Social Responsibility and Civic Engagement

Reevaluation

At the beginning of this course I wasn’t sure what was meant by social responsibility and civic engagement. During this course I realized the meaning of both and the responsibilities that both imply. A definition of social responsibility that I found particularly poignant and concise comes from Entrepreneur Magazine, “Acting with concern and sensitivity, aware of the impact of your actions on others, particularly the disadvantaged” (Entrepreneur Magazine.com). Social responsibility can be as simple as paying your taxes or recycling your glass bottles. Social responsibility can be as complex as finding solutions to global warming or hunger in Africa. You can be personally socially responsible or you can be socially responsible in your work environment, as a church group, Girl Scout troop or just a concerned neighborhood. Social responsibility can take many forms and faces. . "It is those who act that win rightly what is noble and good in life" (Arthur & Scalet, 2009).

. On my journey through this course I found myself becoming more aware of how my actions and reactions to others were changing. For example: instead of just being angry at my government for its’ enormous waste of my money, I’m writing to my representatives and responding to their invitations to attend, “Town Hall meetings.” I will probably still be angry but my voice will be heard along with others and that at least will give me a sense of satisfaction that I didn’t sit quietly on the sidelines. I also see social responsibility as being unselfish and seeing how everyone and everything we do has a connection in this universe. We fail to tune up our car and we waste fuel; now more oil must be drilled from the ocean floor which causes a disturbance i...

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...e a responsible, civically involved citizen is to be in touch with the organic world and those of us who live in it. It means to be able to see past ourselves and our own needs and to focus on the needs of all people. To receive greatness in life you must give greatness in your life. I thank my instructor and my fellow students for enlightening and re-energizing my spirit and soul to do good works for all of us.

Works Cited

Arthur, J. & Scalet, S. (2009). Morality and moral controversies: Readings in moral, social, and political philosophy. (8th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall

Entrepreneur Magazine. (2011). Definition of Social Responsibility. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/term/82646.html

Loeb, P.R. (2010). Soul of a citizen: living with conviction in challenging times. (2nd ed.). New York: St. Martin's Griffin