations
of being a responsible citizen. Taking
recyclables to be recycled and using
a compost bin are two easy ways and
there are many more.
And they can be linked in with other
obligations. For example, if you have a
compost bin but no plants to use the
compost on, you could give it to people
who have plants but live alone, making
them less likely to generate a huge
amount of compost themselves.
Being a responsible citizen should
not be a hard thing but it should be
something which occasionally requires
a little extra effort. This is because being
a responsible citizen is, at its core, about
being a less selfish person, and putting
the needs of society before your own
needs. It does not means you have to
sacrifice all your free time to volunteer
or help others, but it does means taking
a little time to think about the impact of
your actions on others.
26 October 2016
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