Bryan Whiting

A happy life contains many components, but unless Aunt Matilda left you $1 million, it involves earning a living and an employment-based career. Fulfilling such appears to be both easy and hard. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states there are 18.5 million job openings annually. Interestingly, those requiring a college degree, nondegree post-high school training and neither each occupy 33% of the total. Opportunity appears plentiful.

Personal freedom is a function of independence from dependence. Anytime we allow ourselves to become dependent upon something or someone, we give up a degree of control. Whether we desire it or realize it does not matter. It is not a choice. This dependency can develop quickly or gradually. It can result from responsibility, but more often it is the result of an organization, action or person we give a dominant position in our lives. The expanded role of government is an obvious example.

July 4 should not only be a celebration of our independence but also a celebration of our country’s unprecedented success in establishing freedom, opportunity, safety and economic effectiveness. It should also remind us that such success is not guaranteed or automatically sustained. Ensuring our existence and progress requires us to not only remember but advocate for the principles and values that facilitated this history of success.