What does it mean to be an “Ethical Democratic Citizen?”
What does is mean to be an Ethical Democratic Citizen? I guess that’s the real question in life isn’t it? If you don’t care maybe you should, and after reading this essay maybe you will get some kind of idea in your head and your own opinion on what it means to be an Ethical Democratic Citizen. But before we can understand this question don’t we have to understand each individual part first?
So here’s a hypothetical. You’re driving down the road in the middle of the night and you come up to a red stop light. You look all ways and there is nobody coming for miles, so you go. A few minutes down the road you start thinking, “Was what I just did right or wrong?” Well folks, that’s ethics. What’s morally right and wrong. Are serial killers right or wrong? Is the war in
"Democracy is moral before it is political." – Louis Brandeis. Democratic or Democracy. I bet the first thing that popped into your head was the political party right? Well yes, but that’s not all there is to it. Now in the thoughts of Aristotle, to be democratic or a democracy would be a ruling with the mindset that it should make the public happy, or be in the public’s best interest. Wouldn’t this also mean that being democratic citizen would be one who would be usually “seeking the good life for all?”
And Finally, Citizen. “A native or naturalized member of a state or nation who owes allegiance to its government and is entitled to its protection.” For the most part I feel that the dictionary definition sum being a citizen up. But, there are a couple of things I would like to clear up. What do they mean by “owes allegiance to its government”? Because to me it sounds as if they are saying to be a citizen you have to serve the government in some way. But what kind of ways? Not all of us are going to fight over seas and not all of us work for the government. Another part of this definition I would like to revise is, “A native or naturalized member”. Well in the
Now let’s put those three things together. Ethical Democratic Citizen. To me this can only be an opinion, because everybody has their own right and wrongs, at least small things, not something like murder of course. I believe that an Ethical Democratic Citizen is somebody who is always trying to do the “right” thing. Someone who always trying to make everything fair and is generous to other people in need. I also believe that it is somebody who is active in doing this, not just when they feel like it but even when they DON’T feel like it. Being an Ethical Democratic Citizen to me would really be someone’s idea of the “Quintessential American”, but this isn’t always a good thing. I feel that if you are always trying to be an “Ethical Democratic Citizen” then you wouldn’t have much of a personality.
