Responsibility of the Citizen

A citizen should be solely inclined to vote for a particular party or candidate based exclusively on their agreement with the ideals and intentions of said representative. To succumb to any other influence is to degrade the very foundation of democracy and jeopardize its prosperity.

Citizenship is one's membership within a society, thereby granting them rights and privileges as supplied and protected by such. However, these benefits carry responsibilities for the individuals who enjoy them. Therefrom comes the purpose of legislation; to enforce the individual's responsibility towards their fellow citizen.

The foundation of civilization is the citizen's obligation to contribute to the sustainment and improvement of their society. This is most obviously a repayment of a debt to their community for the lifestyle made possible through the efforts, work, and sacrifices made by other and previous members of that society. Less obvious is their philosophical responsibility.

In any form of government, the power lies with the people: authority is the sum of control one person or group has been given by those they preside over. Even dictatorships thrive on the complacency, fear, and apathy of the general populace. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the people to exercise that control not for personal gain but to the benefit of their society as a whole.

Whatever the individual's chosen purpose for existence, it is indisputably the citizen's purpose to serve their society by improving it in whatever method they believe to be most beneficial. Civilization can only exist through this system, whether it be through the willing or forced contribution of its members. No civilization can prosper without a citizenry invested in their communal obligation.

On self-governance, there are several key responsibilities of the citizen: principals, critical thought, and education. These form the philosophical constitution of the individual. Without any one of these, their decision-making process becomes flawed. While principals are subjective, they form the basis for one's opinions and, combined with critical thought and education, create a solid political rationale.

Principals are the not unlike the articles of a legal constitution; general and open to interpretation depending on the topic, however they cannot be violated by supporting laws (opinions). For example, one principal may be one's freedom to do as they wish without harming others. This precludes opinions that encourage the regulation of others' non-disruptive lifestyles.

Critical thought is the logical process by which one analyzes information and their own ideals. It is important to dissect information for accuracy and opinions for logic. This demands a disregard for comfort and simplistic validation in favor of truth, however inconvenient. Without logic, there can be no intellect.

Education is not the indoctrination of a mind into a particular school of thought, but the avergence to ignorance. Curiosity is a natural human instinct, and should be endorsed on all topics of interest and concern. Though research may be difficult and overwhelming, one cannot be expected to make a sound decision on an issue without being well versed in it.