The Loss of Financial Independence

Financial independence was what attracted many young men from the Mid-West back to farming after WWII. They wanted to be their own boss; and they thought this right was part of what being an American was. They found out, to their sorrow, that this was no longer the case. America was no longer a land of the free, it was a land of the organization, where the individual was no longer important.

A more shocking state of affairs cannot be imagined - but something even more shocking accompanied this change: nobody noticed it was happening. Most loved this new state of affairs, tailor-fit for nobodies. The previous state of affairs, I hardly need say, was made for somebodies - the strong, proud, people who made America in the first place - who were also financially independent.

I can hear your objection now: "The world has changed in the last two hundred years. What is needed now are persons who can fit into our modern life-style. If this causes some loss of independence, so be it. The world moves on, and people have to move with it, whether they like it or not."

What you are saying is exactly what I am saying: the individual is no longer important. And the very notion of this kind of person, who is interested in the Common Good, now seems quaint and unrealistic.

In his place is the person who is only in it for himself, and the Devil damn the hindmost.