Independence

Independence is a very mixed concept. The more we learn of life on this planet; the more we realize that nobody and nothing is truly independent. Independence, as celebrated in the USA on July Fourth, was a concept born of the Age of Enlightenment. It was fed by the self interests of American bourgeoise, whose materialism was inhibited by British taxation. Today's equivalent in this Internet Age is the libertarian ideal of the yuppy entrepreneur who makes a fortune in his/her 'youth' and retires to snowboarding by the age of 35 and a life of dividends, travel and tax shelters. Despite this ideal, the middle class has raised an inordinate number of fiercely dependent young adults who are living with their parents long after graduating college. Meanwhile, the children of the poor have been thrown into an earlier independence, since welfare programs for single mothers have been severely cut. Americans are more dependent than ever on religious figures. Churches of personality are being built all over by entrepreneurial pastors, who feel free to dabble in moral directives and politics. Perhaps there is a middle path between independence and dependence. Perhaps it is an intentional co-dependence, based in cooperation and compassion.