351.366 - 2016 project and citizenship

every day in 2016, write a sentence or a paragraph or a poem that appreciates

citizenship

what a curious idea is citizenship!  for one thing, it varies from country to country, from culture to culture.  citizenship, several online dictionaries assure me, although I interpret, is the collection of rights, freedoms, and duties that a nation expects of its citizens.  wait, but that demands another question:  who is a citizen?  well, different nations define that differently too.  for some countries, if you're born on land the country claims, then you're a citizen.  for other countries, if one or both of your parents is a citizen, then you are a citizen.  for at least one country, if your mother is of the right race, then you are a citizen, and that country has a whole specialized priesthood to determine if your mother was pure enough.  for some countries, I think I understood this, if you are gainfully employed in the country, then you are a citizen.  (what happens if you get fired?)  yes, you can be a citizen of two or more countries, or of none.  okay, then, depending on where you live, you either are or are not a citizen.  if you are a citizen, then the government confers on you a bunch of rights, a gaggle of freedoms, and a host of duties.  in the United States, citizenship is so benign as to be mostly passive.  that is, the duties are few - basically, don't get caught committing a felony unless you are very, very rich.  and the freedoms and rights sound very impressive until you find out that they depend on how rich you are.  sneakily so:  the same law that prevents a poor man from sleeping on a park bench also prevents a rich man from sleeping on a park bench, well, unless the cop notices the rich man's clothes.  back in the days when many of us were comfortably or uncomfortably in the middle class, citizenship almost didn't matter.  of course we had it!  that and $2.50 would get you a cup of coffee.  most places.  nowadays, it's a little more important.  sometimes it seems like even if you are a citizen, you're somehow not quite one too.  you already know I think things are about to turn worse.  if you have something that proves your citizenship, hang onto it, know a lawyer, and have paid him or her a retainer.  (no, not the orthodonture device!)  yes, I appreciate citizenship, and I fear we're all going to appreciate it even more, and I hope not wryly.