There have been numerous explorations of what constitutes civic duty over the course of history.

Cicero wrote his, "De Officiis", Rousseau addressed the issue in, "The Social Contract", and the the nations of the Americas composed the, "American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man", in 1948 - just to name a very few.

What duties or political obligations, if any, do individuals owe to one and other and to the state?

To what degree does such conception of obligation infringe upon freedom?

What are the limits of the obligations a state can require of "the people"?

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...Old Europe, a once-dominant region now reduced to sucking at the geopolitical teat of America... they spent the better part of the last millennium conquering the world and taking the good stuff home with them... And what do they get for their troubles? Ungrateful colonies demanding their independence. And after you taught them how to play cricket!...

-Jon Stewart