The only title in our democracy superior to that of President is the title of citizen."
- Louis D. Brandeis

What is a citizen? If you were born in a particular country, more than likely you are a citizen. But in practice a citizen is defined to be one of whom both the parents are citizens; other countries insist on going further back; say to two or three or more ancestors.

Sometimes people who are not born in a particular country want to become citizens. They do this by applying to the government to make them a citizen. This is called naturalization. We may say, first, that a citizen is not a citizen because he lives in a certain place, for a resident alien is a citizen who has few legal rights. Resident aliens in many places do not possess even such rights completely, for they are obliged to have a patron, so that they do but imperfectly participate in citizenship, and we call them residents only in a qualified sense. But the citizen whom we are seeking to define is a citizen in the strictest sense, against whom no such exception can be taken.

When you are a citizen you have rights, although, every country does not have the same rights. In the United States, rights are dictated by the Bill of Rights/Contitution, and the government must recognize them. The Bill of Rights lists the freedoms given to citizens, and these rights are inalienable. Many people in the world do not have freedoms like the United States does. Some people, these days, feel that our rights are privelages handed down by the government, but they are wrong. Our rights are mandatory and must be recognized by the government. The Bill of Rights of the Constitution was established for the Common Good of all of its' citizens.

"What do I owe to my times, to my country, to my neighbors, to my friends? Such are the questions which a virtuous man ought often to ask himself."
- Johann Kaspar Lavater

Establishing and maintaining the common good requires the cooperative efforts of some, often of many, people. All persons, for example, enjoy the benefits of clean air or an unpolluted environment, or as they say, the sun shines on all equally. It might seem that since all citizens benefit from the common good, we would all willingly respond to urgings that we each cooperate to establish and maintain the common good. But there are a number of obstacles that hinder us, as a society, from successfully doing so. What will demonstrate the importance that public advocacy for the common good has in developing civic virtue and core democratic values? We must certainly first obtain some general notion of the virtue of the citizens, and since we are such a pluralistic society, who gets to define the common good? If the state cannot be entirely composed of good men, and yet each citizen is expected to do his own business well, and must therefore have virtue, still inasmuch as all the citizens cannot be alike, the virtue of the citizen and of the good man cannot coincide.

“ The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
— George Bernard Shaw .

According to Aristotle, the end goal of life is happiness, which is found in the end goal of reason. The end goal is not found except within the confines of a state. Man needs the pleasures and interactions that citizens within a polis enjoy in order to achieve this happiness. As a result, non-citizens are unable to achieve true happiness, or rationality, and are thus less complete, less human than citizens. But, are they really less than human for being non-citizens of a society?

Citizenship consists in the service of the country."
- Jawaharlal Nehru

An effective citizen is someone who takes time away from their “ pursuit of happiness” to do things that sustain our freedoms and keep the country safe. A good citizen, also, believes the country is worth keeping strong, understands the importance of citizen involvement in a democracy, and appreciates the impact of a single act and of millions of single acts. Good citizenship relates to the type of ones actions such as actions that remind us of our heritage or involve us in the democratic process. As Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, said “It’s not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”

Do you do your share to make your school, your community, and the world a better place? Do you take responsibility for what goes on around you, participate in community service, help take care of the environment, be a good neighbor, treat other people with respect and dignity, follow the rules of your family, your school, and your society? Are you politically knowledgeable and active? What does it mean to you to be a citizen?

Parents, participate in a community service project with your children. When you do things that demonstrate good citizenship, be sure to point it out to your child. Your child will learn a lot from watching what you do.

"The will of the entire people is the true basis of republican government, and a free expression . . . by the public vote of all citizens, without distinctions of race, color, occupation, or sex, is the only means by which that will can be ascertained."
- Victoria Claflin Woodhull

*SwordOfScotland Club Founder