Thursday, October 13, 2005
Civic Duty
Something I read the other day stated that the hyper-rich in our country have lost their sense of civil duty. While I agree, I would say that all socio-economic levels in America have seen a decline in a sense of civic pride. The decision to enter military service is sometimes linked to patriotism, but more often than not, young men and women are looking for a way to support their families and get an education. Only 30% of Americans voted in the last Presidential election, and voting is the most important civic duty next to protest, which is rarely seen and seldom heard. Getting people to perform acts of community service is like pulling teeth, unless they're trying to beef up their college transcript or get in good with the Pastor. Most parents won't even volunteer their time at their child's school unless they're coaching some sport. Americans seem to feel so entitled to what our society has given them that they forget to give something back to society. Everyone has something to offer, even if it is only time.
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6 comments:
Not just the hyper-rich, everybody. Want to know the easiest form of civic duty?
Taxes.
Our public infrastructure is crumbling, our education system is crumbling, and we have a record level deficit that shows no signs that its growth will slow. Yet still eveyone says, "oh no, no taxes, that'd be bad". We're like a bunch of spoiled teenagers, and one of these days we're gonna wake up in a pool of our own vomit, and realize how badly we've fucked ourselves up. I just hope we're not in jail when we do.
by the by, I'll reciprocate that link.
Yup. I agree. I used to do a LOT of civic duty (willingly) but have no time for it anymore. However, I know plenty of people that plunk their happy *sses in front of that TV every night instead of doing something. I would go stir crazy. If everyone would just pledge a small amount of time a week, America would be a better place.
One answer is a lack of patriotism. Another is the lack of community. I'll address the first one only (time constraints).
America's the greatest nation on Earth. Have I been to all of them? No, just a lot of them and know at least one person from over a hundred. The stats speak for themselves though. Everyone wants to be here. There's no great migration to places like, for instance, England (except from India and Pakistan and that's only because England sucks less), yet I know a lot of English here trying to be citizens.
But because of the recent trend of fatalistic cynicism, less people are getting involved. People think they can't make a difference. As someone said "Can, or cannot do, either way you'll be right."
I hate cynicism. It's the enemy of everything that is good. I see it as very pervasive and it accomplishes absolutely nothing.
Americans are becoming more and more cynical every year. More and more people are thinking they can't make a difference, so why bother. Why bother voting too? I hear this all time and wish we'd have anarchy for a week so I could just beat their asses. I'm so tired of that attitude.
On the plus side though, I think that trend will start changing. It's our job, yours and mine, to make sure people who are discontented do something about it. At the very minimum, vote. But that's at the very minimum.
Whoops, didn't mean to enter.
Civic duty and patriotism go hand and hand. If you love your car, you'd fix it when it breaks, right? You'll add oil every 3000-5000 miles. You'll change the oil filter at least every 10k miles.
Same thing with a country. If you really like your country, you won't let it degenerate. You'll change the parts that are going bad. That's patriotism. That's civic duty.
Gabriel,
To assert your opinion, especially when you're worried that the direction of the government will be detrimental to the country, is important. Without dissent, we wouldn't have our own country, slavery would be legal, and women wouldn't be able to vote.
Exmi,
Wow, we really agree on something! I think that one of the ways we can orming community organizations change the direction of this country is by reminding people of the various ways they can do their civic duty. Forming and leading community service groups is soemthing I encourage my students to do, and I think many of them have seen some change in their immediate environment.
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