For some reason, statistics have never really been able to drive a point home for me. Never the mathematician, numbers go in one ear and out the other. Surely, to my own disadvantage. But nonetheless, whenever I get to the “numbers” part of some provocative piece or another, my eyes glaze over a bit and I speed ahead. However, a recent compilation in The Week magazine caught my attention and has been irritating perspectives ever since.   It was a summary of “The way we were in 2006”—statistics that showed what public opinion was on the state of our country, our selves, and our politics. So here’s what I learned.   61% of us think America is on the “wrong track.” Ok, understandable. Recent elections, every corner of the media, pop culture—they’ve all made it pretty clear that the average American is quickly catching on that the status quo is less than satisfactory.   86% are “concerned about the nation’s moral condition.” Yeesh.   And then—64% of us expect things to be the same or worse in five years. By itself, not the most troubling. After the past few years we’ve had, optimism can hardly be expected. But here is the killer. The part that got me. The part that should be some sort of massive red flag flashing across the face of democracy—97% of us say that we are good citizens.   Ninety-seven percent.   So let me get this straight. Our country has gone to shit. We are morally vacuous and politically poisoned. And it’s just not going to get any better. But somehow, somehow, ninety-seven percent of us go to sleep at night assuring ourselves that we are still doing our part. That we are fulfilling our obligations to our country hundreds of times better than it is fulfilling its obligation to us.   Now that just sounds crazy. How can a country fill of law abidin’, hard workin’ Fourth of July marchin’ jolly good citizens be so far on the “wrong track”? And more importantly, how could it be stuck there. Clearly, our self-evaluations may be a little off base.   So what are good citizens? Good citizens vote. The take pride in their country. They fly the flag, respect their neighbors, and pledge allegiance. They engage. They debate and discuss. They at least acknowledge the speed limit, go to church on the holidays, pick up a paper every morning and work hard at their honest jobs.   And here’s another thing that good citizens are. They are responsible. That means they are accountable. They are able to make decisions and therefore answerable for one’s behavior. It implies an obligation.     Perhaps we underestimate what we can do as citizens. Too many of us have the uninformed opinion that there’s little we can do. We have one guy in charge. A leader. A ruler. A commander-in-chief.   But this, sadly, is what my political science TA recently referred to as the fictitious “Great Man” theory. Somehow our culture has begun to assume that history is formed by the whims and tendencies of the one “Great Man” in power. The problem with this is simple—behind every “Great Man” are the many little men and women who put him in power. As this articulate TA put it—Hitler may have been crazy, but that’s not the reason that WWII happened.   Consolidating the blame for the mess we’re in on the shoulders of one man only goes so far. We all know Bush messed up. Led us astray, let us down. But wake-up. He screwed up because we allowed him to. He bulldozed us down the wrong path because we put him behind the wheel in the first place, and gave him access to decisions of such debilitating magnitude.   Again- back to those statistics. 3% of us say we trust Congress. 24% of us say we trust Bush. But 97% of us say we trust ourselves.   With what? Making informed decisions? Um, no. Holding public officials accountable? Not quite. Taking responsibility for the moral and political quagmire that we, the very moral and political fiber of this country, have created? No way.   And we forget—an enormous percentage of this country’s population supported the war when it was first proposed. Now, now, we’re all pissed off and angry that we’re there. Once we’ve approached failure. Now we’re demanding that Bush withdraw immediately and get us out of this mess—a feat that Barack Obama, Ghandi, Abe Lincoln and Harry Houdini combined could hardly pull off.   What am I asking for here? What can we do now? The guys already there, the mistakes have been made—the troops are surging and people are pissed and elections aren’t for another year and half.   I’m asking for the good citizens we all are resting assured that we are. Because it’s not too late, even for this disaster. Or even if this is only preventative for the future.   A good citizen—beyond respecting the flag, obeying the law, and serving jury duty—is at his or her very core, an informed consumer. That means that we pay attention. You don’t have to be an engineer to buy a TV. You don’t have to be a tailor to buy a suit, a farmer to recognize rotten fruit, or an artist to buy a painting that appeals to you and fits in the space over your mantel. You just have to know what your options are. You have to know all of the details, the quirks, and most of all, what your ideal product would look like—be it person or policy or military agenda.   Don’t confuse this with apathy. The problem I’m talking about isn’t necessarily that people aren’t voting—it’s that they’re not voting smartly. It’s not that we’re not participating—it’s that we’re not paying attention. So for God’s sake—the next time you head to the grocery store, make a list and keep your eyes open. It’s not that hard to spot a rotten banana.   You think you’re a good citizen? Let Emily know at browne.em@gmail.com