Evaluating Citizenship

There are many, many  aspects of being a good citizen, and it is elusive to what it means to be a good citizen. Theodore Roosevelt said being a good citizen means that you are “willing to pull [your] own weight”. Vague as this statement may seem, this can be related to people of all ages because it addresses the teenager to focus and succeed in her education as well as the adult to be hardworking and successful in his career. The fact is you don’t have to be a generally a good person to be a good citizen. I believe that there are two different components. Citizenship means to uphold certain responsibilities that a member of society you do for the sake of creating a better community and future. It entails doing charity work or getting it involved in community issues. On the other hand, it also means to be involved in politics and be knowledgeable about the national and domestic issues. In a passive method, this can mean to vote or to obey the laws and file your taxes, but in an active method it can mean to get involved in political parties, run for office, or protest.

After interviewing and talking to people in Morocco, I began to notice that there are two very different distinctions of citizenship. There are people who focus on charity work and community involvement whether it be through religious or non-religious organizations, pertaining to more on a local level. Then there are others who are more politically involved who are concerned about the issues not pertaining to just them but to the nation as a whole. What is interesting to see is there are people who focus on one aspect more than the other. For example, my oldest host sister, and others that I have talked to, do not care about the politics and see no real point of getting involved. They believe that the political system is corrupt and people primary goal is money before anything else. Because of this, they do not get involved in any means. Then you have those who are very politically involved, but do nothing to get involved in the issues of their community. They care about the domestic and foreign issues, but don’t think about the need and concerns of their community.

Here is a link to one of the organizations that my host family is a part of called Maroc Generations https://www.facebook.com/MarocGenerations 

My host mother is someone who I have met who exemplifies both aspects of community involvement and political activism. She is always trying to find ways to help her community or get more involved in charity work. From small things like feeding the homeless people who sleep outside the mosque on her street, to giving money or bread to almost every homeless person she walks by, or to getting involved in organizations that help the women at the old age home, she is consistently seeking ways to help. As a woman, she feels that it is highly important to be politically active. She meets with her friends to discuss issues in politics and votes during every possible local and national election. She believes that women should get more involved and encourages her own friends to. All around, she believes, and I certainly believe, that she is an active citizen. As a mother who cares about her kids, as a teacher who is concerned about the future of her students, and as a citizen who is worried about both the local and national community. She certainly exemplifies the notion of being a good citizen and someone that Roosevelt would say is “willing to pull [her] own weight”.

To increase one’s citizenship I truly believe one has to uphold both the local community responsibilities as well as be politically involved and active. It is through these two ways that I believe make someone an active citizen. Meeting people like my host mother makes me rethink even my own citizenship. Now at the end of my trip in Morocco and the end of Professor Lo’s class I have begun to really evaluate what I have learned about citizenship. I realize that being an active citizen doesn’t mean following criteria that are set in stone, but in way consistently asking the question ” in what ways can I improve the life around me and understand the issues” or in Roosevelt’s terms “in what ways can I pull my own weight”.