Citizens Aren't Customers

Citizens aren’t customers, and a nation cannot survive as merely a service provider. Citizenship grants rights and protections, but it also imposes obligations to preserve the common good.

In this episode, Lee Ellis begins with a thought experiment about building society from scratch, examines the difference between positive and negative rights, and turns to the Roman Republic to consider what happens when civic duty gives way to dependence and faction.

Duties without rights create slaves. Rights without duties create dependents. A healthy society requires both.