5.++Our+Individual+Views+on+Good+Citizenship

​ Kurt Buchholz

I believe there are many qualities a good citizen must possess. First they need to be active and engaged in the political process. I'm not saying everyone has to go out and campaign for their favorite candidates, but they should actively seek information on the positions these people hold. Getting information from independent and unbiased sources in order to form your own opinions is important. Someone who votes party line without actually knowing what that vote is endorsing is not a good citizen. A good citizen also realizes that they are not the only one in this country, and therefore makes an effort through their actions and decisions to help those around them. Do not be afraid to challenge those in power, if we stop doing this then our Republic could cease to be. Finally I believe that courage is the most important aspect of good citizenship. There are many ways to show courage, whether it is serving in the military to protect our freedoms or speaking out against injustice and fighting for those who need help. Be firm in your convictions, and speak your mind even if what you say may be unpopular. We have many freedoms on this country, and good citizens use them.

Alyssa Chamberlain Good citizens are a crucial part of our society. I think there are many characteristics that together make up these good citizens. Honesty, Responsibility, Respect. These are the basic characteristics of a good citizen. Many people possess these characteristics, but to be a good citizen they must also take action and be involved in society. A couple actions that come to mind when I think of a good citizen include taking full advantage of your rights, participating in elections (**voting**), keeping your community clean and following the laws made by our government. If no one did any of these things we would most likely no longer have a democratic government. The people would become subjects rather than citizens. A good citizen keeps the government in check, and that is what I plan to do as a citizen of this country.

Ben Cmelak: We as Americans citizens are of a unique breed. The majority of us believe in individual freedom and the right of a person to do as they wish. However, this freedom comes at the price of careful scrutiny of our governments actions and of ourselves. Our government has an obligation through our constitution to guarantee us with certain freedoms and attempt to promote a prosperous domestic environment, but the citizens of America also have obligation to the government and ourselves. We are required to search within ourselves to see what we can contribute to the betterment of our nation as a whole. This contribution takes many different forms and range from deep political involvement to simple volunteer work. Such services offered by citizens to citizens throughout our nations history have helped it to survive and flourish into its modern status.

I see many citizens of today not seeking to involve themselves within society for it's benefit but rather strictly for their own. Though such selfishness is a virtue that should be prized due to our individualistic nature in the United States, it also needs to be balanced with the desire to assist our nation in surviving. Our Founding Fathers had such a balance down. They sought and achieved their own personal success within society, but also when the need of our country was great they took up their civic duty to help the nation succeed. If we are to continue to succeed throughout the future we need to regain such a balance of ones pursuits of individual needs and that of our nation. Such a balance needs to come from within every citizens as he/she realize their worth to the nation as a whole and the worth of the nation to themselves. If this balance is attempted to be forced upon a public, who is still naturally to self-centered, our nation will explode with controversy. The government and politicians in charge need to let such change come naturally as it has in our nations past and will again.

Whenever our nation has been in trouble the citizens have eventually rallied together for the common welfare and have succeed amazingly. When a problem confronts us we all know something needs to be done, but due to the marvels of our free society we often debate for sometime over the appropriate action to take. We all need to seek to contribute to such debates in which ever way we choose to ensure that the eventual consensus belief is really that of the majority. I believe that eventually more and more Americans well come to identify with the need to once again come out of our pure individualistic nature and assist our nation through yet another problematic time period. When many individualistic people collectively compete for the benefit of our nation innovative solutions are presented. We have and will succeed through this troubling time due to the resolve involved citizens who seek to live their lives free, but also assist their fellow Americans.

Sue Cha What does citizen means to me and what it means to be a good one? I believe that a good citixen must obey and follow the laws of the land to the best of their ability. After be coming a U.S. citixen, I was able to do more things. Citizens will need to do their best for the envirment. Voting would be a big part because there are people out there that do not vote but then complain about how their lives are going. We as the people voted for our leader and we should be happy and support our leader. There should be no one opossing the leader. Being a good citizen does not mean only floowing hte law, but it also can mean taking care of the enviroment. No throwing trash around and no getting the enviroment dirty. We all as citizens show tyr our best to be the best we can as a fellow citizen of whichever conutry we live in.

Michael Bugalski How to measure a good citizen is complicated to me because there are so many outside factors. For example, if a person is an illegal immigrant in our nation, but they work hard, contribute to society, and care about their neighbors. Then they are being better citizens than someone who has spent their whole lives here and still does not know essential things about the government. Citizenship to me is a perpetual process that a person should be involved in. Citizenship is also flexible; there is no correct answer that cures everything. Going back to the illegal immigrant, he/she cannot vote so they cannot participate in that part of our nation. However, they can still volunteer in their community and add value in that way. (It is important to note that I do not condone illegal immigration however it serves as a valuable example here.)

There are important ideals that encompass all citizens. A few are, a citizen must value other people, subconsciously we will always put ourselves first which is ok to a certain extent but, we must realize that others are important as well. Also, citizens cannot fall victim to sloth because, "The day when the world stops caring is the day I no longer want to live in it." (Edgar Allen Poe) Finally, citizens must recognize that citizenship is a process which means that no one person is the best or worst citizen but, we should always strive towards better citizenship. In short, being a good citizen is a beautiful thing but, a person must choose to be that good citizen.