On August 22, 2026, a long-standing member of MTH, Steve Trezise, gave a talk at our main meeting about commitment to responsibility, referencing the book “The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens” by Richard Haass, former President of the Council on Foreign relations.

In the book, Richard Haass addresses some claims made by people of bad faith in recent times. These include:

• Election results can be overturned by force.
• People can be “sovereign citizens” outside of the control of the government.
• States can nullify the laws of the federal government.
• Something called a “Constitutional Sheriff” can decide for themselves which laws apply in their county.
• People do not have to participate in public health measures.
• People have an absolute right to any and all weapons.

These statements, while often framed as “rights”, violate the rights of others. A model of citizenship based solely on rights is untenable. Instead, Richard Haass recommends a framework of citizenship based on duty and obligation.

These are the “10 obligations” that Richard Haass has proposed as ways to meet our current problems:

1. Be Informed: Democracy assumes a citizen who knows enough to judge wisely; ignorance isn’t a right, it’s an abdication.
2. Get Involved: Showing up once every four years to vote is not enough. Show up at the meeting.
3. Stay Open to Compromise: A democracy of people who will only win, never bend, is a democracy that eventually breaks.
4. Remain Civil: You can despise an argument without despising the person making it – the moment you can’t, persuasion ends and force begins.
5. Reject Violence: Any political ambition worth having is worth losing by the rules.
6. Value Norms: Not everything worth protecting is written into law; some things only survive because we agree to honor them anyway.
7. Promote the Common Good: Ask not just “what’s good for me,” but “what’s good for us” – the second question is the harder one, and the more important one.
8. Respect Government Service: The people who staff our elections, courts, and agencies aren’t the enemy of democracy; they’re the ones doing the unglamorous work of running it.
9. Support the Teaching of Civics: You cannot expect people to honor obligations they were never taught they had.
10. Put Country First: Party is a means to an end; when it becomes the end itself, something has gone wrong.

Rights tell you what you’re owed. Obligations are the answer to a better question: what do you owe back?

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.” – JFK