The Bill of Obligations 

Summer Reading 2023

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     The Bill of Obligations, by Richard Haass helped educate me and expand my knowledge on specifics of our government, global issues and one’s “obligations” to one’s country, specifically the Unites States of America. This book primarily helped me understand the differences between rights, responsibilities and obligations. This included ‘how’ and ‘where’ to stand to be a ‘good’ and ‘ethical’ global citizen. This was shown throughout the book, but mainly in “Rights and Their Limits”, where my group discussed the differences in Haass’s explanations and our own definitions. By “Rights” I  mean the legal protection for citizens, as well as  things that have to be fulfilled and forced on by citizens, including the Amendments and the Bill of Rights. On the other hand, obligations are what citizens should be doing to advocate, making one’s voice heard and participating in American society. Hass believes one’s rights were created when he says,  “These initial amendments were adopted to prevent the newly strengthened national government from acquiring too much power.” (10) However, “Obligations are different from requirements. Americans are required to observe the law [...] There is no wiggle room. Failure to meet requirements can result in a penalty. [...] Obligations are different, involving not what citizens must do but what they should do” (14).

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     The concepts in this book not only relate to my personal real world experiences, but to global issues, global studies, and proper global citizenship. This book touched on many of our global studies themes including human rights, non-violence and global public health among others. Personally, I believe the most widely used theme in this book was human rights not only connecting with our rights but also our obligations. The theme of non - violence coaligned with the discussion of gun laws, rape, crime and murder discussed mainly in the chapter “Obligation v - Reject Violence.” Lastly, global public health can relate to a majority of Haass’s ideas because when people influence and teach one another to become or improve the global citizen mentality it automatically starts increasing global public health. Global public health will also increase when the unjust laws Haass talks about are changed and worked upon. 

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     Overall I enjoyed this book, especially when I could relate my opinions in the margins, and connect my real world experiences to situations within the book. On the contrary sometimes honestly I would get a little lost within the large general concepts and miniscule details and what point overall Haass was really trying to make. Overall I found this summer read was a passionate and interesting piece, yet felt dense and difficult to follow at times.