Traditional Respect And Civic Consciousness

We all fall to either one of the above in our daily routine life. It is an important virtue in community living to practice traditional respect or civic consciousness.

Asians generally who are deep-rooted in traditions , cultures  and religions are immersed in the practice of traditional respect.

A tradition might be about a display of respect, about good manners, which when employed ensures communities are pleasant places to live in.

Saying please and thank you, not only to friends but also to family, whose support we should never take for granted, is always important.

At times it is blindly practiced to the extent the person being respected doesn’t deserve it. Even there are times, it is practiced to the extent the work process is delayed. Besides the one who being rendered the respect takes advantage of the giver.

 

So traditions can be either inhibiting or liberating. This is entirely dependent on your outlook or attitude.

However civic consciousness which is practiced by most westerners has a more rational use of respect. It applies respect and courtesy as required most in the society rather than blind respect though they are less controlled by tradition and religion.

Civic consciousness mainly refers to the cognition of a citizen's qualification or status with equal civic rights and obligations

Civic consciousness is the recognition that each citizen is for the society and the genuine interests of the society are the interests of the citizen. People who have civic consciousness will always be ready to work for society.

The basis of civic consciousness is the recognition that if the activities of each individual are for the well being of the society, social problems can be solved.

There were some people like A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Mother Teresa who had ideal civic consciousness and who contributed greatly to society. While working in different areas, they exhibited humanity, love towards fellow beings, and duty consciousness. They gave the message that everyone should work in their areas of activity with generosity and dedication.

The basis of all activities is morality. Morality means the ability to recognize virtues from vices, accept virtues, and perform duties with utmost responsibility. The creation of moral consciousness in all walks of life is the most effective way to foster civic consciousness. 

Civic consciousness is a form of social consciousness co-existing with the concept of citizen. In a narrow sense, in contrast to traditional respect/ servant consciousness characterized by anaclisis.