What do you think the most important rights, duties, and responsibilities of a citizen are??

Question

Just so u know, a right is privilege the government gives to its citizens, while a duty is sometimes you MUST do as a citizen, and a responsibility is something u SHOULD do as a citizen.

1. What do you believe your most important right a citizen is?

Vote

Say what you want

Practice your own religion

Have a fair trial

Be protected by the country

Other


2. What are your most important duties as a citizen?


Obey the law

Defend nation

Serve on jury or as a witness in court

Pay taxes

Attend school

Other


3. What are your most important responsibilities as a citizen?


Contribute to the common good

Vote

Hold a job or government office

Elect campaigns

Influence government

Serve community

Others

OKok.. u guys don't need to jump down my throat for saying a right is a privilege.. it's just 4 a project k?? and out of the 10 people who have so far answered it, only like 2 people responded to my question with answers I that are actually useful to me..... thanx a LOT people.. ughh

Answer 1

In a constitutional republic like the USA, government does not (cannot) grant rights. Rights are specifically protected from government interference/regulation and the government is given the privilege of having certain authority that is granted to it by the citizens.

The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution and the powers of State governments are set out in their respective constitutions.

"The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." - Ninth Amendment to the US Constitution

"The wording of the operative clause also indicates that the right to keep and bear arms was not created by government, but rather preserved by it. . . . Hence, the Amendment acknowledges "the right . . . to keep and bear Arms," a right that pre-existed the Constitution like "the freedom of speech." Because the right to arms existed prior to the formation of the new government, see Robertson v. Baldwin, 165 U.S. 275,280 (1897)(describing the origin of the Bill of Rights in English law), the Second Amendment only guarantees that the right "shall not be infringed." Thomas Cooley*, in his influential treatise, observed that the Second Amendment had its origins in the struggle with the Stuart monarchs in late-seventeeth-century England. See THOMAS M. COOLEY, THE GENERAL PRINCLES OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 270-72 (Rothman & Co. 1981) (1880)...."

While the previous quote pertains to the second amendment, there are countless other court cites that indicate it is a well established maxim that rights do not come from government.

"...at the Revolution, the sovereignty devolved on the people; and they are truly the sovereigns of the country, but they are sovereigns without subjects.. with none to govern but themselves; the citizens of America are equal as fellow citizens, and as joint tenants in the sovereignty." CHISHOLM v. GEORGIA (US) 2 Dall 419, 454, 1 L Ed 440, 455 @DALL 1793 pp. 471-472.

"Sovereignty itself is, of course, not subject to the law, for it is the author and source of law, but in our system, while sovereign powers are delegated to the agencies of government, sovereignty itself remains with the people, by whom and for whom all government exists and acts." - "For, the very idea that one man may be compelled to hold his life, or the means of living, or any material right essential to the enjoyment of life, at the mere will of another, seems to be intolerable in any country where freedom prevails, as being the essence of slavery itself." Yick Wo v. Hopkins, Sheriff, 118 U.S. 356.

"But our rulers can have no authority over such natural rights, only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts as are injurious to others." - Thomas Jefferson in "Notes on Virginia"

"Every man who loves peace, every man who loves his country, every man who loves liberty, ought to have it ever before his eyes, that he may cherish in his heart a due attachment to the Union of America, and be able to set a due value on the means of preserving it." - James Madison, The Federalist Papers # 41

"...a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government..." Thomas Jefferson, in his 1801 inaugural address

"But you must remember, my fellowcitizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government." Andrew Jackson, Farewell Address, March 4, 1837

“… there is no Constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen. It is monstrous if the state fails to protect its residents against such predators but it does not violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or, we suppose, any other provision of the Constitution. The Constitution is a charter of negative liberties: it tells the state to let the people alone; it does not require the federal government or the state to provide services, even so elementary a service as maintaining law and order.” [Bowers v. DeVito, U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 686F.2d 616 (1982). See also Reiff v. City of Philadelphia, 471 F.Supp. 1262 (E.D.Pa. 1979)]

Answer 2

I would add the right to keep and bear arms onto the most important rights list you've got. In the words of George Washington: "A free people ought to be armed." (Jan 14 1790, Boston Independent Chronicle.)

Richard Henry Lee, Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, Initiator of the Declaration of Independence, and member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights: "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."

Answer 3

Our rights consist of, in a nutshell, the right to be left alone. That's what being "free" means. Restrict one, the rest evaporate.

That means we have no duties or responsibilities at all, beyond leaving other people alone.