There is this general perspective of what makes someone a citizen or should I say, the kind of thinking expected of a citizen of a country, it is the sense of nationality. Being a citizen of a country means you feel the undying need to always want to protect the interest of the country at all times, always wanting to defend the country from those that might want to destabilise it. It is what it means to have the sense of nationalism as a citizen of a country.
Have you ever wondered, whenever two countries are at war, they find themselves killing each other citizens while the top government officials sit in their high tower. It is because they believe each citizen is equally responsible for whatever the decision their government is making. I find it really weird because for 50% of citizens in most countries have no say in whatever is going on in a country or in the decision making process but still, they suffer heavily for crimes committed by their government, something they know nothing about.
It just proves how defective the human society is, I am of the opinion that if I were to be a ruler of a country and I want to teach another country a lesson for the atrocities committed against my country, I would rather aim at those responsible, those that are responsible for the decision making. Why gun down citizens that are just trying to survive and make a living? some of them don't even know what their president looks like and yet they are the first to be blamed whenever something goes wrong.
The truth is, it has never been a matter of what is fair or not, as long as you are considered a citizen of a specific country, you are already responsible for whatever decision is being made in your country. That is why I'm against political apathy, if you feel like you hate the way things are being done in your country and decided to abstain from participating in any political activities like election, it doesn't absorb you of whatever crimes will be committed by whoever is elected. You are still equally responsible either you participated or not.
The fact is, your level of participation in the governance of your country is not written on your head visible for everyone to see but there is something visible to everyone, it is your nationality. I mean it is very strange that 20% of a country that constitute the ruling class makes the decision for the remaining 80% and when the consequences of the actions committed by the ruling class occurs, everyone suffers from it regardless of which class a citizen belongs to in the society. The most annoying part is that, if only we enjoy the country's resources the same way we share the suffering, being a citizen wouldn't be so tragic. So being a citizen of a country is enough justification to be prosecuted for, it is just how it is.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Just a citizen in hive learners community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
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