Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness

There are a plethora of resources on this earth. In this day and age, technology is constantly advancing before our eyes. Everything we could ever want is conveniently accessible at our fingertips. With home devices like Alexa and Google Home, we don’t even have to physically move to get what we want. This newfound ease of accessibility goes hand in hand with Americans increased laziness. Gone are the days where we have to take a trip to the town’s local library to do research; all the information we need is on the internet. Ah, the internet. A simple yet complex thing indeed. Having everything available in an instant serves its benefits, but it consequently is causing us to be consumed by smart devices. An essential quality of a good citizen in my community is the ability to unplug from technology. The ability to disconnect from these timewasters, or smart devices as we call it, directly increases the productivity level within our community.

Every citizen in our community has the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In order to uphold these unalienable rights, a citizen must be righteous and contribute to their community by performing their civic duties. By unplugging from technology, a citizen’s overall quality of life may improve. Excessive engagement with technology negatively affects social skills crucial to one’s future success. Therefore, unplugging simultaneously improves your social skills and causes collaboration between people, who will produce ideas to better their community. They will have more free time to participate in and improve their communities. Without relying on technology, they will improve their interpersonal communication skills by forcing themselves to interact with more people within their community. In addition, a good citizen respects individual differences and ways of life different from their own. Therefore, from this process of communicating with new individuals, a citizen is becoming more courteous. Furthermore, righteous qualities such as courtesy, correlates with the essential quality a citizen needs – moral courage.

There is no denying that a selfless citizen positively influences their community. Volunteering and putting one’s skills to use, to make a difference for the people around them is essential to a community. Technology cannot replace the satisfied feeling we get from helping others. Essential qualities of a citizen in my community is someone who abides by the law, respects others, and uses their knowledge to better their community.

Unplugging from technology provides you with more free time. As a result, you have the chance to discover new things about yourself and improve intellectually. A good citizen is intelligent. By unplugging, you are eliminating the reliance of internet search engines. For the first time, you might actually have to be resourceful and find a solution to your problems. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment, right? Actually, no. By depending on your resources and you brain you are training yourself to make morally right decisions. Your newfound education allows you to benefit to your community more effectively. A good citizen is someone who is helpful. They use their new knowledge to better understand their community and find aspects they can improve within their community. Ultimately, a good citizen is a good human being. They put others first, take accountability for their actions, is trustworthy and honest.

A good citizen respects and obeys the laws. A good citizen does not want to harm others. They are responsible and self-disciplined. Now more than ever, with advancing technology can get citizens in trouble with law. For instance, citizens are frequently using their cell phones while driving. This endangers other citizens and puts their lives at risk. Being able to unplug from your device will increase your attentiveness to your surroundings. As a result, you are more inclined to obey the laws since you are not distracted by your phone. According to a poll conducted by The American Automobile Association 94% of teen drivers acknowledged the risks of texting while driving, yet 35% admitted to doing it regardless. By being able to unplug, you are making the conscious decision to not endanger your life and the lives of those around you.

One of the great principles the United States was founded on was Thomas Jefferson’s philosophy that people should not be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people. Unplugging allows citizens to be resourceful in regards to staying informed on important issues within their community. As a result, they may purchase a newspaper or go visit their local library. Librarians are lonely. Well, we the people are advised to participate in our communities by voicing our opinions to local officials and voting. Even if we are not directly bettering our community, our small contributions greatly affects the productivity level within our society.

Unplugging from technology contributes to a communities holistic health. A citizen will become more appreciative of their surroundings and take interest in public affairs. Citizens must possess the quality of self-sacrifice and be sober-minded. They must put the needs of others before their own self-interest. They are selfless, unprejudiced, and honestly work to benefit their community for the common good. They understand that their actions not only affect themselves, but their community as a whole. For that reason, they are sober minded. If a citizen embodies these qualities, they are making their community better, and aiding in the pursuit of happiness. A happy community shapes and nurtures its citizens wellbeing.

All in all, a citizens ability to truly unplug and disconnect is essential to their community. With the time saved from not scrolling on your feed, you are putting your skills to use to benefit others. The key to doing this correctly is doing it sincerely and earnestly. For example, you cannot be volunteering while Snapchatting your entire experience, it defeats the purpose. Announcing your good deed diminishes the quality of it. One’s private efforts will be rewarded in public. There is no need to post every act of kindness online. Because that raises the question, did you help to genuinely improve your community or to increase your social following. Change starts with one. If we are to truly contribute to our community, we have to do what is morally and legally right.

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