The Good Citizen
To unknown readers, I am prompted with all sincerity to open this forum in order to discuss and agree a modern conceptual bedrock for standards of humanity that I perceive to have become lost. I speak as a British citizen.
A particular purpose here is to identify and disprove the value of as many of the conflicting forces as possible that undermine society, at home and abroad, and to nurture mutual respect amongst all citizens in a way that appears to have been abandoned too often.
My primary question centres on what it takes to be a good citizen in our plural society. I choose my words as carefully as possible to avoid polarising any individuals, always to encourage focus on the greater good. We should all be able to agree a code for good citizenship. In which case, am I contributing as much as possible to society? And if I am, who else is not pulling their weight?
The fundamental principle for me is that there must be certain standards which all good citizens wish to accept and share. And these start with recognising that change has to be measured lest the inherited greater good is jeopardised.
A central part of being a good citizen is understanding that many people are more or less fortunate than oneself. So good citizenship principles will have to allow for differing personal circumstances.
A particular challenge is accommodating immigration, welcoming immigrants whilst protecting established communities.
Another challenge is for politicians in particular to avoid proposing and making idealistic changes for personal gain. That may be an impossible aspiration but is an important aim here.
My possibly naive hope here is to build an apolitical body of opinion that offers our leaders encouragement towards balanced altruism with pursuit of pragmatic rather than ideal objectives normally. And especially, not bankrupting our country (however that is measured).
My intention looking ahead is to write about a range of topics to establish a direction. Mostly I anticipate this will be at the individual level.
Now to see if this flies or is still born. I realise this is like an atom in the universe but society is made up of such atoms.
