18 weeks ago, we were asked just what it means to be a well-informed 21st century citizen. After all that time, my opinion on the topic hasn't really changed, just become a bit more informed (ironic, huh?).

Being a well-informed citizen is not really a hard thing to do. All it requires is knowledge, which is a readily accessible resource in today's society. With all of the advances in technology, the necessary information is always at the touch of your fingertips. The internet, daily news programs, newspapers. Heck, even watching comedy shows like the Colbert Report keeps you updated on the going-ons in the world pretty adequately. But just knowing what's happening in the world isn't quite enough. Knowing something and understanding it are two completely different things. And that's one of the problems we face in America; people rarely seem to actually understand what it is that they are talking about. People often debate based off of no background knowledge, which only aggravates those who are knowledgeable. So actually understanding things is incredibly important.

There's a level that goes even deeper than that as well: knowing how your government and society function. Knowing how elections work, how the economy functions, how our society began . It's history, economics, government. Really, it's high school to be honest. Knowing the things that we learn here give us the ability to be the citizen that we should be. Without knowledge, even at a rather basic level, our society can't function the way that it should. So what does it take to be a well-informed 21st century citizen? All it takes is a high school diploma and a willingness to learn.