Election is now coming
and everybody’s eyes are now set on the politicians; whether they did well in
their previous terms or did well as a citizen if they have never been in a
position, and if they will do better if they were elected. Being a politician
is hard in such a way that they are given the responsibility to decide for the
people in national and international issues, it is their job to budget the
government’s money effectively and efficiently for their people’s benefit and
many more. But what made it harder are the expectations that are given to them
by the people and if they are not met, controversies and complaints will arise.
It is correct to evaluate the politicians’ services regularly but as we
evaluate them, is it not necessary for us to evaluate ourselves too? To see if
we are doing what is best for our country and for other people and not being
corrupt and selfish in our own ways as well.
Being a citizen gives us rights that can protect us from
any harm and can give us privileges that should be used to encourage us to be
good citizens and to be used for greediness. Since we are in a democratic
country, the weight of being a good citizen is very heavy because given the freedom;
we are expected to be accountable for our own actions and decisions. Since the demand
for us to be good citizens is high, what can we do and what competencies do we
need to have in order to satisfy this demand?
A good citizen has to have these to live out good
citizenship: love for country, concern for others and productivity as an
individual.
Firstly, as one is a member of a state, his country takes
care of him, shelters him, provides laws for him, and many more. A citizen is
loved by his mother country as a son; and as a son, it is just right to give
love for his mother country in return. In order to express one’s love for his
country, he should be nationalistic at heart. He, as much as possible, should
patronize his own countrymen’s products for this is not only good for a race’s
pride but is also good for the country’s economy. He must minimize his colonial
mentality in as much that he should be proud of himself, his race and his
country. He should not think of other races to be superior to his own race
because this will only increase one’s inferiority complex.
Secondly, one has to love other people as he loves
himself. Not only it is right because it is written in the Bible, it also
eradicates apathy and indifference in people’s hearts. It is our responsibility
as good citizens to be concern for others. We should help other people because
the betterment of everyone’s lives will be reflected in our lives as well --improved
welfare will minimize crimes such as robbery and snatching. In addition to
that, we should also participate in programs that promote advocacies that aim
for anything good for humanity and environment. However, we should be careful
in helping –we should make sure that it will be for a long-term betterment and
not to make them dependent on other people’s help. Instead, what we should do
is to help them to stand and provide for their own.
Thirdly, being a productive professional is neither only
our responsibility to ourselves nor for our family, but also for our country.
Productivity enables us to pay taxes thus, contributing to our country’s
budget. Not only that, being able to earn money also gives us the capability to
help other people. Concisely, having a regular income makes us adept to do the
other requirements of being a good citizen. Not that it is all about the money
because there really are certain things that can be done to make us good
citizens without any expense such as being well mannered and care for
environment, it is just that we are more capable of sharing if we have something
to share to begin with.
Sometimes we think that we are still young enough to be
careless and apathetic. Some may also think that we are too young to help. But
I believe it is only right to say that it is never too late nor too early to be
a good citizen. The fact that we are learning how to become a good citizen is
good citizenship in itself. Aside from that, as a student, we are now skilled
and intelligent enough to do things that are good and beneficial to the society
such as respect, care and desire to help. Being a good citizen can start anytime
as long as one commits himself to be one.
