Guest Op-Ed: What Can You Do To Be A Better Citizen?
What Can You Do to Be a Better Citizen?
You abide by the law, you pay your taxes, and you do your other civic duties towards the nation, but does this automatically make you a good citizen? How about exercising your franchise responsibly? How many times have you done that?
According to statistics from the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, American University, around 63 percent of the American public turned out to cast their votes during the 2008 Presidential elections, the highest in 40 years.
However, there is still a vast majority of people who fail to exercise their franchise for various reasons. Very often, it’s the lack of time or because they have other pressing business that is more important than deciding who governs their country (and so decides their fate) for the next four years. Sometimes the failure to vote is because people are disillusioned with both the contesting parties and are of the opinion that no matter who comes to power, the common people stand to lose by way of higher taxation and lower benefits.
However, this is certainly no reason to avoid casting your vote – as a responsible citizen of this country, you must exercise your franchise if only to show that you care about your nation and your fellow citizens. The policies of each government affect you, directly or indirectly. And if you are to vote for the party that has the best ideas and policies for the nation, you must be aware of all that is going on around you.
For example, how many of us realize the implications of the revolts and uprisings in the Middle East for the common man in the US? They seem to be taking place in a totally different world, but the happenings in other countries do have an effect on our lives – call it the butterfly effect or a domino effect, but since the US is a powerful country, our foreign policies have a significant impact on the way we live and the cost of living.
This is why it’s important to be aware of the policies of each political party and know who to vote for when the time comes. It’s important to be aware of the long and short term effects of each of those policies, and it’s very important to raise awareness about the issues that are important to our country. We can’t ignore the happenings around the world because in today’s globally connected situation, even a minor ripple on the other side of the globe could become a major tsunami in our country.
Getting on with our lives is ok, but it can’t be done at the cost of ignoring our country and all that happens in it. And the easiest way to show you care for your nation is to exercise your franchise and have a say in who governs for the next four years.
This guest post is contributed by Phillip Donavan, who writes on the subject of Online Political Science Degree Programs. Phillip can be reached at his email id: phillip.donavan[@]gmail[.]com
You abide by the law, you pay your taxes, and you do your other civic duties towards the nation, but does this automatically make you a good citizen? How about exercising your franchise responsibly? How many times have you done that?
According to statistics from the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, American University, around 63 percent of the American public turned out to cast their votes during the 2008 Presidential elections, the highest in 40 years.
However, there is still a vast majority of people who fail to exercise their franchise for various reasons. Very often, it’s the lack of time or because they have other pressing business that is more important than deciding who governs their country (and so decides their fate) for the next four years. Sometimes the failure to vote is because people are disillusioned with both the contesting parties and are of the opinion that no matter who comes to power, the common people stand to lose by way of higher taxation and lower benefits.
However, this is certainly no reason to avoid casting your vote – as a responsible citizen of this country, you must exercise your franchise if only to show that you care about your nation and your fellow citizens. The policies of each government affect you, directly or indirectly. And if you are to vote for the party that has the best ideas and policies for the nation, you must be aware of all that is going on around you.
For example, how many of us realize the implications of the revolts and uprisings in the Middle East for the common man in the US? They seem to be taking place in a totally different world, but the happenings in other countries do have an effect on our lives – call it the butterfly effect or a domino effect, but since the US is a powerful country, our foreign policies have a significant impact on the way we live and the cost of living.
This is why it’s important to be aware of the policies of each political party and know who to vote for when the time comes. It’s important to be aware of the long and short term effects of each of those policies, and it’s very important to raise awareness about the issues that are important to our country. We can’t ignore the happenings around the world because in today’s globally connected situation, even a minor ripple on the other side of the globe could become a major tsunami in our country.
Getting on with our lives is ok, but it can’t be done at the cost of ignoring our country and all that happens in it. And the easiest way to show you care for your nation is to exercise your franchise and have a say in who governs for the next four years.
This guest post is contributed by Phillip Donavan, who writes on the subject of Online Political Science Degree Programs. Phillip can be reached at his email id: phillip.donavan[@]gmail[.]com
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posted by KYJurisDoctor at 10:39 PM
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