Independence
Day Reflection
The
purpose of the 7 Daily Nuggets is to teach us what we need to know to live a
prosperous life; the things that we may not have learned or are not currently
learning in church, school, home or at work. Let’s apply what we learn here and
share these nuggets with others. We make a living by what we get; we make a
life by what we give. Be a giver in a world of takers.
How
independent and free are we?
Independence
is the quality or state of being independent.
Here is something
I just read in themainwire.com that troubled me and I hope it troubles you too.
I quickly got over my troubled thinking as I realized that it is in our
troubles that we find our opportunities.
The opportunity is education is massive.
According to the Heritage Foundation’s 2012
Index of Dependence on Government, 63.7 million Americans, or about one in
five, is receiving direct government support from Social Security, welfare, or
Pell Grants—and that is at its highest level ever.
These individuals
are very likely to be receiving additional benefits from other government
programs such as Medicare or Medicaid, food stamps, etc., and the total share
of Americans receiving benefits is likely to be even higher when considering
benefits available on everything from housing to school lunches. The Wall
Street Journal found that in 2011, 49 percent of Americans lived in a household
where at least one member of the family received a government benefit.
The nation can’t
afford to continue increasing spending on these programs, as President Obama
has proposed in each of his budgets. Federal spending is exploding—and it is
already an eye-popping reality that 70.5 percent of federal spending goes to
dependency-creating programs. We are spending more on dependency-creating
programs while an ever-shrinking number of taxpayers are paying for them.
Most importantly,
it’s bad for Americans. The American Dream is about life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness, through independence—not dependence on government.
Government dependency erodes human dignity and civil society.
These programs were
originally designed to help those who fall on hard times and need a safety net.
Public policy should head back in that direction. The welfare reform of 1996
helped lift recipients out of poverty and back into jobs by requiring, among
other things, that they work. President Obama has undone that requirement. And
there are dozens more anti-poverty programs that should be revamped to help
those who are able toward self-sufficiency.
At the same time,
we must address the looming entitlements crisis: 78 million baby boomers are
heading into retirement, and many of them will be entirely dependent on Social
Security and Medicare for their income and health care. This dependency is a
huge driver of future budget deficits.
We cannot continue
on a course of unlimited government spending when fewer and fewer taxpayers are
paying for that spending. That is the financial fact. But we also cannot
sustain the American Dream on this course—and that is a fact that is intensely
personal for every American.
Poverty in American has
become a big industry and it is exploited by many, including the chief
propagator, our own government.
If we want to end
poverty, let’s make education our chief industry.
Entitlement
is the worst form of slavery!
You may
call it coincidence; I call it providence, the story of a great man from a town
called Independence in the State of Missouri. Here is an example of someone who
self-educated himself and went a long way from his hometown.
Harry Truman, 33rd
President of the United States of America had a lifelong love of reading. Mama
Truman taught Harry to read before he started school. She gave ten-year-old
Harry a four volume set of essays entitled, Great Men and Famous Women, which
Harry read with great enthusiasm.
Although a lack of
money kept Mr. Truman from going to college, he continued to read and educate
himself. Margaret remembered her father always having a book in his hand when
he sat down for a quiet moment. Even in Mr. Truman's last years, he alternated between
several books. You probably have heard the tale of Mr. Truman having read all
books from the library of Independence, Missouri, the town where he was born
and lived. He was a good president during the time when the world was in
crisis. A self-educated farm boy that reached the Presidency is attributed for
the following two quotes:
"I'm going to fight hard. I'm going to give them
hell." “The buck stops here.”
How can
we find ourselves and rise again instead of going down in history as another
failed society?
Here are
things we can all do something about:
1.
Fight for your
freedom and spread freedom. Be a freedom
fighter instead of security seeker. Do we want our kids and grandkids inherit a
lot less freedoms than we did?
2.
Spread entrepreneurship. Think and act as an entrepreneur and leader, not just as
a passive employee waiting for the retirement day. The industrial age where
safe and secure jobs were abundant is long gone.
3.
Learn and live the
entrepreneurial values. The values of initiative, imagination,
ingenuity, innovation, tenacity, and self-mastery. It is time to think long term
and delay gratification so we can leverage the power of compounding.
4.
Be a voracious
reader of the great books. Start by
reading the books A Thomas Jefferson
Education, FreedomShift, 1913, and LeaderShift. Then start reading history, the classics, and so on.
Fall in love with reading. Imagine if Americans would just substitute just 30
minutes of their four hours of TV watching with reading every day?
5.
Take full responsibility
for your life, your future, and your family.
Master the fundamentals of life. Money, time, relationships, physical, mental,
spiritual health. Live this two letter word motto - “If it is up to be it is up to me.”
6.
Tap into self-education
and leverage its power. A self-directed
education is the only true education. We are all in the education business.
Think of it like the oxygen mask; put yours first then you can help those
around you.
7.
Be a rascal. Chase your dreams with gusto. I believe the best days
for America are ahead of us if only 1% of us chased independence and freedom instead
of dependence and perceived security.
Wake up America!
Be blessed
and be a blessing to others
Carlos Fontana, President of Phalanx
Co-author of the book Follow to Lead (The 7 Principles to Being
a Great Follower)
Author of the book PRICELESS (Sixty-Six Simple Stories of
Reflection, Love, and Legacy)
