Becoming Learned

Why are things they way they are? Surely there must be options or there certainly were options at one point in time, right?

These are questions I deal with daily. Right now it is the concept of Civic Virtue.

"The Politics of Aristotle viewed citizenship as consisting, not of political rights, but rather of political duties. Citizens were expected to put their private lives and interests aside and serve the state in accordance with duties defined by law."

Becomes

"It is not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

"Civic virtue has historically been taught as a matter of chief concern in nations under republican forms of government, and societies with cities. When final decisions on public matters are made by a monarch, it is the monarch's virtues which influence those decisions. When a broader class of people become the decision makers, it is then their virtues which characterize the types of decisions made. This form of decision making is considered superior in determining what best protects the interests of the majority."

We live in a Republic, whether we like it or not. The US form of Republic means Representative Democracy, Electoral Ballots? As to Direct Democracy.

Because the US is not a monarchy but does have a broad class of people and therefore that broad class of people determine the civic virtues the US has, this is where the Christian Concern comes into play. It also shows how powerful the notion of being a Christian vs not being Muslim, Atheist, etc is. It takes ages to explain this to people or for them to admit it. There are some that admit to this knowing but I believe it is intrinsic within American Ideology.

This paragraph Civic Virtue During the Renaissance I think is very important. The notion of Education is present and the idea that my husband and I talk about concerning the temperament of citizens with an city. Having to use public transportation, accepting this law or that, going to the grocery store with people who are not like yourself, etc.

"An anecdote first published in 1906 has Benjamin Franklin answer a woman who asked him, "Well, Doctor, what have we got — a Republic or a Monarchy?" He responded: "A Republic, if you can keep it." [1] The current use for this quotation is to bolster with Franklin's authority the opinion that republics require the cultivation of specific political beliefs, interests, and habits among their citizens, and that if those habits are not cultivated, they are in danger of falling back into some sort of authoritarian rule, such as a monarchy."

You must be cultivated. Like a plot of land or vegetable. Do you understand this? This is something that I wrestle with along with the notion of Individualism. I generally think it is obnoxious for anyone to think they are an individual.

"In a monarchy, people might be restrained by force to submit their own interests to their government's. In a republic, by contrast, people must be persuaded to submit their own interests to the government, and this voluntary submission constituted the eighteenth century's notion of civic virtue. In the absence of such persuasion, the authority of the government would collapse, and tyranny or anarchy were imminent."

I believe that I have come to the conclusion that I am currently incivility; Latin incivilis, meaning "not of a citizen".