This is the third in a series of seven articles that explains how to become a patriotically active citizen of the United States.
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization it expects what never was and never will be. – Thomas Jefferson
Step 3: Become generally informed about current events and the major issues facing America, and become well-informed about the issues that affect you the most.
I love the Boy Scouts of America. The scouting program seeks to foster patriotism and a sense of responsibility towards America in many ways. To become an Eagle Scout, a boy must complete a series of required merit badges, one of which is Citizenship in the Nation. The third requirement for this merit badge is as follows:
Watch the national evening news five days in a row OR read the front page of a major daily newspaper five days in a row. Discuss the national issues you learned about with your counselor. Choose one of the issues and explain how it affects you and your family.
Although this requirement is just a bit outdated (who reads newspapers anymore, and what exactly is “the national evening news?”) why would the BSA make this activity a requirement for the merit badge? I believe that it is because one cannot truly be considered a responsible and patriotic citizen if he or she does not take notice of current events, become aware of national issues, and become competent to engage in responsible dialog about those issues.
Becoming Informed about Current Events
This step is much harder than it sounds. It does not mean to simply listen to one news channel or read one website. Those simple days are over. Today there are myriad voices competing for our attention, those voices are often loud, contradictory, and competing with one another for an audience. Figuring out who to listen to and which side to align with is very difficult. But you must make the effort.
However, once you start listening an interesting phenomenon will take place. As you start becoming well informed, you will find news sources and voices that will ring true in your heart. Over time you will develop a strong preference for one news source or the other. You will find yourself aligning with certain news analysts and commentators. You will not always agree with how they present the news or how they feel about a specific topic, but that’s not a bad thing. It means you are thinking independently and doing your own analysis. If you are finding yourself in personal agreement 80-90% of the time, you have found your best sources.
Becoming Enlightened about National Issues
Our great nation faces many, many serious issues. Here is a list of just some of them:
• The proper role of government
• The role of the Constitution in today’s society
• Health care
• Education
• Immigration
• Social Security
• The national debt
• The national deficit
• Terrorism
• Foreign relations
• Freedom of speech
• Freedom of religion
• The right to bear arms
• Race relations
• National sovereignty versus world government
• Crime and punishment
• Capitalism versus socialism
• The impact of drugs on society
• The impact of gambling on society
• Energy
• Abortion
• Taxes
And this list is not even close to being all-inclusive. Are you overwhelmed yet? I am. As a merit badge counselor for the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge, I can attest that passing off requirement three turns into a very long conversation.
Becoming Specialized in Select Issues
This is where the brilliance of Requirement 3 shines most brightly. Notice that it says to “choose one of the issues and explain how it affects you and your family.” This is the key to deciding which issues you should concentrate on. Figure out which of the main issues have the greatest impact on you and your family, and then research that issue to the point where you can speak both confidently and competently.
Becoming an expert is a difficult task. You will need to devote both time and effort into becoming informed. You will probably need to study the law relating to the issue. Fortunately, for all of these issues there are volumes of materials available at the click of a mouse. As you conduct your research, you will form a strong opinion about the issue and you will become competent to argue your position.
Engaging in the Debate
One of my law professors explained the key to winning a debate. He said that an effective advocate will understand both sides of the debate so well that he could argue convincingly for the opposing side. Once you get to the point where you can effectively argue the opposing viewpoint, you’re ready to debate your side of the issue.
Our nation was founded on civil debate. After becoming an expert you need to engage in the national debate through civil dialog. You cannot be a patriotic citizen without speaking out on the issues. If you are overwhelmed about the number of issues facing our country, just imagine how your senator or representative feels when he or she has to cast votes relating to these issues.
This is where We the People fit into the political process. We must make our voices ring loud and clear in the ears of our elected officials so that they have no doubt about how their constituency feels about the key issues. If your elected officials don’t vote on the issues in a way that aligns with your personal feelings, well, you’ll know what to do when we get to Step 7.
". . . whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them right."
-Thomas Jefferson
