I started out with nothing.
Sure, I’ve never missed a meal. Sure I’ve had a strong supporting family. But I’ve gone out of my way to make good decisions throughout my life. I’ve gone through periods where I’ve had to walk home from work each day, and have warn my tennis shoes down to the insoles before buying a new pair. I’ve saved up my money to buy an old car, and kept it running by learning the mechanics of it, and repairing it myself.
I do not like social programs, because I wish to help myself. I will learn how to fix things, and I will strive to be the best that I can be.
I’ve had family members go through hard times, and the family has always banded together and help each other out. No government program has ever done much to help them.
The individual rules supreme because the collective will inevitably destroy itself. It is the individuals in my family who have always stood out. My grandmother, who has very little money, has always been there for the grandchildren. No matter what was going on, she would always be there to look after them in times of need. The same way her grandfather was there for her when she was sick, the day that a bomb blew up outside her house when she was just a child, and he shielded her from the fragments of glass that came flying from the window.
My family knows hardship, and I know history. Governments and their idealized social programs always fail. Collectivism always fails. Individuals are always the heros.
I am currently facing unemployment by the end of the year, and yet the idea of drawing a welfare check does not even cross my mind. I will find work if I need it, in any form possible. I’ve done it once, and I can do it again. But despite this, I am not worried. I have planned for this inevitability, and I have saved up enough money to get by for a while. Despite the current economy and my own personal situation, my wife and I have just incorporated our company. You see, we are pushing toward a brighter future, one that is all our own. We don’t need government holding our hand and putting a pillow in our face at every turn. We will carve out our own future, come hell or high water. And if we should fall flat on our faces this time around, it is up to us to pick up the pieces. Not the government, which is in fact yourselves the readers, and everyone around you. I do not want your money. If I lose money, that is my problem. That is why our current fascist economy is failing. Government and crony corporations have carved up the pie all to themselves, and flushed out competition.
When competition is allowed, people strive to be all that they can be. When you give away the prize before the race has began, you nullify the competition, and the crowd becomes lazy and dependent.
The abundance around us comes from new innovations created by the free and individual mind. The current downturn is caused by big government and crony corporatism. I believe in the individual, I believe in all the great family members who would do anything for their fellow family members. And I believe that the government will fail in their miserable agendas, because the collectivist mindset is a failed philosophy.
The individuals always rule supreme because they go out of their way to be the best. To be there when they are needed, and to provide for themselves and others in times of need. No collective can ever produce as much as a group of individuals bound together by a common goal.
Think of all the stories you’ve heard about a great uncle or grandfather, and you will know that it is individuals who shape this world, and no government program can ever change that.
Becoming American 
The individual does always rule. Too many young people these days have been taught a mixture of messages, and they are confused. It used to be our art taught society how to reach for better than “average.” It’s hard to believe it, but Walt Disney used to put this show on prime time television.
Young people will think that’s old fashioned, but you know what, it worked.
I haven’t heard that since I last watched ‘Back to the Future’ and Marty went back to the 1950’s. Davy Crockett reminds me of Simon Kenton from the ‘Frontiersmen’. I agree, Davy Crockett does everything an American should do. He creates a life for himself, depends on himself, and represents himself in congress, then goes back home. That’s what its supposed to be about. I can’t think of any shows out there right now which embody that kind of spirit.
Most of this information is in books, and I know you have read a lot more than most people have who are your age. It’s a lonely road. You’re doing good.
Yes, it is a lonely road. Thank you, it is hard at times, but these discussions and blogs need to be put out there.
People read them, and if it helps one person, it’s a good thing.