Importance of being a Good Citizen

The history of the United States of America is long and filled with men, women and children that helped shape the culture of this inspiring country today. Of these historic figures, many of them had qualities that made them speak out against inequality, spread awareness for an issue or even become martyrs for a noble cause or needed change. These qualities can still be found in men and women today, and these important attributes are the very things that make you a good citizen. These attributes encompass other important things that you need to be a good citizen. There is an endless list of things that you could do to be a good citizen, but some of the most important are, supporting the government, be active and participate in your community, being a good neighbor, striving to keep the community clean, having a positive attitude, and being tolerant and inclusive.

The government is absolutely fundamental for this country. The government creates laws to keep the peace and insure order, the government imposes taxes to help pay for needed things to help keep the economy thriving such as, healthcare, infrastructure, and education. You can help support the government by simple things like voting. Voting is a fundamental process that helps keep the government working. It ensures that whoever is picked for a position that you vote for such as mayor or president has the support of the people and in not chosen based on things like nepotism or status. Paying your taxes is also crucial to keep the government functional. Taxes help the government pay for the amazing blessing of a free education for elementary, junior, and high school. They can also pay for healthcare for everyday people, including people who cannot pay for it themselves. The infrastructure is an important part of our lives helping us transport goods, travel and communicate. This is also a critical thing that is payed for by taxes.

To become or continue to be a good citizen you should also support the values that this government was based on, such as free speech, the right to bear arms, and the right against unreasonable searches and seizures as well as many others as found in the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was made to prevent the government taking too much power and limiting the rights of the people. We should always support these amendments that safeguard individual liberty. The Bill of Rights helps us keep our liberty and ensures that the government does not turn into an anarchy and keeps us a democratic republic, where the majority of the power is held by the people. We can help to safeguard that power by supporting the Bill of Rights and the constitution as a whole.

One of the things that we as people, as a community, as a country, as a world, and as humans we need to work on is kindness, positivity, inclusion and tolerance. These attributes are important to being a good citizen and improving the community as a whole. According to Plaza College, positivity can improve your outlook on life, improve your desire to do well, it can help you have a more successful life, and can even improve your physical health! Positivity helps leads you to positive opportunities. Kindness goes hand in hand with positivity. Kindness betters your neighborhood or community, by spreading goodwill. Inclusion and tolerance are also related, the more tolerant you are the more likely you are to be inclusive. Inclusiveness and tolerance are based around one of the most important values that our whole country was based on; that is equality. In fact, in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence (National Archives) it states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” These values are the very essence of a good citizen, and are, in my opinion the most important values you can have. One of the essential things you should have in your life is a support system. Support systems can support you through hard things, can help you if you need something done, and can just be there for you as a friend. To be a good citizen you should be part of the community support system.

One thing that this generation struggles with today is respect. Respect is a key value if you want to be a good citizen. According to USA today, “fewer believe students respect teachers and parents today.” (Toppo) They deserve so much respect, they are the reason we are all here today! They fought and died in wars to preserve the freedom of our, and future generations. My great grandmother was born during the great depression and grew up in a world where food was never guaranteed. She lived through the civil rights movement, the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin wall, and the end of the Soviet Reign. Most of their lives were infinitely more challenging than ours and they deserve the respect they have earned. The youth today need to respect them and the challenges they faced and despite all their challenges they brought us into the world. My parents are amazing. They are really hard workers, and despite how busy they are they still brought me and my ten siblings into the world. I know that I respect my parents and my really hard working teachers that sacrifice so much for us and still sometimes don’t get the respect they deserve. Respect is one of the most important things to have if you want to be a good citizen.

Citizenship is a really important role, and being a good citizen requires you to have certain values, fill certain roles, practice inclusion, kindness, tolerance, respect, etc. and support the government and its decisions and the morals and values that it was based on. To be a good citizen you need to practice these things, remembering them and weighing them in when you make decisions. In the Declaration of Independence (National Archives), it says that we hold these truths to be self-evident. These things are self-evident, they are obvious and should always be supported. The United States of America is the greatest country in the world and is founded on essential principals that should always be sustained, whether or not you agree with certain things that the government does. I hold all these truths to be self-evident, and so should you.

Cite this page