40+FAB Blog

Who is a good citizen?

Sometimes we take so many things for granted that we become ineffective in life. What you eat for one has long term effects on your health. I know you have had those moments when you knew you shouldn’t be eating that meal at 11:30pm, but you shrugged it off and said, it doesn’t matter.

Citizenship is a big area that we sometimes leave to chance. The Greeks had a lot of philosophies about societal development, these are still being used by progressive nations till date.
One such idea was citizenship. They believed that citizenship stemmed from two notions (1) the existence of an organised state with a boundary, history and power to make decisions over its municipality (2) and inhabitants participating in its life as joint proprietors.

This speaks of a country with a government that decides what happens within it, and a people with active interest in their country, taking responsibility for what they want to see in their localities, participating in activities to accomplish it, and appointing officials who will uphold those ideals. 

 

Being a citizen means taking part. This goes beyond partisan politics or taking interest only when it is time to go to the polls. Citizenship is a way of life, a daily contribution to your society. Someone described it as being a part of a family.

So who is a good citizen?

One of the Greek philosophers said, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

Taking active responsibility to see the good of your locality or country, not just for now but for generations to come, that is the model of a good citizen.