Tag: duty

I have been absent from here for a long time — a story for the future. I don’t know how many people will see this, much less read it. In a not-so-secret pocket of my heart, I hope at least one thoughtful reader will share it with at least one other thoughtful reader and so on and on and on . . .

Don’t we all? Dream on . . .

 — You, a fellow blogger

I never took a class specifically about Civics. No, not Honda Civics. The study of the rights and duties — the privileges and obligations —  of citizens. I’m not sure I could even define “civics” before I graduated from high school.

Since then, I’ve had many civic experiences. Like, voting — both a right and a duty. Every election is a chance for us (the citizens) to wield our personal, non-violent power to form a majority opinion about how we will be governed. That’s because our government’s authority and legitimacy require the “consent of the governed” That’s us. If we don’t consent, the government can’t last. This also depends on each of us committing to live under the Rule of Law.

The Law of the Land in our land, the USofA, is our Founders’ painstakingly-crafted Constitution, complete with the expandable Bill of Rights. The Constitution’s Prelude defines our Government’s reason for being with a list of our expectations. The Constitution’s body delineates the unique structure of our Government with its three independent branches. It also sets the Government’s boundaries within a system of checks and balances so that none of the three branches can take control of the other two. You know, so we don’t end up with an anarchy or an oligarchy or a monarch or a dictator or a tyrant.

Why would they worry about that?

 — Those optimists who are also naïve

Three reasons:

Continue reading “For You, the Thoughtful Reader”