What exactly does one owe their country?

[gimmethesimplelife]

After my posts regarding wanting to emigrate, I have been pondering this question and thought I would throw this one out there. I'm guessing there may be posts which I don't agree with here and that's cool, I'm just trying to understand other folks take on this.

Something that really sticks out for me for people who are very pro their country - whatever country it is. For a few years my mother was seeing someone who was in the National Guard p/t and (was - past tense) very pro-American. At the age of 62, he found himself pretty much priced out of the United States and without any options due to some health issues. We recently found out he moved to Cambodia to stretch his small SS check and his small military pension - on the one hand, I was surprised as he was the LAST person I'd ever think would do something like this. On the other hand, I'm not at all surprised as when you sit down and do the math, life has thought me this can lead to decisions you never thought you'd make.

Point being is this is someone who at one time would have went on and one about duty to your country - yet he ended out leaving due to economics. So my ? - what exactly do we owe our country (or countries) - and at what point does this change? Rob

[Spartana]

My feeling is this: What I expect of my country is to give me the freedom, the safety and the opportunity to make my own way in this world. To provide stability so that I can improve my life on my own even if it means a certain amount of personal sacrifice to "get ahead" - be that financially, educationally, or socially. The rest is really up to me. If thast means I have to join the military so I can afford college, or work 2 or 3 miminum wage jobs and live in shared housing (common in places like Cambodia and most places in the world), that I have to pick fruit for a living because of a temporary economic crisis, then that's what I'll do. Knowing that I do have the opportunity to move up to a better lifestyle if I am willing and able to make the sacrifices needed to do that. And that if I can't, I at least can have a comfortable modest simple and frugal life. One with clean drinking water from a tap, a sewer system that doesn't include dumping my bucket out into the street, electricity and fresh, clean plentiful food that is safe to eat. And while it's nice that we have some financial social benefits like Soc Sec, medicare, etc... (and many are taxed to pay for those) and that there is (and should be) a safety net for those who can't fend for themselves because of some limitation, but my sense of duty to my country - and it's citizens - isn't based on whether or not I get those social benefits. It's based on wanting to do what I can to continue to make the USA a safe, stable, secure place where each of us has limitless opportunities and the freedom to pursue those. A place where, as a female, I can do just about anything I want, where gay people and people of varied races, religions, cultures, ethnicities and lifestyles don't have to hide for fear of being shunted off to jail or worse. Where I can protest, and sing bad protest songs like that Russian female punk band, and know that I won't be sentenced to 2 years in prison because I do have freedom of speech - along with a host of other freedoms. So yeah, I do LOVE my country - not because they take care of me financially, but because they give me the freedom and opportunity to take care of myself.

NBow would I choose to voluntarily live elsewhere, somewhere like Cambodia or Mexico, because it was cheaper? Yeah I would. Would I want to be a citizen of those countries? No I wouldn't.

ETA: Since I know your question was more directed at our healthcare problems in this country, I just wanted to add that I feel most, if not all, of the healthcare/medical insurance issues we have are do to the nature of private insurers rather then the government - short of the governments refusal to fund universal healthcare or single payer healthcare coverage (something i would like). So there will always be issues about the availability of medical coverage as well as with paying for private medical coverage - whether it is thru regular medical insurance, medicare, medicaid, or some voucher system. The governement can't really force insurers or medical places to keep costs down. And while I am a strong supporter of a universal healthcare system - similair to our socialized education system - most people don't seem to want it and thus cast their votes in other directions. Which is another thing I love about our country - the right to vote for who and what we want even if we personally don't win that vote.

[puglogic]

You'd get a number of different answers, to be sure.

I owe my country a few things. I agree to pay taxes to support the services and programs agreed-upon by a majority of the voters through their elected representatives. I agree to be an informed citizen, aware of my country's political processes, aware of my constitutional rights. I agree to participate in its democracy (I almost wrote "democrazy", which wouldn't entirely be a bad moniker) to help shape the country's policies both domestically and globally. If called to serve on a jury, I will. If called to serve the country in the military, I will.

I also reserve the right to question decisions made by my elected government and work to change things I feel are unwise or unjust. That's a terrific freedom we are afforded here.

I have always been a global citizen, defending the rights of people wherever I've lived. And I'm not blindly pro-American, "my country is always right," etc. There is no perfect country on earth - they all have their pluses and minuses. But this is the one I choose to live in because it offers the opportunity for good quality of life, freedom to participate in the political process, and relative safety compared to all of the other places I've lived. It has a good mission, and though it may not always be perfect either, I admire it. It is, and always will be, a work in progress. And I'm okay with that.

[Mrs-M]

Excellent question, Rob, and one that is destined to bring an endless array of differing opinions and sides.

I for one, tend to feel we owe our countries nothing. Let's look at "treading lightly" as an opener. Each and every developed country has a large-following of people (commoners) who practice environmentally-better options, yet for all that we do, our efforts are trumped by the haphazard manner in which our governments oversee industry standards/practices.

So as far as adopting positive environmental ways is concerned, much (if not all) of what we do proves to be futile in the end, so as far as owing our countries "good-stewardship of the land", not at all.

Same goes for finances. Good honest hardworking people, who have to work tremendously hard to save (even a little), aren't rewarded for their hard-work and effort (at all), so if I for one, can pack-up and move to another country or place in order to welcome a more financially viable life and existence, then all the power to me. (Doors wide open)!

Short of being satisfied with the level of security and freedom one gets to enjoy living in his or her own country, at the end of the day/end of a life, we really, owe our countries nothing IMO. The world is ours...