We do have many things to complain about. There is so much injustice, and so much hypocrisy in our midst! Too many people are saying one thing when they mean (and do) another thing. And so much that needs to be done ends up not being done at all, or only after considerable and therefore very costly delay. Someone has observed: "You are weary of an environment characterized by lack of loyalty; everyone rushes upon the man who has fallen, to trample on him" (Furrow, 361). Unfortunately, that fallen man is the poor, the marginalized, and the less educated in our midst. They – and there are millions of them – are already down; and yet the richer, the more powerful and educated in our society are not doing much to prevent their being out.

As responsible citizens we need to show our loyalty by doing a great deal to improve the lot of the millions of our people who are down, living way below the poverty line. Let us never forget this reminder: "The disloyal are eager that those who are loyal should remain inactive" (Furrow, 362). Our indifference and our seeming lack of concern could make us altogether passive. We can so get used to the status quo that we show no sense of outrage or urgency to do something positive to make a difference.

It is high time for us to make a show of our concern. We should speak out, perhaps a bit more loudly than in the past, when we see a travesty of justice being perpetrated by the high and mighty on the lowly and the powerless. We should also get more meaningfully involved in projects that give substance to the ideals of responsible citizenship. We should more actively reach out to other sectors of our society so that in close cooperation with them we can contribute towards the improved governance of our local community, or even of our entire society.

The operative word is "more," and the operative phrase should be "much more." We should not mind, therefore, if others begin to see and hear about our initiatives in favor of good governance and responsible citizenship. We should take this advice to heart: "We ought not to serve in order to be noticed. But we should not mind being seen, much less should we cease to fulfill our duty because we are seen" (Furrow, 368). The difference lies in our motivation. Our priority is to carry out our duties well and live up to the high demands of responsible citizenship; if in the process people take notice of us, so be it, for as long as our motive has never been only to get people take notice of us.

We should even go further. We should do nothing – or fail to carry out our duty – out of human respect. Failing to fulfill a duty, out of human respect would betray a "lack of loyalty, a lack of love, and a lack of personality" (Furrow, 370). We should always have the personality to care deeply enough about our country and love our people with deeds done with sincerity and generosity, befitting a responsible citizen. And it should be such care and love that drive us to do something for those in need, "joyfully making haste" (Furrow, 371) in showing through concrete deeds our responsibility as fellow citizens.