While each of us has been gifted by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, in order to protect, add, and to enhance those rights, governments are constituted amongst the governed, to protect and to secure those rights, receiving their just powers from the consent of those so governed, and of which each of those people of that nation, has a responsible role to play to do their fair part to uphold those rights, now and into the future.
In any society, there are always going to be those that are more engaged and more involved than others, but everybody, without exception, has a part that they should play, or in fairness to that society, one could make a fair argument, that all those that refuse to engage in their civic duties, are parasitic to that society. This thus signifies that the good governance of this nation, needs to do a better job of teaching its own people that all rights come with attendant responsibilities, and part of those responsibilities are our civic duties, so done on behalf of the people.
It seems as if there are plenty of people, that know their rights, such as their freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and freedom of assembly. Yet, for some of these same people, when they are questioned about what civic duties that they are responsible to, and therefore to list some examples of those duties, so done, or at least contemplated upon, they seem to draw a complete blank, except perhaps to mention something about paying their taxes or obeying the law. While, no doubt, taxes so paid and law-abiding citizens have their place -- civic duties, typically consist of constructive actions that involve people getting together, in a common cause, to help make their community a better place, such as in cleaning up the environment, building a structure, gardening in a common area, tutoring, and so on and so forth.
Part of the reason why it seems as if Americans have lost touch with their responsibilities to their civic society that they are a part of, is probably because this isn’t taught as well as it could be taught within the public-school systems. To live in a world in which so many people seem to be just about their own self, and it’s only about their desires and nothing much more beyond that, isn’t going to be a construct that is going to work well for the long term for any society, because without a nation which has cohesion from working and playing together, then that nation has a strong tendency to eventually devolve into warring factions.
It's important for people to comprehend that our rights provided to us by our Constitution, is actually a two-way street, and if we are not willing to devote the time and energy to sustain those rights, then, quite frankly, there isn’t any good reason why we should continue to have them, because those not willing to do their fair share to fight for those rights, by doing their civic duty, have vacated their fair right to them.