A Citizen Is Not a Profession / Быть гражданином - не профессия

A Citizen Is Not a Profession

What does the sentence “I am a citizen of Russia” mean? At first it is difficult to answer. Let’s take some examples. A doctor helps people to improve their health. A worker makes machines. A farmer grows plants. A teacher teaches pupils. A soldier defends our country. In short we can become builders, shopmen or pilots. But a citizen is not a profession. To be a citizen means to be responsible for one’s work, for the future of our country. People become doctors to help other people. They become farmers to give their country more bread. They become workers to make new machines needed by their country. They become teachers to give the youth knowledge necessary for their life. We know the names of the best veterans of labour and veterans of war in our country. We met with them and they told us about their work and life. But have we thought about what the members of our own families have done as Russian citizens? What are the results of their work? Why do people respect our grandfathers and grandmothers? These questions are very important. They are important because sometimes young people speak about leading workers,war heroes and veterans of labour,but we do not think about our own parents and grandparents. We do not think about what our fathers and mothers are for our country and our society. So grown-ups must tell us a lot about how our country developed. And we must do a lot to make it better.