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Today is garbage monster day. Everyone in my neighborhood puts their garbage cans out in the alley for the garbage monsters to access. (Well, actually just about everyone but anal me leaves their trash can in the alley all freakin’ week long, but that’s another story.) Back to this story, I was pedaling my bike up the alley on the way to the garage this morning and there was this little scrap of paper. It looked too innocent to be the normal crap that escapes the trash bin to flutter into the weeds with all the other escaped bits and particles of people’s lives.
Sucker that I am, I stopped to investigate. Flipping it over, it appeared to be an old fashioned recipe card, torn neatly in half, with the most lovely blue script. 
Was this providential? Was it a message to me from my neighbors? What does it mean that I found this little gem behind my house?
How about it? Do you consider an “active citizen” to be the same as a “good citizen?” Why or why not? I find it a fascinating question.
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As a postscript, one of my dear readers lead me to this article in the Des Moines Register. The community of Fairfield, Iowa defines and demonstrates a refreshing new way of thinking about and running their local government.
Rangewriter 
very interesting question. I think an active citizen is better than a good citizen, as a good citizen can rest on their laurels and do nothing, thinking they are a good citizen, whereas the active citizen is doing something. Putting their money where their mouth is so to speak. Happy pondering.
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Thanks for joining the conversation Derek. This seems like one of those chicken/egg questions. Is it possible to be a good citizen by sitting on one’s laurels? I sort of think a good citizen would have to be an active citizen…sort of one and the same. But then there’s the example btg5885 raised about the uber active citizen that just becomes a thorn in the sides of all his neighbors because he can’t sort the trivial from the important issues. Definitely a thought provoking issue.
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If you are an ‘active” citizen in a good way then of course you are also a good citizen. But I reckon a good citizen must not necessarily be an active citizen. Occasionally I might pick up a bit of rubbish that people throw around on the council reserve. But I do not go out to do this on a regular basis. When I do not have a suitable bag with me to put the rubbish in, I just overlook it. One of my neighbours I often see collecting bits and pieces of rubbish. I think we are both ‘good’ citizens in a way, but the neighbour is a more ‘active’ citizen, right? 🙂
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It becomes almost a chicken and egg question, doesn’t it. We seem to chase our tails trying to parse the difference between active and good. Some citizens may be very active, but in a negative way…like graffiti sprayers or like the clown btg5885 describes in his comment.
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Perhaps that is your neighbor’s way of giving you a provocative idea for your blog. I suppose one would have to think about this and define what ‘active’ meant.
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It certainly did stimulate a provocative topic! It almost seems that an active citizen would also be a good citizen…but I think the words are not quite interchangeable.
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Hey ! That’s not garbage. That should go in recycling or compost. lol
I guess it depends on what they mean by “active” …
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You’re right Sybil. It is recycling material…our recycling trucks go down the alley just like the garbage trucks do…so I assume this little stray fluttered out in the process. Unless it fell out of some student’s book bag as they cycled off to school.
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I think the latter is a subset of the former, but the former includes people who are less than pure in their activism. Our neighborhood has a well meaning watch dog, but his zeal more often than not rubs others the wrong way. He makes large issues out of small ones. He is active, and sometimes helpful to a greater good, but most in our neighborhood would call him a derogatory name for an orifice we all have. Then there are those who zealously fight for causes against what many have accepted as norms…..but that is a much larger post.
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What a great find! Very provocative question. I’m not entirely sure what the original intention was but it certainly makes me think. I, too, immediately interpreted the word “active” in terms of activism which begged the question in my mind: Is a good citizen someone who’s working to nourish and strengthen their community or someone who’s just trying to change it? Activism can so easily wind up coupled with judgement/blame and a spirit of coercion, attitudes which tend to divide and weaken communal relations. (i.e. btg’s watch dog mentioned above and America in general these days.) I suppose part of good citizenship has to involve working to maintain neighborly relations with everyone in the community, including those one disagrees with, in order to preserve a spirit of working together and taking care of one another. Perhaps an active + (respectful and contributing) citizen equals a good citizen? (Gandhi’s example springs to mind of course. He never lost sight of the humanity of the English he was trying to depose. In fact, he was willing to sacrifice the entire effort at times in order to protect the lives and dignity of everyone involved.)
I feel like this comes back around to your earlier tax question as well. I personally would be willing to contribute a substantial amount for the greater good of everyone. In my vision of an ideal society everyone has enough before anyone starts amassing extra. It just seems like the decent human thing to me.
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Indeed, maintaining peaceful relations is important. By working on local issues, people should be able to realize how very difficult it is to meet everyone’s needs, how difficult it is to reach consensus and to have to settle for less than what one had hoped for. But for those who never leave the chair, comfortably perched before the evening news, these lessons in listening and compromise are never learned.
It seems to me that we have become an all or nothing nation. Too many people assume the attitude of “my way or the highway.” And in turn, that me first attitude contributes to the pettiness and greed that allows us to turn a blind eye to the needs of the less fortunate among us.
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Well, it all depends on one’s definition of “active”, doesn’t it? Some folks may think “active” requires getting involved through hands-on work (be it volunteer or something else), organizing communal events, and being a visible presence in the community. Others may think “active” consists of paying taxes faithfully, voting in every election, observing and respecting social rules and boundaries, and being a good neighbor. Of course other mitigating factors must be considered before a person can be classified as a “good citizen”, but I think both groups mentioned above are equally valid and important, regardless if someone classifies them as active or not.
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I really believe that it is incumbent upon citizens to at least vote. It is tragic that so few Americans take on this responsibility. But as you point out, there are also a variety of other ways to contribute to one’s community. The best starting point is grass roots. In one’s own neighborhood one can at least be rewarded with the satisfaction of seeing results from one’s efforts.
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I always vote out of guilt but I am not sure I agree that it’s incumbent upon citizens to vote. I can think of several good reasons not to. Firstly, what if you don’t think you are competent to make an informed decision, you’ve tried, you’ve looked into the candidates, you’ve tried to get past the spin, you’ve researched the issues, but you just don’t think you are a good judge of the best one? Secondly what if you are dissatisfied with all the options but lack the funds to run yourself? Thirdly what if you are simply so busy doing things that are important that you know you cannot do the decision justice, you might given the time be able to make the choice, but you don’t have time to research all the minutiae of the different candidates, positions, political alliances etc?
None of the times I’ve ever voted have really made any difference but I think I made bad choices, basically every time so far. There is not one memory of voting where I think in retrospect I made the right decision. Had my vote had an effect on the outcome I think in all cases it would have been a net negative. Which sort of makes me feel uncomfortable about my capacity to vote…
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I can easily relate to your confusion and dismay about voting. I, too, have cast my share of votes that I would later like to rescind. I try really hard to read as much as I can from different positions about the issues and candidates. My limited intelligence often fails to sort out all the BS and drama of the political process. But in the spirit of a democracy of the people, for the people, I know it is my duty to do the best I can, We do have this privilege of voting, and I fear that if we don’t act upon it, it may very possibly be ripped from our hands and I haven’t seen any dictatorships that appeal to me.
One way to become engaged with government is to do so at the grassroots level. If I might recommend, try to attend a city council meeting,or follow the candidates and issues in your precinct, city, county, or school board or neighborhood. I know the idea of adding one more task to your busy schedule may seem like adding the log that breaks the wagon’s springs, but I passionately believe that we are blessed to have the privilege of engagement with our system. And…the squeaky wheels are the ones that get the attention. If you don’t like the decisions that are being made in your community, it’s probably because not enough like-minded people are speaking up for their needs.
And if we all roll over and say “I don’t have the time, energy…” we certainly won’t have any more time or energy when our choices are no longer our own to make.
Sorry this turned into a rant.I just don’t want to think of the loss of one more engaged voter. 😉 I appreciate you taking the time to share your feelings and contributing to the dialogue.
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I think active could also imply making the effort to stay informed. In that sense, a person sitting on the couch reading the newspaper or discussing issues with someone else could be considered an active citizen. A good citizen would be many things, including active.
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As always, Charles, you sort out the issues with simplicity. I agree that an active citizen takes the time/energy to learn and discuss the issues….but then I would hope that would result in action of some sort, like voting or contacting elected officials. May the good citizen is the active citizen who takes it all to the next level by engaging in some small way with the system.
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I don’t think an active citizen is the same as a good citizen. But a good citizen would be active, too. The reason? First of all active doesn’t necessarily mean for the better to the society – and even if one is active in a positive sense, one could still be less than a good citizen in other respects, like not voting, fighting with neighbours, trashing streets, even be a criminal. I completely disagree with 89derek. A good citizen does not sit down and rest on his or her laurels. Then you are no longer a good citizen.
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Well said. The more I think about it, the more I see a good citizen as someone who is active, but the reverse is not always true.
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