Through-out our lives as Americans we encounter a myriad of different situations in which we could help out someone improve their lives or even just give them the courage to live for another day. This act of random kindness has been called hundreds of different names but one people seem to forget is civic duty. Civic duty “is the responsibility of a citizen” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/civic+duty) to help and better the lives of himself, family members and other citizens, or as John D. Rockefeller Jr. once said “We must instill a sense of duty in our children"; "every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/civic+duty). For Americans civic duty is fundamental to our way of life. Our country was founded on the idea of helping one other and obeying the law. Every day Americans forget or try to avoid their duty to U.S. simply by not voting or voting unwisely. “Being an American citizen carries with it a number of duties and responsibilities, chief of which is active participation in the democratic process.”(Duties of American Citizenship: Responsibilities Include Voting, Jury Duty, and Paying Taxes http://www.suite101.com/content/duties-of-american-citizenship-a162858#ixzz171WiIV1R). In society today our voter turnouts are quite low and rarely above 60% of the total eligible voting population which was “231,229,580” “in 2008 with a voter turnout of 56.8%” (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html). The low turnout for voting is proof that in America the sense of duty is diminishing from our way of life and that Americans no longer see the need to make our country better. Civic duty was extremely important to our forefathers and they believed that everyone can and should help their country. When James Wilson said “Let no one, therefore harbour, for a moment, the mean idea, that he is and can be of no value to his country” (http://www.nccs.net/articles/ril67.html) he created the base foundations for our nation’s citizens in hope that everyone would participate in the democratic process and never shirk off our duty to our country. That is the core of civic duty. Our duty to our nation, it’s people and it’s freedom for everyone.
Bibliography:
Copyright © 2010 Farlex, Inc. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/civic+duty
Oct 26, 2009 Michael Streich : Duties of American Citizenship: Responsibilities Include Voting, Jury Duty, and Paying Taxes http://www.suite101.com/content/duties-of-american-citizenship-a162858#ixzz171WiIV1R
Our Ageless Constitution, W. David Stedman & La Vaughn G. Lewis, Editors (Asheboro, NC, W. David Stedman Associates, 1987) Part VII: ISBN 0-937047-01-5 http://www.nccs.net/articles/ril67.html
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Also from the above site ^ that one an awsome qoute from Thomas Jefferson "Cherish, therefore, the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, judges and governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature." (Letter to Edward Carrington January 16, 1787)
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