Active citizenship - what is it?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

We all live in a dynamic, constantly evolving world and have to keep up with its rapid movement forward. What seemed to our parents, grandfathers and great-grandfathers to be an unshakable truth, we, the younger generation, can now question, comprehend in a new way and experience in a slightly different way. Of course, we are not talking about the overthrow of traditional moral principles and principles of normative behavior, but no one will deny the fact that the patriarchal structure of society is slowly but surely losing ground, and punishing a woman for going out without a headdress is not at all accepted. At least in most countries.

The inexorable passage of time requires a modern person to be materially, physically and morally stable, because without it the cycle of changes, stress and troubles will simply knock you off your feet and carry you with the flow in a direction that can hardly be called attractive.

Internal fortitude is determined by a number of factors, from the ability to forgive, ending with such a concept as citizenship.

Difficulty understanding

Of course, everyone has their own idea of this component of human consciousness - for someone it seems to be something akin tonationalism, but for some it remains a special inner core that helps fight everyday troubles. Nevertheless, after analyzing certain literature, having studied some historical facts, we can highlight the features of this definition.

Not a word about violence

First of all, citizenship in itself has nothing to do with cruelty and violence, contrary to popular belief. Many, in response to this statement, will begin to pour examples of revolutions and wars, of which there are by no means many in the history of mankind, and they will not be entirely right.

The thing is that citizenship is certain internal beliefs, aimed more at self-determination than at planting certain ideals. Simply put, it is self-awareness of oneself as a person, the ability to have one's own opinion regarding the world around in general and one's country in particular.

Relationships with the country

Oddly enough, for many it will be a revelation that being a patriot of one's Motherland and having a certain civil position are related, but not identical things. The first is love for one's country, with all its shortcomings and virtues. This is absolute unity with the cultural and historical heritage, the readiness to show the most attractive sides of their homeland to any visitor at any time, planting love for their country in their hearts.

Citizenship is a somewhat different phenomenon. This should rather be understood as a kind of internal autonomy, the ability to objectively assess the situation in the country. This isa more detached view of the world, based on personal convictions, analyzes and erudition.

Revolutions and normative behavior

As mentioned earlier, a person's civic position in itself has nothing to do with coup d'état, brawls or mass pickets. In fact, this is just a sober look at things, the ability to evaluate and form one's own opinion regarding a particular situation.

Civic position is not only a certain point of view on the economic, cultural or political situation within the state - to a greater extent it is the most ordinary, accessible to everyone and everyone human decency. It starts with a piece of paper thrown into the trash, or a grandmother transferred across the road, and ends with paying taxes and, for example, preferring a domestic product to an imported one.

Man and power

Nevertheless, if we discard sentimentality and some romance, the understanding that citizenship is also an attitude towards the government of the country will be more obvious. As mentioned earlier, this definition should be understood, first of all, one's own opinion. Personal ideas about a particular aspect that a person can easily argue and demonstrate their validity if necessary.

Active citizenship can sometimes lead to the most unpredictable consequences, examples of which abound in world history, but its presence is mandatory for every person,who considers himself a complete person.

Activity

So, we have come to the conclusion that citizenship is, first of all, everyone's business. Of course, there is absolutely always an opportunity for disputes, but most often they either do not arise or lead to a kind of common denominator. Nevertheless, there are situations in which active citizenship requires certain actions, since there are no other options.

An example is the confrontation between the northern and southern parts of the United States in the 60s of the nineteenth century. The stumbling block then was the slave system, which the planters continued to adhere to while the northern states abandoned such exploitation of people. The dissent of the population with the current situation eventually led to a civil war in which more Americans died than in any other war involving the United States.

Another example of an active citizenship that found support among the masses can be called the famous Cuban Revolution, during which the population managed to overthrow the police dictatorship and elect a leader respected by the people.

Where to get something that is not originally there

None of us is born with firm ideas about the structure of the country and the world, but with experience comes an understanding of certain values, an awareness of the need for certain actions. The formation of a civic position occurs at different levels. It starts with family and ends with your own.searching for information of interest.

The more knowledge a person has, the wider his horizons, the easier it will be for him to form his own point of view on certain aspects of life.

Of course, one cannot deny the fact that the formation of an active citizenship of a person is directly related to the political regime operating in the country. Everyone who has found the USSR is familiar with the traditional gratitude for a happy childhood to Comrade Stalin, and for any resident of New Hampshire, the phrase “Live free or die” will be an unshakable truth.

Other ways to influence personality

Despite the fact that citizenship is a personal choice of each person, in modern reality it is quite difficult to make it. And although in most countries the era of harsh dictatorship has long passed, the imposition of someone else's opinion has retained its relevance to this day. The reason for this lies in the continuous information noise that surrounds a person - the media, Internet resources that promote a certain opinion, literature and television - all this puts pressure on a person, thereby forming his point of view.

The time of the cruel planting of a certain vision is long gone - it has been replaced by an era of false ideals and seductive pictures of a brighter future, which cover up pressing problems. Strength was replaced by cunning, and the truth was replaced by a convenient version. That is why every person who considers himselfreal personality, sooner or later you have to look beyond the edge of the information fence and look for facts to form yourself.