Civic Responsibilities

This column originally appeared in the Williston Observer on February 14, 2008.

Civic Responsibilities

As I'm sure most of you do, I cherish the rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution and protected by our government. I cannot imagine living in a place where I had to be afraid, for example, to write my honest opinions of our government or its leaders.

So important is the freedom of the press that it gets special mention in the 1st Amendment, and the United Nations has declared May 3 to be World Press Freedom Day.

Another critical right we take for granted is that of expression. Our record here is imperfect, but our misguided Alien and Sedition Acts or the jailing of Eugene Debs pale in comparison to countries where anti-government speech is tantamount to treason or where blasphemy is a capital offense.

For citizens of the United States, these liberties are ours for the taking. We need not do anything special to have them or to retain them. Not, at least, at first glance.

Around the time of last Thanksgiving, I got a notice from the courts that I was on a list of potential jurors, and that I was to fill out a form confirming that I was qualified. Am I over 18? Am I a United States citizen? Have I ever been convicted of a felony? Two yeses and a no later, my wife said something that I also heard my friends and co-workers say, in a sympathetic, better-you-than-me tone: "You're going to be on jury duty."

I, on the other hand, was thinking, "Finally!"

To serve on a jury is to complete my citizenship responsibility trifecta - responsibilities that are crucial to the retention of all those rights we hold so dear.

The first leg of the trifecta was to vote. I awaited my eighteenth birthday with great anticipation, and cast my first votes for members of Congress in 1986. Two years later, I got to vote for president. To me, voting is such a critical part of being a responsible citizen, I really cannot fathom why more of us do not partake.

I certainly understand that not everyone can vote every time. And in some places, voting is made particularly difficult. The entire caucus system some states still inexplicably use is one example. I've missed a few votes in my time, due to moving or travel, but today, with absentee voting so easy to use, there really is no good excuse.

The second leg I completed when I was sworn in as a member of the Vermont Army National Guard. Though I would never want to redo boot camp, I have fond, wonderful memories of two summers at Fort Knox, Kentucky; of summers at Fort Drum, New York; and of all the members of my platoon and company up in Swanton. I saw one of those company-mates last year, working to build my house. It was amazing how quickly we were able to reminisce about the old days in the 1/172nd.

Military service has never been a particularly safe job, even in the National Guard, and I understand the moral objections some have to military service. There are, however, many ways to serve. The Peace Corps and AmeriCorps are two non-military ways for young people to serve the nation. Locally, volunteering for the fire department is crucial service. Service to ones community is an awesome duty, and though I begrudge no one the choice not to serve, I honor and respect those that do.

And just at the beginning of this week, I finished the third leg when I served on my first jury. There was some "hurry up and wait," though the Army had prepared me for that. Voir dire was not as nerve-wracking as I thought it might be (though I cannot get used to being called "Mr. Mount"). And testimony and deliberations were everything I thought they would be, yet completely unexpected.

There are other responsibilities to citizenship, but these three are some of the most critical: voting, service to country, jury duty.

Civil rights, civil responsibilities. Some might wonder, are these liberal values? No, not specifically. These are American values. Though liberals and conservatives differ on specifics, we are united in some key principles. And it is here, in the principles, that we can see the stark contrasts between us and our enemies.

So, I beseech you. Vote whenever possible. Serve your community. And when you are called to be a juror, do it willingly, even excitedly.