Mia Len
What is Citizenship?
Football – America’s greatest pastime. Key word: pastime. Citizenship (the position or status of being a citizen of a particular country), on the other hand, is far from a pastime. In fact, it is the opposite and more. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief, citizenship is not like football, baseball, basketball, etc. in terms of being a spectator sport. Citizenship, or democracy, is”…not a passive activity that just happens while you go about your life”, according to an article in The Highlander.
What Can I Do?
Let’s be clear here – when Robert Putnam, author of Bowling Alone, wrote that “Citizenship is not a spectator sport”, he did not mean that tweeting complaints about politics would exclude one from being considered a “spectator” of politics. Instead, Putnam was getting at the idea that quality time is what engages people into the world of citizenship. This quality time can be anything from talking to someone from a different political party or canvcassing in your local community. The bottom line is that civic engagement is what will ultimately spark a change in effective citizenship.
Rise to the Occassion
No one is saying that it is an easy task to step out of one’s comfort zone and become truly civically engaged. For many, this task can be daunting. But just remember this quote by the famous Albert Einstein, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. We must change how we civically engage ourselves in order to spark much needed change in our society. It is easy to sit and watch everything unfold because keeping your mouth shut will ensure you don’t mess up or say anything “stupid” or “wrong”, right? This, right here, is the exact problem at hand. We need to find ways to engage ourselves in one way or another and do our research. An article by Citizens’ Climate Lobby says, “Find a way to talk. Find a way to listen. Raise your hand without apology. Speak from your heart. Do it for your children. Do it for your children’s children…Do it for yourself”.
What Better Time to Start than Now?
So, we as citizens have to find our own way to civically engage ourselves. If we don’t do this, we will never see change. Complaining or making occasional pessimistic comments about the state of our society will never ignite that change we all crave. We need to ask ourselves, how badly do we want this change? If the answer is what I think it is, then go out, get engaged, talk to your neighbor, and don’t forget, “speak from your heart”.