Definition Essay On Citizenship

On Citizens Citizenship can be defined in the Oxford Dictionary as “A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized.” I do not completely agree with this definition. I think a citizen is someone who, for example, does service for their community, pays taxes or anything else that supports the community or country in which they live. So if someone’s actions do not benefit their community, I don’t consider them a citizen; but if someone’s actions do benefit their community, I do consider them a citizen. Could you still be considered a citizen if you do all these things without being a legal citizen? Should the title of citizen affect your actions? A citizen is someone who supports …show more content…
This is because they may have met the requirements for technically being a citizen of their respective country but they are not true citizens. The way I think of it is that it is like calling doing a sit-up to get out of bed exercise. It is not like any sort of fitness is happening but you still technically did a sit-up. The same thing goes for being a citizen. Some people may actually go through the long process of immigrating to America and becoming a citizen and I respect that, but, a lot of citizens in America are simply born here and haven’t shown that they know what it means to be a true citizen. These people are simply posers. They are the kinds of people that complain about illegal immigrants taking their jobs or making it harder to get jobs while all they do is sit on their couch and watch the television and wait for the next welfare check instead of trying to get a job. Keep in mind, these welfare checks are paid for by actual citizens who do not sit around all day and do nothing. It all just goes to show that in order to be a true citizen, a person’s actions need to show …show more content…
There is a process to being a literal citizen, where immigrants need to go through a naturalization process to become a citizen, or, you can simply be born to parents who are U.S. citizens or even born in the country. I do not wholeheartedly like these requirements for citizenship. If all you have to be is born in the U.S. or have American parents, then you don’t learn what it truly means to be a citizen. Immigrants who go through the naturalization process have it way harder and learn to appreciate the true value of being a citizen of the United States of America. When people don’t understand the meaning of being a citizen, things, like kneeling for the national anthem, forgetting all the sacrifices made for our freedom, and even creating a divided country, can happen. These things are happening in our country right now and make it evident that the majority of Americans need to learn what it means to be a