NUGENT: Happy Independence DNA

July 3, 2012 | « back

Real Americans never surrender

In a sea of soulless, sheeplike dependency, it’s easy to spot the fiercely independent people who continue to declare our independence. We are the producers, the people who make the country work. We are business owners and hardworking employees. We are fiercely American; we believe in self-reliance and rugged individualism.

Fiercely independent Americans don’t want the best for themselves but want more opportunity and more freedom for our grandchildren. That’s our American dream – always has been.

Fiercely independent Americans are shocked and saddened by how far our beloved country has slid into socialism. We know, as our forefathers knew, that the bigger the government, the less individual freedom and opportunity there will be.

Fiercely independent people are not anti-government, just highly suspicious of a federal government that seemingly knows no bounds and has little, if any, respect for the 10th Amendment. We have a healthy distrust of any program or agency that originates out of Washington.

Defiance is in the DNA of fiercely independent Americans. We defy the notion that the wealth we create through our hard work, sweat and risk can or should be spread around for others. We find that concept to be abhorrent – anti-freedom and anti-American.

Fiercely independent Americans expect no charity but are the first in line to give generously when charity is needed. We are givers, not takers. We can always be counted on to offer a hand up to those who want to help themselves. We don’t give handouts, as we know that destroys self-reliance.

On this Independence Day, when Americans gather around family and friends for barbecues and fireworks, it would be wise to spend a few minutes to talk about independence vs. dependence.

In between the laughter, fun and fireworks, fiercely independent Americans will read aloud the Declaration of Independence. We will discuss the bravery and commitment of those original freedom-loving Americans who mutually pledged to each other their lives, fortunes and sacred honor in order to give birth to America.

We will tell our children and grandchildren that the “shot heard around the world” brought forth an era of freedom, independence and self-government.

Fiercely independent Americans teach their children and grandchildren that freedom is never free, that protecting freedom requires constant vigilance and individual participation. They teach them to be activists, to stand up and raise their healthy voices. We tell them voting isn’t all that is required.

On this 2012 Independence Day, when we celebrate our Declaration of Independence from King George III 236 years ago, America has some soul searching to do regarding freedom and independence.

As we continue to slide further into the big-government abyss that our Founding Fathers warned us about, we must either reverse course and embrace the ideals of freedom and limited government our founders envisioned, or we choose big government, unsustainable debt and ultimately, tyranny.

Fiercely independent Americans remember, embody and are bolstered by the famous words of Capt. John Paul Jones of the American Navy in 1779. With his ship, the Bonhomme Richard, badly damaged, on fire and slowly sinking, Jones was asked to surrender by the captain of a British warship. Jones replied, “I have not yet begun to fight!”

That’s the spirit of fiercely independent Americans. Never give in. Never surrender.

Happy Independence Day, America. Celebrate it like you mean it.

Source: WashingtonTimes.com