The Bill of Obligations by Richard Haass serves as a reference point for the necessary areas of participation in order to fulfill your responsibilities as a citizen of the United States. It gives a guideline on how to properly use the privileges given to us through simply living in a free nation. The ten obligations are the pillars that make a good citizen. As important as a reminder like this is, it’s only useful when put into practice, and that’s where one of the book's biggest strengths lies. If you feel like you’re not meeting the obligation you’re reading, he gives specific ways to remedy that, instead of giving a concept and no way to execute it. If people followed these obligations the political climate would be much healthier. Haass's principles for civil discussion are often missing from the most important democratic discussions. If the obligations were standard, bipartisanship would be more of an option, as choosing one side wouldn’t alienate you from the other. In a time where the country is the most divided it’s ever been, compromising and unsubscribing from the Us vs. Them mentality would do wonders in bringing forth meaningful change rather than having these discussions revolve shouting match over morality, and a different bill written when a musket took thirty seconds to reload.

 

Bill of Obligations was an interesting initial read, despite some of the obligations feeling obvious at first glance. I didn’t understand why I needed to be reminded why violence wasn’t the solution, but once I stopped looking at it from a perspective of feeling above the need to be told this, it was one of the most important parts of the book. Most people know, and agree, that violence is wrong, but sometimes it’s justified by our personal biases. When a third of Americans believe that the 2020 election was fraudulent, it’s not surprising that the January 6th insurrection was widely backed by people who believed that. Violence diminishes any argument and immediately removes credibility from the cause. No matter how pressing the issue, it's almost never the answer. This book takes on a very large goal, to ultimately reshape how we interact with our governmental systems, and even our day-to-day lives. It finds success in specificity, giving applicable examples to every issue raised, along with solutions instead of leaving you to feel that you can’t impact it. The first obligation present in the text is to stay informed, and if anyone feels as though they aren’t meeting it, this is a fantastic waypoint. Dr. Sekou showed how change starts with the individual, and how every interaction with the system shifts the marker. If everyone decided to rest on the idea that since what they contribute is so small that it’s insignificant, then nothing would ever happen. If you care about an issue, you should care enough to affect it, no matter how slightly.