1. Had the bears been aware of self, and recognized that the path of least resistance carried long-term consequence, would they have taken the free food?
2. What was more harmful to the bear species… the hotel offering the food in the first place, or withholding it once the bears integrated the nourishment into their daily lives?

We must assume that the proprietors of this hotel acted with the best of intentions. We have to believe that they could not extrapolate how their seemingly altruistic actions could garner such a consequence. Once they knew better, this practice ceased.

I watched “Die Hard” last week. In one of the scenes Bruce Willis is on the radio with some knucklehead from the Government. Bruce says..

“If you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Quit being part of the problem and put the other guy back on.”

What is the problem in America today? Healthcare? Jobs? Banks? I argue those are symptoms of the problem; artifacts and indicators of a deeper issue. From the dawn of civilization the ambitious man pursued the control over others. This is a constant; a natural law; much akin to gravity. For most of the 20th century really smart and ambitious people quietly made inroads into our educational and governmental infrastructure; germinating economic and societal concepts which appear really good when you step back 10 feet and squint. The concepts had pretty titles like “living wage”, “New Deal”, “Social Responsibility”… among others. What were the common threads across all? A simple concept..

When government regulates the production of resources and distribution to the people, then the governed will be better off.

The problem becomes clear. More of our countrymen either believe the euphemisms which shroud the cold vocabulary of Socialism, or simply tune out. Either way they are stuck living the life of a scrounging bear once deciding to accept the path of least resistance offered by the government. For every emergency, for every crisis, for every ailment, talking heads from academia and media tell us that we need the government to fix “it”. Oh, and unlike the hotel proprietors, they DO know better.

Now back to our buddy Bruce… If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.

If the strategy for governmental control relied on indoctrinating a generation into believing that they could not do for themselves what the Government was “offering” to do for them, then the anti-strategy requires practicing self-reliance in every way possible!

• Self-reliance in our shelter needs
• Self-reliance in for nourishment
• Self-reliance for matters of finance
• Self-reliance in our formation of opinion

The greatest advance toward liberty you can make is to learn how to do for yourselves most of the things you currently pay others or the government to do for you. Not only will your muscles of self-reliance become stronger, but it will generate a shift in attitude, expectation, and control.

Those traveling this path will most assuredly encounter the neighbor, friend, or family member who adamantly and blindly clings to the position that giving up this piece or that piece of our liberty for the greater good of “the collective” represents a more altruistic and patriotic course. They will discount, insult, and nullify any arguments that Constitutional Principles are still relevant in today’s modern era; if they even studied the Constitution at all. They are more likely to form political opinions from John Stewart’s talking points ather than the experiences of John Adams. To these people I implore you to be kind, loving, and forgiving as far as your character allows. I pity the fellow who must learn from his own mistakes rather than from the mistakes of others... or even bears for that matter. It is so disheartening when someone quite well-intentioned and academically educated starts to use history when arguing why progressive ideals are so great, when every historical example in existence turns into tyranny or bankruptcy!

To quote Reagan...

"It is not that our Liberal friends are ignorant, it that they know so much that just isn’t so.”

For the rest of your community, you must be that beacon of light. Be that example of awakened consciousness. Demonstrate self-reliance in every act of every day. The time will come when your neighbors rustle from their slumber. When they begin to ask how they ended up following the government’s rules for their rent payment, for their health checkups, follow the red tape for their job duties, wait for their turn in the food line, along with every other aspect of life. They will begin to struggle against the bounds known as our “Nanny state”. That is when you are needed most. Not to feed them a fish, but to teach them to fish.

You can demonstrate the power of One. Each of us came into this earth to do more than clock in and out for forty years and get a gold watch. If you want hope, if you want change, be the hope and change you want to see. This time next year, let the walls of these buildings resonate with your testimony of a new awakening! Let it be the year you became debt free, let this spring mark your rediscovery of our founding Father’s plight! Let this autumn be your first harvest, and let 2010 be the year you turned off your television and spent those hours learning from others, and teaching other what you know!

It does not end there. Our electorate is a reflection of society at large. When the Self Reliant person springs forward with a desire to lead, they can only succeed with the confidence knowing they represent a self-reliant constituency. They need more than your vote; they require your advocacy, donations of time, donations of money, and reinforcement that they are not alone; especially when they face down the tsunami of “progress” flooding our congressional halls. Each voting district in this state contains a candidate ready to represent the Founding principles critical to the prosperity of America. Seek them out. THANK THEM, then support them every way you can.