A Good Citizen
For one to be a good citizen, there are certain expectations a person must follow to achieve this goal. While many people have their own ideas of what makes a good citizen, there is little consensus to exactly what this would be. Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in their books The Leviathan and The Social Contract, create a system of political governing where the citizen plays a certain role and has certain expectations to carry out this role for the governmental system to work properly. In this paper, I will discuss what each of the men believed to be the role of the average citizen to support the state. Both men have quite different opinions in regards to the roles of citizens. While both are good theories, and create a strong case for government, neither is applicable in the real world because what is demanded of the citizen in these systems of government is based on certain assumptions. The assumptions made by these men, both good and bad, are not evident in the every day person. Thomas Hobbes believes, that all men are egocentric, by nature. This is to say that men spend their whole lives looking for what makes the happiest as an individual. Even when men socialize, it is not for the benefit of building strong ties between
A good citizen is a blessing to society. He feels that he has certain responsibilities towards the state, just as the state has certain responsibilities towards him. Thus
he is aware of both his privileges and his duties. His foremost duty is his loyalty to the country of his birth. It should be dearer to him than all his worldly possessions, and he should always be ready to sacrifice everything for its sake. He should have firm and deep faith in the welfare of his motherland. He has to obey law and order. He has to respect the constitution of his country and to obey its laws. He must be vigilant against the enemies of the country. He must not do something which may help the anti-nationalists or the enemies of...