Edward Gibbon wrote:
“In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”
Unlike a subject a citizen has freedoms and privileges. A citizen can own land and move about freely. A citizen can vote. There are several different types of citizens. The focus here will be on passive and active citizens.
A passive citizen is the citizen described by Gibbon above. A passive citizen looks for and expects the government to solve all problems. A passive citizen might vote but they probably don’t. Citizenship holds no particular value unless it is to receive a personal benefit at little to no cost.
An active citizen looks forward to voting and believes it is important to be informed. An active citizen believes that there are obligations that accompany citizenship. Active citizens are necessary to a thriving society. Active citizens allow the passive citizens to enjoy the benefits of citizenship without bearing any responsibility. When thinking of citizenship strive to be an active citizen.
“True progress lies in the direction of decentralization, both territorial and functional, in the development of the spirit of local and personal initiative, and of free federation from the simple to the compound, in lieu of the present hierarchy from the centre to the periphery.”
Peter Kropotkin
