A citizen's first duty
[Published in the Congressional Record—Appendix, May 6, 1965, pp. 2235-2236.]
UPHOLD THE LAW—A CITIZEN'S FIRST DUTY
(By William Rossiter)
A good citizen is one who is thoroughly concerned with the welfare of his fellow citizens and the society in which he lives. A good citizen is indispensable to society, because he, with other good citizens, forms a strong foundation on which the prosperity and security of the community depend. It is he who must support the Government by paying taxes and by defending the Nation during a time of crisis, but at all times his duty is extended beyond the basic requirements of citizenry. He has the great responsibility to maintain order within the society, so that the others may enjoy the privileges and benefits of an organized nation. In meeting this responsibility, he is obliged to conform to the legal standards created by his nation to promote social harmony and progress. To be maintained, harmony and progress depend on the maintenance of order. A citizen's first duty is to uphold the law, because obedience to law is necessary to maintain social order.
Ideally, goodness comes from within the individual; order need not be imposed. Society, if it is to exist, however, must have order regardless of the individual’s willingness to conform. The citizen must agreeably comply with the law or be will necessarily be coerced into doing so, in order to preserve the personal security of each member of society. Provided, of course, that the law is founded on sound knowledge of the nature and relationship of man and society, one’s primary duty as a good citizen is to support it wholeheartedly.
Laws which do not contribute to the security and welfare of the individual or to the Nation should be abolished—but only by the socially justified means. In the United States, every citizen has an opportunity to influence the making and the revision of law. The process is indirect but efficient. A letter written by a citizen to a Congressman, for example, is one of the many available, legal methods to influence legislation. Certainly, then, an individual living in the United States should not choose to disobey laws, because he is largely responsible for their existence.
In supporting the Nation, a citizen is supporting, to a great extent, his own well-being. While a citizen obeys the law, the Government can more readily work to see that the citizen is justly protected from crime, that is, the infringement upon his rights to peace and security. A great deal of time and money is being spent by government in the United States to combat crime. Surely if everyone were to uphold the law, valuable time and efforts, expended now by anticrime organizations, could be used to help man and society progress more rapidly in such diverse and unrelated areas as medicine and engineering.
Perhaps because several misdemeanors carry only small penalties, there are those who believe that they are thus less obligated to obey minor regulations. The idea is an erroneous one. Misdemeanors, by definition, are not as offensive to society as are felonies, but they are detrimental to the foundation of society in a dangerously subversive way. In contrast with great crimes, which are immediately sought out and dealt with, misdemeanors can be widespread and are not nearly as apt to be corrected by a force outside the individual. It is thus the responsibility of every person to be his own law enforcer, especially in the case of minor statutes, if the high ethical standards of a society are to be maintained.
A citizen today cannot afford to be indifferent to crime. Our ethical values are precious and should not be sacrificed, at the expense of all, because some choose to be lax in matters of citizenship.
Indifference to government may cause its eventual weakening and fall. Edmund Burke has said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Evil is active and aggressive, and indifference cannot defend goodness.
Let us all take heed: We must uphold and defend the laws of the United States, because we want to conquer those forces of evil which operate today in our society and which threaten to deteriorate our Nation from within. The downfall of a nation as a consequence of demoralization is the most dishonorable way a society can be ended. We have confidence, however, that we shall maintain the highest ethical standards and that we shall always be, as a nation, a champion of justice and equality to guarantee these great privileges to the citizen who upholds the law.
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[The source of the quotation attributed to Edmund Burke (“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”) has been in dispute since this essay was written in 1965.--WR]