One aspect of citizenship that is largely ignored is the responsibility we all have to understand what our government does. We rarely pay attention to the diverse civic programs that are either funded or managed by government agencies until we use them. The Social Security Administration is just a big, expensive bureaucracy until it comes time to fill out a disability application or collect social security. And yet we as citizens are the custodians of our government; the more we understand the more able we are to play that role well.
The whole concept of a democracy places a burden upon the citizenry to remain well informed. By casting votes for representatives and initiatives that we favor, we not only help to frame actual policy, but we instruct the general mandate that each elected official takes into office. Our ability to vote well depends upon how informed we are, and thus those who influence information can unduly influence elections.
It is now technically possible to give each citizen a roadmap that situates him or her within the context of government programs. Each program is published and in action, so the data is there. It should be possible to enter some personal information and get a full description of the benefits we are receiving or are eligible for. That would help us to understand how we fit into these programs, rather than the programs being distant, impersonal things.
And although it's sad that this is necessary, every citizen should be required to take periodic classes that help us to understand the evolution of statutes and the bureaucracy. Things are always changing, and just as professionals benefit from continuing education so would members of a society. More importantly, those classes would foster communication between the government and the people.
Misunderstanding opens the door to misinformation, which empowers manipulation. For example, the recent House budget reduces a food benefit that provides money to poor families for food. That benefit behaves like charity at first, but as soon as the money is spent at a store it turns into real money, which flows into the economy, supporting business and creating jobs. Without understanding the whole context of the program, some farmers might support abolishing it without realizing that they benefit from it as well.
Too often we fail to grasp the context of social programs, looking instead only at how expensive they are or at the people who appear to benefit from them. Understanding that context is beneficial in a number of ways. It allows citizens to see the necessity for some social programs that they might otherwise not support , and it helps supporters of those social programs to see how essential it is to keep them honest.
When we think about protecting a good program, we usually think of protecting it from those who oppose it. But in reality the greatest threat to most social programs comes not from their opponents but from their supporters. They have to be protected from the bureaucracy that grows inside them. They have to be protected from their own leadership. Keeping them on mission and economically feasible is a constant battle that we have to wage so that those good programs will be around to benefit our children.
Being a good citizen is not a right or a luxury; it's a job that each of us must strive to do well. If we don't think about the various roles of the Social Security Administration until we have to fill out a disability application, then we're failing to maintain the kind of familiarity with our government that we need to have to be good citizens.
The whole concept of a democracy places a burden upon the citizenry to remain well informed. By casting votes for representatives and initiatives that we favor, we not only help to frame actual policy, but we instruct the general mandate that each elected official takes into office. Our ability to vote well depends upon how informed we are, and thus those who influence information can unduly influence elections.
It is now technically possible to give each citizen a roadmap that situates him or her within the context of government programs. Each program is published and in action, so the data is there. It should be possible to enter some personal information and get a full description of the benefits we are receiving or are eligible for. That would help us to understand how we fit into these programs, rather than the programs being distant, impersonal things.
And although it's sad that this is necessary, every citizen should be required to take periodic classes that help us to understand the evolution of statutes and the bureaucracy. Things are always changing, and just as professionals benefit from continuing education so would members of a society. More importantly, those classes would foster communication between the government and the people.
Misunderstanding opens the door to misinformation, which empowers manipulation. For example, the recent House budget reduces a food benefit that provides money to poor families for food. That benefit behaves like charity at first, but as soon as the money is spent at a store it turns into real money, which flows into the economy, supporting business and creating jobs. Without understanding the whole context of the program, some farmers might support abolishing it without realizing that they benefit from it as well.
Too often we fail to grasp the context of social programs, looking instead only at how expensive they are or at the people who appear to benefit from them. Understanding that context is beneficial in a number of ways. It allows citizens to see the necessity for some social programs that they might otherwise not support , and it helps supporters of those social programs to see how essential it is to keep them honest.
When we think about protecting a good program, we usually think of protecting it from those who oppose it. But in reality the greatest threat to most social programs comes not from their opponents but from their supporters. They have to be protected from the bureaucracy that grows inside them. They have to be protected from their own leadership. Keeping them on mission and economically feasible is a constant battle that we have to wage so that those good programs will be around to benefit our children.
Being a good citizen is not a right or a luxury; it's a job that each of us must strive to do well. If we don't think about the various roles of the Social Security Administration until we have to fill out a disability application, then we're failing to maintain the kind of familiarity with our government that we need to have to be good citizens.
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