Can't believe I hadn't come across this profound work by @simonjduffy before
"#Citizenship reminds us that we can each live a good life, in our own way, while also living together with mutual respect."
Intro on link, more highlights in THREAD below
centreforwelfarereform.org/library/keys-t…
Three implications of being a Citizen:
❤️Being RESPECTED
❤️Being EQUAL in fundamental worth and dignity
❤️Being DIFFERENT: we "have many different gifts which [we] bring together to build a better world"
And then the 7 keys to Citizenship...
1. FREEDOM
Being a Citizen means being in control of your own life - able to make decisions, mistakes, make your own way...
***EVERYONE can be in control***
2. DIRECTION
Being a Citizen means having a life of meaning - your own meaning. When our lives don’t fit our passions, interests and abilities we are diminished - but if we can find a path that is right for us then we help other people to see us with respect.
3. MONEY
Money is important, but maybe not for the reason we all think. It is the means to be independent, to set our own course and to achieve our own goals. Too much is an obstacle to citizenship - but citizens do pay their own way.
[Hence his support for UBI]
4. HOME
We all need a place we can call home, not just a shelter, but a place where we have privacy, can be with those we love, where we belong.
🔥When we have no home we appear almost rootless - when we say someone has gone into ‘a home’ we mean they’ve lost their home🔥
5. HELP
We live in a world where we imagine that needing help is bad, even though we all need help everyday and the giving and receiving of help from others is the key to a good society.
***The challenge today is to get help without having to give up your citizenship.***
6. LIFE
It is by giving back to our community that we can really help others to understand our worth - in many more ways than we think: by just being there, by buying, by joining in, by working, by laughing, even by crying.
But we cannot contribute if we are absent.
7. LOVE
The beginning and end of Citizenship is found in love. Through meeting, working and joining in with other people we can form relationships, friendships, find lovers and make a family. Love is also the best guarantee of a new generation of citizens and a better world.
For clarity - all the words and the insight above are Simon's
Follow him @simonjduffy
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