What do we need to do to become qualified citizens?

So far, China people's standards for qualified citizens are still very vague, and even the concept of "qualified" is simply lacking. In modern society, freedom and equality are social principles, and some special standards cannot be imposed on others. However, through the sincere theory of freedom and equality, it is not difficult for us to find a nearly universal standard from many special standards.

Legally speaking, every citizen is a citizen, but a qualified citizen, in my opinion, must meet the following nine basic quality requirements:

Civil rights, sense of responsibility and independent personality. The natural principle of equality of human nature determines that people are born with equal freedom rights, and freedom itself is the essence of life. The development of life is a process of constantly transcending various internal and external constraints and reaching a higher level of freedom. Every citizen should know that he has inalienable, inviolable and non-transferable basic rights. Property right, life right, freedom of thought and speech right and social (political) participation right are the four most basic and inseparable rights of freedom and equality. If we are deprived of any of these rights, people will not be able to maintain equality and freedom, which is the minimum dignity of human beings. Other rights can be derived from this. Rights are the response of human nature and the basis of social norms. The premise of everyone's rights is to respect the rights of others.

Freedom means choice, and any choice will have a price and responsibility. If you just enjoy responsibility without taking responsibility, then freedom will not be guaranteed in the end. Sacred rights mean inevitable social responsibilities, which is symmetrical.

The reason why citizens are called "the public" is not only to realize that they and others have inalienable basic rights of freedom and equality, but also that the government is no longer the ruling organ where a few people oppress most "ordinary people" in traditional society, but a public service organ supported by tax payment after citizens transfer some rights. The bounden duty of the government is to guarantee and support the free and equal development of citizens. The party and the government attach great importance to this issue and have always stressed that all power comes from the people.

Citizens are called "public" because every citizen has corresponding unshirkable social responsibilities, and civil rights and social responsibilities are inalienable, unavoidable and non-transferable. Citizens not only have the responsibility and obligation to participate in public affairs related to public interests, such as community building and environmental protection, but also have the responsibility to recognize, supervise and support public authorities, constantly promote and improve government work, so that government functions can be put in place without being offside, and public authorities can better serve the public. If we don't respect the rights of ourselves and others and ignore the consequences of passive avoidance, everyone can't have a sound society. It should be noted that exercising one's rights is also a basic social responsibility, because ignoring one's rights will inevitably lead to some people's intention to infringe others' rights, and in serious cases, it will also lead to deprivation and autocracy of rights.

Everyone has the basic rights of freedom and equality, which also means that every adult should have an independent personality. It requires people to have independent judgment in the pursuit of truth and independent spirit in social participation without relying on any external spiritual authority or any real power group. Having an independent personality can not only clearly realize that you are an independent individual, but also consciously assume your social responsibility, life obligation and historical mission. The relationship between superiors and subordinates in modern social organizations is people's interest cooperation on the basis of freedom and equality, which is fundamentally different from the hierarchical system as the basic principle of society in hierarchical society. Only when people get out of the misunderstanding of attachment and have full independence, autonomy and creativity can equality be implemented and freedom be realized.

Moral consciousness II. Human society has developed three basic social norms to coordinate interpersonal interests. Morality is one of them, and the other two are legal and ethical customs. Human nature is selfish and has nothing to do with good and evil, because good and evil only exist between people and are acquired judgments, while nature is the instinct of life itself. The law relies on the compulsory protection of public power, the ethical customs are out of inertia social customs, and morality can only rely on consciousness. Although social norms are different, they are all the result of long-term interest game between people and the product of human rationality. People are not isolated, and all people and even all lives are closely related at a deep level. At this level, others and themselves are unified, so social norms are essentially an equal public service and a rational exchange between individuals and society. The law only requires not hurting others, cultural customs require taking care of public habits, and moral requirements are not selfish. Selflessness means that you can't harm the interests of others or infringe on the interests of the public. Moreover, in the case of asymmetry between the two sides, the strong have the obligation to help the weak, and even need to sacrifice themselves in an emergency to protect the interests of others and the public. A person's moral level lies not in knowledge and judgment, but in practice, and the essence of morality is practice. The minimum performance of morality is honesty and shame. A person who can't even do these two points can't be a moral person, but a dangerous existence for others.

Morality is the highest state that human reason can perceive, and it obeys human conscience. A virtuous man is the backbone of human civilization, the unsinkable pillar of the ship of civilization in the countercurrent of storms, and the eternal light in the face of darkness in the journey of civilization. Laws and customs must be based on morality. Any custom that conflicts with morality must not be a benign custom worth inheriting. Any law that violates morality must be an evil law with no foundation of justice, nor can it be a law made under full freedom and equality. In other words, such a law itself does not have sufficient legal basis and must be improved.

Consciousness of rule of law. Morality is not mandatory, people can't handle public affairs naturally without intermediary, and they can't solve all disputes fairly by themselves. Therefore, public affairs must be entrusted to public authorities, laws and regulations can only be decided and implemented by public authorities, and all actions of citizens must conform to the law; If there are no provisions in the law, you can act in accordance with moral judgments and customs. The premise is that the public authority must fully reflect the general will and cannot be a tool for a few people or groups. This requires constitutional guarantee, and public authorities must act within the constitutional framework. The constitution is a symbol of citizens' rights, and it must stipulate citizens' basic rights and responsibilities. All unconstitutional acts must be stopped in time, otherwise the law is illegal. It must be made clear that the constitution is the result of civil rights, not as some people think that civil rights are stipulated by the constitution.

Taxpayer consciousness. The government is the public service organ of all citizens, and it needs the recognition and support of citizens. Paying taxes is an obligation that citizens must fulfill. The premise is that this tax must be reasonable and recognized by the public, and it cannot be embezzled or misappropriated. Citizens should also know how much tax they have paid, and how much tax they have paid shows the size of social contribution to some extent. Forcibly collecting public service funds is not a tax, but an infringement of citizens' property rights. Taxes without citizens' consent or unreasonable taxes are not fully legitimate, and citizens should correct them through legal means. Taxpayer consciousness also means the consciousness of participating in, discussing and supervising politics.

Scientific literacy and rational spirit. People are rational, irrational (such as sensibility and disorder) and super-rational (religious surreal human concern). Rationality is the normal state, a conscious choice that can be made according to the nature of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, which is different from the instinctive choice of animals. It is based on rational and surreal human concern that human beings can move from ignorance to wisdom, from barbarism to civilization, from mutual hostility and oppression to rational equal cooperation, which is also the reason for establishing the principle of freedom and equality today. Science is developed on the basis of rationality, equality, demonstration, doubt and constant exploration. Science develops with reason, and reason progresses with science. Without the necessary scientific knowledge, a modern person often plays some superstitious jokes. Compared with scientific common sense, scientific spirit is a more fundamental civilization gene. The scientific spirit is not only based on rationality, but also embodies that everyone is equal before the truth. As long as there is evidence, you can doubt, keep making progress and surpass. Therefore, the spirit of scientific rationality is a reaction of the spirit of life. Sadly, only 0% of the public in China has reached the "basic scientific literacy level". 2%, and many officials and scholars also lack the minimum scientific literacy.

Ecological consciousness and sustainable development consciousness. Modern civic consciousness emphasizes the equality of rights and obligations of every citizen, including anyone's exploitation and utilization of natural resources, and cannot be based on the premise of damaging the equal rights of other citizens and their descendants to natural resources. The people unite as one country and put themselves under the management of the government. The primary purpose is to protect themselves. The government can't shirk the responsibility of protecting ecological wealth and insisting on sustainable utilization. The outstanding problems of ecological balance and environmental protection show that it is not enough for a civilized society to be based on the principle of freedom and equality, but also to have a harmonious concept. We must establish a friendly and harmonious relationship between people and between people and nature on the basis of good social morality and social psychological environment. Ecological consciousness and sustainable development consciousness not only mean responsibility and justice to others, but also to future generations.

Healthy psychological, cultural and physical qualities. Normal and reasonable competition is the key to the healthy development of civilization, and a healthy life cannot be separated from a healthy physical and mental quality. Keeping healthy is also a social obligation.

Consciousness of continuous learning and keeping pace with the times. Related to the past, in this era of rapid development, it is also very inappropriate to update and supplement yourself from time to time and let yourself fall behind the times. The government must constantly improve public education and strive for the equal development of the people.

Consciousness of world unity. If there is no world consciousness in the era of globalization, it will be at a disadvantage in the competition. But more importantly, since citizens are based on freedom and equal rights, the ultimate meaning of citizens has already taken on world significance. Citizens are essentially beyond race, nationality, region and religion, and every citizen should have a world mind. Modernization itself and globalization are integrated. If, like some countries, freedom and equality are limited to one country or even one race, or double standards are applied, it is not hypocritical, at least it is incomplete. The theoretical basis of national separatism and regional separatism is the misinterpretation of civil rights. In the modern society where world-class problems gradually overwhelm regional and ethnic problems, the solution of the problems ultimately depends on the awakening of world citizenship and the effective operation of world public affairs organs.

Among these nine components, the core and the most basic are citizens' awareness of rights and responsibilities and the spirit of scientific rationality, from which we can draw a complete sense of citizenship and the basic standards of qualified citizens. If every citizen does not have these nine basic qualities, he cannot be said to be a qualified citizen.

The consciousness of qualified citizens should become a natural basic concept in everyone's mind, because it is the minimum requirement for modern people. People's basic concepts are formed and deeply rooted from an early age. There is no doubt that the education of qualified citizens should start at an early age, and reasonable arrangements must be made according to the different growth stages of children and adolescents. Through basic education, we should achieve three goals: first, let everyone master basic life and survival skills, such as language, study and work skills; The second is to master basic social, cultural, historical, economic, natural, scientific, artistic and other common sense; The third is to make every member of society have the minimum quality of being a man, that is, to carry out civic quality education. Only by allowing everyone to receive basic, scientific and complete civic quality education before reaching the age of 18, and basically become a qualified citizen, can we say that the goal of basic education has been achieved. Unfortunately, China's current basic education is obviously far from this goal, and even there are still great defects in leadership spirit, incentive mechanism, teaching material content, educational methods, school-running mode, capital investment and so on.