Weekly Technetic #29: Citizenship
(My apologies for such a small column this week. I’m in a hectic time right now, trying to get a lot of things done at once. Regular writings will return next Saturday.)
The technetic must be a good citizen. This does not mean a slavish adherent to a statist ideology or the unflinching acceptance of government. No, being a good citizen in the technetic sense is about participating in the construction and reconstruction of your community. For those of us living in constitutional or parliamentary republics, it's about voting, standing up for the issues we feel are most important, and supporting our fellow human. For those in more repressive regimes, citizenship requires more sacrifice, as you must strive toward the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice.
It's easy to laugh now, as our current-year politics are nothing more than spectator sports. We're just fans cheering for Team Red or Team Blue, not noticing our deepening slide into technocratic socialism or even worse dystopias. One man can't change anything, right?
But there lies the flaw in such thinking. Yes, I am only one man. So are you, unless you're a woman or child---there are, as we know, no other possibilities for human beings. Together, however, we are something greater. We amplify our voices by speaking in concert. If we stand beside one another, we become more than the sum of our parts. That this is true can be illustrated by the Founding Fathers' stand against tyranny in 1776 as clearly as by the Dutch farmers' protest of 2022.
Technetism is about seeking knowledge and using it to better ourselves and those around us. Yet we also take a stand against dogmatic thinking of any sort. Therefore, our philosophy is civic-minded rather than political. We stand for order and progress, both of which come about through individuals uniting and creating something stronger, more enduring, than themselves.
This is what it means to be a citizen. Whatever your nationality, whatever your background, you can do this. Find what you believe in. Take a stand for it. Let others see you as an example. To quote Tony Woodlief, "We can reclaim our freedoms as citizens when each of us stops waiting for someone else to go first."
That is true not only in politics, but in every aspect of life.