What makes you a citizen? Is it more than a birthright? iCitizenForum spoke with educators Terrence Guay, Penn State University; Mike Hartoonian, University of Minnesota; Jim Davis, Social Science Education Consortium; and Ted Green, Webster University, to hear their thoughts on citizenship. Are you a citizen? Find out.
This can be a multiple answer question. First of all I am a “citizen” of the US since I was born in the US and have a US passport. However, many other people were born outside the US, but are citizens of the US either by birth to US parent(s) even living or traveling outside the US at time of birth or by naturalization. So the technical word “citizen” used in this way means the passport the person holds. In my case I have lived outside the US for a longer period of time including over half my life in Japan where I currently live. There are many reasons for keeping my US passport and being a citizen of the US. Also, being a permanent resident in Japan I feel that I am a citizen of Japan by residence. Taking part in some activities in various countries are prohibited by those persons not holding passports for the country of residence. I feel that I am not limited as to what I can do to support my country of actual citizenship and my country of residence as long as I am obeying the laws and regulations of both countries. So, to me a citizen can have various meanings, but usually that of being a resident of or having loyalty to a country.
Interesting comments. You made me think about the meaning of “resident” and “citizen.” Could you conceive of a situation where you might be forced to choose where your loyalty lies in regard to your “citizenship?” And if so, what choice would you make? Thanks for your thoughtful ideas.
Like the speakers in the video, I feel that as people we can be more than just citizens of our city, state and country. Everybody is a citizen of some organization whether it is family, school, business or religion. Being a citizen to me is more than just living; it requires taking part in what you believe in and bettering the organization to which you belong. In my family being a citizen is more than coexisting. We have to help each other with mundane tasks in order to make our household better. However, being a citizen usually comes with a price or initiation process. To be part of a religious group you have to go through a process and proclaim your faith in front of the already existing citizens. The same situation is present when joining a fraternity. In order to be admitted you have to go through a process to pledge your loyalty to the group you wish to be a citizen. I am eventually looking to become a dual citizen of the United Kingdom. Just moving there and being part of their country does not automatically make me a citizen. The process of gaining citizenship is a process that involves living there for several years, taking a test and paperwork. Therefore to become a citizen of an organization the requirements differ per group.
What makes a citizen? A question that many people have been debating more and more for some time now,. What makes a citizen is not that they were born in that country or that they are the most patriotic people around. A citizen, to me, is any person that has lived in the country and has given themselves to that country and have supported that country. A person who has been to school there, worked, paid taxes and cared enough about the community around them and participated in the day to day of that community for however long they have been there.. The thing is, what makes a citizen has nothing to do with where that person was born or how long they have been there. It is about what they have done or contributed while they have been here. Immigrants work and contribute to the economy and they also take jobs that most natural-born Americans looked down upon. They send their children to the same schools and have the same high hopes and dreams for their children as much as the next natural-born American parents. They are socially involved and pay taxes and vote in the presidentatial elections. Most of all, most immigrants, especially the younger ones know nothing else but the United States and have lived their lives accordingly and so who is to say that because they were not initially born in this country that they are not citizens?
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