In parts two and three of the Fundamentals of Self-Governance series, I reasoned that both limited government and virtue are prerequisites of self-governance (an oppressive government would stamp out a people’s ability to govern themselves no matter how virtuous they happened to be, and an immoral people would waste their “freedom” no matter how limited their government was).
Yes, limited government and virtue must go hand in hand, but there is yet another component that is fundamental to the fabric of self-government: a certain sense of civic duty.
People often reduce civic duty to refer narrowly to civic engagement or one’s right to vote. These are certainly important aspects of civic duty. However, we need to broaden our definition of the term.
Perhaps the best explanation of civic duty comes from the mouth of President John F. Kennedy who charged his fellow Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”
I don’t mean to take away from staying engaged on the local level and voting not just in national elections but in state ones as well. These are incalculably important first steps that many of us fail to take.
But what if something more was required of us? Would we go above and beyond the call of duty?
Our Founders pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor because their country needed it. Since then, countless American heroes have laid down their lives, again, because their country needed that sacrifice.
What does our country need of us?
When giving speeches, Rick Santorum often reminds his American audiences of Luke 12:48: “To whom much is given, much is expected,” the former U.S. senator quoted at the 2022 Reclaiming Liberty Summit. “There is no generation in the history of the world that has been given more than ours. . . . We have money, we have food, we have technology, we have every creature comfort. . . . We have been given the most, which means we have the highest burden to deliver.”
Our burden, our civic duty to this nation, may require sacrifice. But if we are to maintain or, as Doctor Franklin would say, “keep” our Republic, that sacrifice is imperative.
What we need is a national sense of identity that spurs us to take action. Whether we vote or call our state legislators or run for office or even take a bullet in the line of duty, we should do it all because we love America.
We should do it all with a sense that America is worth it.
If we lose that sense, we will fail to take the steps necessary to save our self-government, and we will fail miserably.
As you may recall, I warned in part one of this series that the hard work of saving self-governance would require “sweat, discipline, and responsibility.” It is civic duty that will give us the oomph to make it happen.
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The Fundamentals of Self-Governance pt. 4 - Civic Duty
Published in Blog on October 20, 2022 by Jakob Fay
