Citizen is one or that belonging to or relating to the city. A city, on the other hand, is the urban area that has a high population density and whose residents (citizens) do not usually engage in agricultural activity.
The citizen, therefore, is one who lives in a city. He generally works in industry or in the service sector, as opposed to the peasant, who lives in the countryside and engages in rural tasks.
The term is currently used to name the individual as a subject of political rights. This means that the citizen intervenes in the political life of his community by exercising these rights. Citizenship also implies a series of duties and obligations.
In ancient times, the city was the most important political unit. That is why today, with the State as the main political unit, the subjects of political rights continue to be named as citizens.
Ultimately, this use of the concept transcends the fact of living in a city. A person living in a rural town will be a citizen as long as they have political rights. Conversely, an resident of an urban area with these violated rights cannot be considered a full citizen.
The notion of being a citizen contributes to the development of identity and the sense of belonging to a community. The person must exercise their citizenship responsibly, demanding respect for their rights and, at the same time, fulfilling their obligations. In this way a democratic and more just society is built.
The good citizen
A good starting point to build a community based on the principles of respect and solidarity is individual effort despite the immediate consequences, perseverance in the exercise of good with the hope of infecting the environment itself and enhancing that renewing force that so many Sometimes it has proven to be our most valuable resource.
Broadly speaking, there are a series of fundamental points that make a person an exemplary citizen, a healthy unit that works towards the progress of all, and these can serve as a self-evaluation to ensure at every step that they are respecting and ensuring respect the rights granted by citizenship:
* promote care for the environment;
* maintain a consistent line of action, treating others in the same way that we expect them to treat us;
* not act outside the limits of the Law;
* propose as many changes as we consider necessary to improve the quality of life in the city, always with a constructive attitude;
* avoid violence whenever possible, putting dialogue first as a means of conflict resolution;
* respect the rights of other living beings;
*be a participant in life in the city, its history and its decisions, enjoying its good times and helping to rebuild it during its toughest crises;
* value other citizens, respect the role they occupy and their opinions.
It should be mentioned that being a citizen does not imply being a native of a place, but responds to two fundamental factors: documentation and identity. Before the Law, a person must meet a series of requirements to be considered a citizen, among which is the direct or indirect descent of another citizen, with different limitations in each country. But there is also a feeling in each one that represents his tie with a territory, and this exceeds the legal situation.
However, the points just exposed should be understood as the basis of good coexistence with other living beings, regardless of their origin and ours, considering that we are all citizens of the world and that we only have a tiny space in it.
