A Good Citizen is Patriotic.

1. Brush up on your country’s history.
2. Read up on social studies.
3. Obey the rule of law.
4. Pay your taxes.
5. Learn the national anthem.
6. Fly your country’s flag.
7. Don’t litter or engage in acts of vandalism that deface your environment.
8. Travel around your country and talk to your fellow citizens.
9. Cheer for your country’s team in sports events (World Cup, I’m looking at you).

Model the Personal Qualities of Good Citizens.

1. Honesty – tell the truth.
2. Integrity – be morally upright.
3. Responsibility – be accountable for yourself and your actions.
4. Respectfulness – treat others how you want to be treated.
5. Compassion – show fellowship with your compatriots who are down on their luck by volunteering and/or making donations to charities.
6. Kindness – be friendly.
7. Tolerance – be tolerant of other races and religions.
8. Courtesy – be considerate of others.
9. Self-Discipline – have self-control and cultivate the ability to follow through on what you say you’re going to do.
10. Moral Courage – stand up for what you consider to be wrong and defend those who cannot defend themselves.
11. Love of Justice – be fair and ask that others be so as well.

Be a Productive Member of Society.

A good citizen contributes to their nation by being productive. They’re productive employees, business owners, artists, public servants, caregivers, and so on. Good citizens share their skills, talents, and abilities with others. They make a positive contribution to their nation.

Be Active In Your Community.

1. Shop locally.
2. Attend community events – keep your eyes open for events that are happening in your area such as festivals, community theatre, a gallery opening, and so on.
3. Join a local club that’s devoted to an activity that interests you, such as running, cycling, or kayaking.

Keep Yourself Well-Informed.

Read to educate yourself about the important issues facing your nation. In 1761, John Adams implied that one of the reasons to emphasize literacy is that it makes people better citizens. Look at the following quote:

1. Various news sources that cover local, national and global news.
2. Books on important world issues.
3. Biographies of people who have helped shape the world.
4. History books.
5. Political science books such as Rawls’ A Theory of Justice, Plato’s The Republic, and Mill’s On Liberty.

Be Vigilant.

A country depends on a well-informed and civic-minded population to safeguard the people’s individual freedoms and political rights. A good citizen remains vigilant in order to ascertain that the government is doing all of the following:

1. Meeting its obligations to its citizens;
2. Acting appropriately within its sphere and jurisdiction; and
3. Adhering to the limits of state action.

Participate in Your Nation’s Political Life.

If you want to be a good citizen, you should be politically active. There are many ways to this. Here are some ideas:

1. Identify an issue you care about and pursue it.
2. Attend rallies and events.
3. Go to city council meetings.
4. Join a political organization.
5. Volunteer for a political campaign.
6. Vote! Do your part to elect capable, civic-minded leaders.
7. Run for political office.

Be a Mentor.

Today’s kids are tomorrow’s citizens. Help shape the citizens of the future by mentoring kids. Some ideas on ways you can mentor kids are the following:

1. Talk to your own kids about civics and teach them to be good citizens.
2. Join a school-based mentoring program and tutor kids who aren’t doing well academically.
3. Get involved in an organization such as Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Be Well-Rounded.

The third point in this blog post indicates that a good citizen has to be productive. That is, they need to have the knowledge necessary to produce in today’s world — technical skills, legal skills, medical skills, and so on. However, a good citizen should also be well-rounded.

A well-rounded person is better at creative problem solving and innovation than a person who is not well-rounded. In addition, they can make contributions not only to a country’s GDP, but also to the cultural wealth of their nation.

Here are some of the qualities of a well-rounded person:

1. They’re well-read.
2. A well-rounded person is cultured.
3. They’re well-educated.
4. They develop not only their mental faculties, but also their emotional, physical, and spiritual faculties.

Order Your Corner Of The World

Your home is a microcosm of your country. If you want to live in a clean, healthy, prosperous, happy nation, start by creating these circumstances at home.

The Chinese philosopher Confucius once said the following: “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”

Do things like the following:

1. Keep a clean and organized home environment.
2. Eat healthy meals.
3. Keep to a budget and don’t go into debt.
4. Pay your bills on time.
5. Don’t waste water or electricity.
6. Recycle.
7. Create a list of simple rules for your family to follow.
8. Set personal development goals and strive to achieve them.