Camden Central High School
Camden, Tennessee
Teacher: Mrs. Wanda Allen
My Responsibility As An American Citizen
By Dakotah Davis
Grade 12
Governments of all kinds have existed throughout history. All have different beliefs and standards in the way they are ran. From dictatorships to democracy, people have lived and died under different kinds of leadership and freedoms. Currently though, the most successful nation to date would have to be the Roman Empire. Lasting over a thousand years and having had control of most of the European world. Yet, like all great things, it came to an end. The fall of the Roman Empire had several causes that were originated from the decisions of the government. Currently The United States of America has to be one the wealthiest countries, yet we are in a quite extensive debt. In fact our country started out in debt and has, for the majority of years, remained that way. Still though we are a powerful and influential country acting almost like a kind of world police; promoting peace and justice throughout the world.
The one thing that keeps a government like this on its feet, is the citizen. Really it is the citizens of a country that can break it down, or cause it prosper. A good citizen should show respect for his or her country, and not try the exploit it. Being a citizen gives one the obligation to work for oneself in having a steady life and career that also helps out the federal government. This is known as enlightened self-interest. Yet, in our world there are so many that hurt the thing that provides us our freedoms. Truly though, most people don’t even realize that they have the opportunity to live out their passions in life. In some countries, the majority of the population lives in poverty. They are born in poverty; they dream of getting a good career and a nice secure life. That hardly happens though, and they end up growing old and dieing in the same situation they were born. People ought to take advantage of being a American citizen.
Imagine though, that there was no unemployment, and everyone had a job they loved because they worked hard for it. The governments power would definitely be shown through its citizens taxes. Taxes are a very necessary part of anything of government. Though people are always complaining of taxes, even when they’re not high. They just need to realize that taxes are a necessary thing in every government to run properly. The taxes of course come from the citizens.
A good citizen has to possess a few qualities in order to benefit their government. One quality, which is quite often overlooked, is the health of a citizen. Only about 20% of our population has a steady, healthy workout schedule. These people are less likely to obtain any kind of disease or illness, and live longer lives as a result of their health. They don’t have to worry about sapping the money most citizens get for health care insurance. That way it isn’t abused and can really be used on the people who really need it. People that are born with diseases like MS (Multiple Sclerosis), or people who need AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) treatment medication. Another good quality for a citizen should be the drive to obtain the career of their choice. Keeping people on track of their dream job would deter them from things such as drug addiction, which can lead to poverty and unemployment. Illegal drugs really hurt our population. One of the worst would have to be crank. This is extremely additive and causes severe permanent damage to the human body.
Promoting these qualities would definitely serve the common good better. This happens mainly by the government giving help to the people who actually need it. I think right now the United States federal government has a great balance in our civil liberties. The constitution has greatly improved the relationship and interaction of American citizens with each other. The only thing missing in our country is more educated citizens that understand the importance of the power of citizenship, and trust our government more readily. So all in all it is not that hard to do the right thing. Yet, everyone has the right to do whatever they wish to do. Whether this hurts or helps the government is the choice of the citizen. People should be taught at an earlier age about the our own country, and the importance of them one day being on their own to cut their own path in this life. Understanding is the key to all aspects and duties of a citizen.
Welfare State on the Street Where You Live
Q1- Why does Machan use "steal" in his statement: "Private property solves this problem, but was abandoned a long time ago when taxes reached the point where we can steal our way to being provided with all sorts of things we desire, never mind thinking about paying for them or long-range budgeting."?
A1- What Machan uses steal to give a strong objective feeling toward the behavior of citizens living and working in our government, whether it be local, state, or federal. Like he says, instead of paying for things or using long-term budgeting to get the things we want, we “steal” in the way of using government spending.
Q2- Machan said: "For that which is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it." Give two examples of this from your personal experience.
A2- A prime example of this would be medical care provided free by the state. It is common to the vast majority, yet is abused so often. I know that the medical care I had paid a huge part of medications and other things like reading glasses. Yet, since it has been taken advantage of and not used properly, the amount of people who might really need it are not going to receive it. The second example would be welfare. Though I my family has never had to resort to drawing on welfare, I have a few friends that have families living on welfare. It is extremely abused. Instead of getting a job and using the welfare for a brief period, most people will have whole generations of families living on welfare. This is hurting the government, because these people are acting as dead weight holding down the potential of the economy.
Q3- Do you agree with Machan that "...everybody is more inclined to neglect the duty which he expects another to fulfill; as in families many attendants are often less useful than a few."? Give an objective example of this.
A3- Yes I agree totally. The reason behind this is simply human laziness. If one were to have someone or something else to do his or her job for them then of course they are going to neglect the responsibility for it.
Are We Going the Way of Rome? (Lawrence Reed)
Q4- State Kershner's First Law. Do you agree or disagree and why?
A4- “When a self-governing people confer upon their government the power to take from some and give to others, the process will not stop until the last bone of the last taxpayer is picked bare.” I disagree with Kershner’s First Law. Simply because as long as people are raised to believe that a education is the basis of their future, then people will know the consequences of this action. Also, as long as there are a large majority of taxpayers vs. the people who rely on the government, then there shouldn’t be a large problem.
Q5- What industry was the first to be taken over by government in both ancient Rome and the USA?
A5- Transportation-shipping industry was the first to be taken over.
Q6- Is cheapened money the cause or the outcome of inflation? Explain.
A6- It is definitely the outcome of inflation. You must first look at the cause of cheapened money itself, which is inflation. It would be quite odd to obtain cheapened money in a stable economy.
Q7- How did the Edict of 301 affect Rome's economy?
A7- It was kind of a forced stabilization of the prices and wages in all aspects of the economy. Any infractions were punishable by death. It caused a lot of chaos and bloodshed, yet the end result contributed to Rome going from Welfarism to a Despotism.
Liberty and Individual Responsibility (Dwight R. Lee)
Q8- Lee claims that individuals could be "entirely independent of others" except for what? Explain.
A8- Individuals could be dependent of each other if we lived in a world without scarcity. Well if we lived in a world where there was enough for every man and women to have his or her fill, then there would be no need for competition or control over anything.
Q9- Describe the dilemma concerning rules as discussed by Lee.
A9- Rules are necessary to have order in a society. Yet, not enough or too many can throw the government into chaos. So rules can heal or hurt a nation; the trick is finding the right balance.
Q10- Why is the concept of private property crucial to freedom?
A10- The concept of private property is the right to obtain possessions on ones own accord, which is a necessary freedom that promotes a abundance of growth in the economy. If there wasn’t the right of private property, then a government would have to distribute land and other things evenly.
Lawrence Reed's testimony before the U.S. Senate Budget Committee.
Q11- Argue both pro and con that in his testimony Lawrence Reed was advocating compassion and aid for the poor.
A11- Well in the beginning aid for the poor was used to help those citizens get back on their feet to become more profitable. This backfired, and now we have broken families and generations of lazy people that live on welfare. This causes people to become idle and not spark that competitive nature that the country thrives on.
Q12- "If people are free, they will not earn equal incomes; conversely, show me a people who have equal incomes and I will show you a people who are not free." Explain in your own words Mr. Reed's meaning.
A12- This is simply the difference between a democracy and a communist government. If everyone has equal incomes, then there has to be force by the government applied to maintain that equality.
This forced equality severely limit’s the freedoms of the citizens. The people who are free will earn different incomes due to the fact that they control their own destiny. Thus people will be making higher wages then other people depending on their economical decisions.