Citizenship

"the duties, rights, and privileges of this status"

You may be wondering how the picture of a Bride and Groom, or even a young Father pertains to the subject? My parents were married in May of 1939 and were engaged in the vocation of agriculture. They raised six children and I can certainly state that my Parents were my first role models. The child in the arms of the Father just happens to be me.

I have vivid memories of my Father laboring in the corn fields each November. The first one I can recall is when He was picking Corn by hand. I noted that He took time off to go to town to vote. Hardly a sensible thing to do when one considers the labor intense vocation he was engaged in. As the years progressed, the mechanical Corn Picker was introduced, which increased the speed of the annual corn harvest. Yes, My Father always took time off to go vote. Again, even with the labor saving device of a corn picker, a foolish waste of time. What if the fall rains or even snow came and curtailed the harvest? Yet My Father always had time to vote.

As is normal, years go by and during a conversation with my Father in the early 1990s I inquired on how he determined who He would vote for. I was told that the quickest method of determing if a candidate was concerned was to write a letter of inquiry to that candidate and ask a question. If the letter went unanswered that candidate was quickly eliminated. They missed the cut to be sure. This was my Father's method of determing who deserved his vote. He employed this method in Township and County elections. State and National elections were also deserving of his attention and I recall his dedication in listening to news and political conventions on the radio. To this day I rely on my parents mentoring as regards the duties and rights of a citizen.

As you might suspect this article was prompted by what I consider a dismal response of my peers in the Primary Elections held in Georgia yesterday, July 18, 2006. I believe that the level of participation was less than 20 percent. What a shame!!!!! People say that they are too busy to vote!!!!! Some even say that they do not vote so that they will not be summoned for Jury Duty!!!!!

I have yet to meet a member or even a Veteran of our United States Military who regards the responsibilities of citizenship as a waste of time. As I read the newspapers this morning I quickly thought of those Heroes who have served our Country, some even sacrificing their lives, and also those who currently serve our Country and how they would view with contempt those citizens who simply fail to vote because it is not in the normal schedule of their daily routine.

For anyone who has any doubt of the duties of citizenship, their rights and privileges may I offer this statement:

What Price, Freedom?