"Independence???"

Independent-Independence: 1.State of quality of being independent. 2. Freedom from control, influence, support, aid or the like of others. 3. Self-governing. 4. Not requiring or relying on others (as for care or livelihood). 5. Showing a desire for freedom. 

The above definition appears in Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary as in reference to independent and independence. This sounds pretty simple as we read it, yet independence has different meanings to different people. A teenager believes independence means freedom from the restrictions applied by their parents. A senior citizen feels independence is the ability to live without interference from their children. HMMMM! Those two things sound oddly similar!

In 1776, independence meant splitting from an over-reaching monarch in England and forming a nation where each citizen had a chance to shape his own destiny without a government that monitored every move those citizens made; it meant a government that was designed to serve all American citizens without intruding into each individual’s freedoms.

On July 4^th, people all across America will be celebrating “Independence Day”. We will see parades and fireworks in nearly every town and city in America. We will consume thousands of tons of hot dogs, hamburgers, fried chicken, nachos, potato chips and vats of cold slaw and potato salad. We will drink enough soda and beer to float an aircraft carrier, and eat so much ice cream we could form an iceberg big enough to sink the Titanic a second time. On this day, it is great fun to be an American!! 

The big question is “How many Americans really understand what our independence means?” We have more people engaged in some type of government aid now than at any other time in American history. We have more children dependent on food stamps and financial aid than there were during the “Great Depression” of the 1930s. We have an administration that has encouraged people to remain on extended benefits on unemployment compensation and extended those benefits to an unprecedented length. We give benefits to those who are in America ILLEGALLY without a second thought and our Congress seems ready to give them even more benefits at American taxpayer’s expense. Now we will have even more people dependent on the government for their “daily bread”.

How many people understand what our Founding Fathers were trying to accomplish way back in 1776? It seems folks today want to get as much as they can for as little individual effort as possible, and if they can get the government to pick up the tab, then more power to them. 

We have a President who wants a system of government that will control nearly all aspects of an individual’s life, and is willing to monitor everything those individuals say, even in confidential communications.  

Our Founding Fathers designed a system which allowed every man and woman to reach for the stars if they had the ambition to do so. They designed a government whose main duty was to maintain security and freedom, not a government that infringed on the free market economy that would make America the showpiece of the world.

We would all be well served this week if each of us would read something about the principles of our Founding Fathers, and the dream they had for every American; not a nanny state, but a citizenry dedicated to inventiveness and ambition without restriction, independent from a “Big Brother” government. Celebrate the America of Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and Washington; it is a lot better than an Obama Utopia by a long shot!!