Most of us have moral obligations, but we treat them like a small itch that is to be scratched and forgotten. We may give to charity, feel good about ourselves, and leave things at that. We might "save the world" by putting a can in a recycle bin, and ignore any efforts that might actually make a difference, saying we already did our part. Some try to satisfy their moral and aggressive impulses at once by trying to "crusade" against what they consider evil. In all of these cases the amount of good done is minimized, yet we still temporarily satisfy the moral itch.
When the word utopia comes to mind, it is associated with fancy architecture and people with weird clothes living in bubble cities. We've all heard John Lennon's _Imagine_ and given a thought or two to utopian ideas, but in the end, nothing is done. We are divided and conquered.
Click the cartoon to see the art and science of taking away people's rights. The example deals with natives, but it applies to everybody.
One of the few advantages of dictatorship is that it's never threatened by apathy of its citizens - in fact, it's helped by it.. However, for rule of the people to succeed, the people must be competent - educated, critical, moral etc. If we the people don't do the work of ruling, some professional working for self-interest will do it for us.
It is very disturbing how many people have opinions and political leanings without stopping for a moment to think about it. For example, we all know that Roosevelt's New Deal didn't really end the depression - world war two did. Yet world war two was just a larger new deal: more spending, more controls, less 'economic freedom'. It resulted in the USA producing about half of the worlds armaments, (the rest of the world was working full blast), food and aid for the USSR, Britain, the Free French, AND twice the consumer goods as 1940 (which wasn't a very shabby year in itself).
For another example, do you know what all of these political words mean? For example, what's the difference between socialism and communism? What is the tragedy of the commons?
Information: the key to democracy
To become better citizens we should be open to all ideas, including the ones we'll obviously reject. If you disagree with something, you'll probably be tempted to sneer "propaganda" and go somewhere else. Resist this impulse, and you've done a major service to democracy.
Critical thinking skills
conversational terrorism - Look for these tactics in debates
Logical fallacies - like the above, in more detail
Practical scepticism Always handy
Logic and fallacies from the Atheism web - hasn't made a convert of me, but the list of fallacies is good if the first link wasn't enough.
Some bad tactics, used especially by conservatives: