Shafts of Justice

Fellow citizens: I would like to address the question Who is our fellow citizen? Citizenship should bond us in a deep way. But how can you bond with a person whose views are distorted? It is impossible; we must all agree on the fundamental principles that form this country. We shall now examine this question and determine who are our fellow citizens and whether they are worthy of our fellowship. The Founding Fathers understood a citizen as more than just an inhabitant of our country, and to act as a fellow citizen to our neighbor is more than just living next-door.

Fellow citizens can offer wisdom with their words and actions that can benefit others–even those with whom they disagree. But first and foremost, one must ask if they are willing to sacrifice for you? If they are truly your fellow citizens, then they will look how to safeguard your rights and freedom. These are the first responsibilities of fellow citizens. If they cannot lay down their own life for a fellow citizen’s life, then how can they expect to lay down their life for their country? If they have a deep, true love for something then they will sacrifice till the end of their days to protect it. The question is: is their country something they’re willing to sacrifice for? Do they value the importance of your freedom, rights, and life? As fellow citizens, they should be looking out for other citizens of this great country to see how they can aid them. Whether it be through protecting their freedom from tyranny, sacrificing their life for them, or forsaking their individual needs to help others with their own. But how can we expect our fellow citizens to lay down their life for us if they cannot show kindness in the small things to their fellow citizens? You can tell that someone is your fellow citizen when they show small kindnesses to you, thus you trust them as a kind, virtuous, hardworking person, so that when the going gets tough, you know that you can depend on them to gladly look after your life and liberty. It is not even their love for their fellow citizens that show that they are our fellow citizens; it is more their love of country. If they call themselves American citizens but they do not revere the Declaration of Independence and honor the Constitution, then they are not worthy to be a citizen. A citizen’s job is to uphold their country, to willingly die for their nation that has granted them liberty and freedom.

 Citizens can show this love by flying the flag, reciting the pledge of allegiance, and singing with pride the national anthem, voting for people of wisdom and integrity. They should know the laws of our country and study the Founder’s wisdom so that they can enlighten others with it. They should be obliged to devote themselves to protecting their fellow citizens and just government. Also, they ought to live in accordance with the Founders’ vision of America. They should seek to uphold morality and religion and be a hard-working people of integrity. And if they are to run for office, it would be ideal for them to be wise in all things. This is the person you trust, this is the person you look up to, this is your fellow citizen.

 A great example of a fellow citizen is Nathan Hale. This courageous man lived in the time of our country’s great Revolutionary War. When George Washington was at a loss as to who to send to the enemy camp to obtain valuable news, the only one who was patriotic and brave enough to volunteer was a young man named Nathan Hale. Knowing the risk, the danger, and the inevitable consequences awaiting him if he were captured, he remembered his love for country and volunteered for the job. Being a school teacher, he was already devoted to teaching fellow Americans the beauty of knowledge and education. He was ready to act and to show bravery and patriotism. We must remember how new America was and what love of country this 21-year-old man had that he would risk his whole life just for the glory of his country. Sure enough, he was caught spying and was sentenced to be hanged. But his last words are the words that should be on all Americans lips when they die a noble death: “My only regret is that I can only give one life for my country.” How many of our fellow citizens have this mentality toward protecting our country and its people? To be a fellow citizen means to let others’ needs come before your own. There are many good people in this world but they are not our fellow citizens, for they do not have this love for America, for the Founders, and the liberty and freedom that this country offers. These are just co-inhabitants of our country. There are many people in America that have these values even, but do not have the love and kindness to treat their fellow citizens as equals. We should remember that while looking out for our fellow citizens, it is important that we do not impose ourselves too much into their lives. We must allow people freedom. We must remember that we can never exercise authority over our fellow citizens; to quote Thomas Jefferson: “An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens…. There has never been a moment of my life in which I should have relinquished for it the enjoyments of my family, my farm, my friends, and books.” With this frame of mind our fellow citizens should aid us. In an earlier article we examined what it means to be a citizen of the United States https://shaftsofjustice.com/2022/01/02/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-citizen-of-the-united-states/. We discussed how one should act according to the Founders’ principles and what it means to be a citizen. But in this article I want to show you who your fellow citizens are: They are those who want to prosper by using the tools that the Founders gave us–that is, morality, virtue, hard work, integrity, wisdom, free election, right to bear arms, and, above all, the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The people who use these tools are your fellow citizens. These are the people whom we honor, these are the people that we die for, these should be the people that we share a country with. There are many people living in America that call themselves citizens, but do not live according to the Founders’ principles of morality, patriotism, wisdom, etc. So we should cultivate these in our hearts, and remember that the people who cultivate these in their hearts are the people that should give a name to this country, represent this country, and run this country. Everyone is capable of becoming a good citizen. There are many things in this world that require talent, physical strength, intellect, etc., but not citizenship. The Founders realized that this gift is open to all. The creators of our country made it such that we are no longer subjugated under a King to grovel for our means. Under a king we were not equals, but as American citizens we are all equals. We should see more people standing up to tyranny as Nathan Hale did. He saw Liberty as a shining beacon in the darkness to illumine all, and he died so that we one day we too could be illumined by the light of Liberty. That is why our fellow citizen is so important. People are not meant to live alone but to be in a society of other humans. But we should live in peace and concord, which is protected by true Justice. This is why our fellow citizens are so crucial to our everyday happiness. That’s why we must all remember that we can strive to be citizens to our neighbors, and that what we do affects our fellow citizens. Citizenship is so important, for it is what our country is made up of, if we want America to remain great, we must have great citizens. We should try to have citizens regain this proper form of citizenship and form a more perfect union as the Constitution states.

 ” WHEREFORE, instead of gazing at each other with suspicious or doubtful curiosity, let each of us hold out to his neighbor the hearty hand of friendship, and unite in drawing a line, which, like an act of oblivion, shall bury in forgetfulness every former dissention. Let the names of Whig and Tory be extinct; and let none other be heard among us, than those of a good citizen; an open and resolute friend; and a virtuous supporter of the RIGHTS of MANKIND, and of the FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMERICA.”

 – Thomas Paine

To be a fellow citizen means not only to be able to accept the results of free election but also to be willing to fight to preserve, protect and defend the regime of free election. A community of citizens is a community of those willing to fight for each other. Someone who will not fight for you, when you are willing to fight for him, cannot be your fellow citizen.

 – Harry V. Jaffa