An Account of Responsible Citizenship
“We now stand at a
unique crossroads in the West. We may no longer have the ability to summon the
conviction, courage, nor the conscience to fight for survival… We must return to responsible citizenship.”
Read this new paper from John Anderson on the serious need for moral and cultural renewal in the West and how a return to responsible citizenship can provide the meaning and hope that we each need to renew our societies.
Summary of Research Paper
The West is at a Crossroads
Our world cries out for responsible citizens. In our families, communities, and countries, we face serious challenges. These challenges not only threaten our economic prosperity, but also the health of our countrymen, the natural environment of our beautiful planet, and the sustainability of our social and political way of life.
We stand at a unique crossroads in the West. If we are to summon the conviction and courage we need for the future, we must return to responsible citizenship.
But there are forces which pose critical challenges. These forces include: the disenfranchisement of the young leading to an abdication of civic behaviour, the vast growth in bureaucracy stretching the reach of the state further into our personal lives, a constant cycle of crises that expands the state’s power and limits individual liberty, and the collapse of virtue through internal decay, corruption, and nihilism.
A Return to Responsible Citizenship
Nothing this side of eternity lasts forever. And yet that is no reason not to cherish, protect, and improve something. If it were, we would not care about anything in this life, not even ourselves. This is why Edmund Burke taught us to think of our social institutions not so much as mere things to be used for our benefit—like cloth or coffee—but as precious heirlooms carefully preserved and lovingly passed down to us.
If we are to resurrect responsible citizenship in the West, we must look to its foundations and the fact that every human being is created equal in worth and dignity. Responsible citizenship rests on the conviction that humans have an inalienable dignity that no state or bureaucracy dare seek to extinguish through the deprivation of freedom and truth. The foundation of our duties to others, even our duties to ourselves, is this inalienable dignity.
There are many ways we can take responsibility for our lives and participate in civic life. Sharpening your mind through extensive reading, having the courage to think for yourself, practicing self-discipline in all areas of your life, becoming active in the political process, raising a family, loving what is worthy of your attention and turning away from that which is not, and seeking life’s meaning are all ways to be responsible citizens.
