Great America Series: Rugged Indvidualism

Rugged individualism and it's twin giant, self-reliance make up a great part of the fabric that is America.
Though today it is "poo-pooed" as cowboy mentality, rugged individualism was much of the fuel that propelled this country to greatness. It is sad to see it demeaned, ignored and generally looked down upon as mere machismo.

Rugged individualism is the realization that God endows all of His creatures with unique and wonderful gifts and talents; and they are compelled then to squeeze every drop of usefulness from those gifts for the benefit of others, for the enrichment of themselves and for the glory of God.

It's seed was likely present at Jamestown as men set out on the adventure of establishing a settlement.

It was definitely alive at Plymouth. The people worked a common field: planting, reaping - everyone was to do his part for the good of all.
Yet many called in sick - regularly - some from the gentry class hired other people to do their work for them. Some worked hard while others were sparse in their efforts. Governor William Bradford hit upon the idea of allowing households to farm their own ground and raise food for themselves along with the community fields. Capitalism was born as rugged individuals waxed valiant in their industry!

Later, rugged individualism would cause colonist to shirk off the bondage of Britain as they stopped using products from the mother country; it's one of the reasons Americans today still predominately prefer coffee over the tea of England.

It drove the westward expansion as people sought out a "little place of their own". Homesteaders braved the elements, cleared the land, built homes and farms and villages and cities and tamed the western U.S.

In the industrial revolution, the spirit of rugged individualism possessed the likes of Thomas Edison. When he was turned away from school because he "couldn't learn", he went to work on a train. This involved long hours of riding back and forth. Soon he had developed several occupations to bide his time on the train... he sold snacks and printed his own newspaper, eventually he turned one of the rail cars into a laboratory.

There was something inside each man and woman - a calling, a special purpose - and this nation was the first to give them freedom to answer that call! Rugged individualism didn't originate in this country but this was where it was allowed to live and grow.

Capitalism fueled the fires of individualism and self-reliance - anyone could succeed if he just worked hard enough and didn't quit. Our newspapers, our books our songs all hailed the heroes who endured sacrifice, got up when they were knocked down, and through every hardship pressed on.

America has always loved the stories of regular guys who keep getting up when they are knocked down and who eventually rise to the top. I have a suspicion that we still love those stories, we just don't have enough folks telling them.

This concept is not arrogance, as some might think these days - it's far from it.

Self-reliance simply meant that people were responsible for themselves and their families. There were few "safety nets", few government bail out programs. That meant that when all hope was gone and one had truly reached the end of his or her rope, he looked - not to Washington - but higher; he looked to God for help. And God, in turn, often helped through other people in the community.

So the "cowboy" who was all full of pride and puffed up - when he suffered a setback - found himself cleansed by a fresh dousing of humility and he was also reminded that his true source was God. Then when he looked across the way, he remembered that his neighbors were the Lord's instruments of help - and he felt grateful.

Now compare that to today.

Much of society gives up way before they ever reach the end of their rope - fuel prices go up, housing prices go down, rice costs more and it is deemed a CRISIS! People cry out "We're at the end of our rope!" and look - not to God - but to Washington; so legislators hold hearings and look all concerned for cameras.

Help is slow about coming or it comes in some perverted form that causes more harm than good or perhaps it never comes at all.

Now I ask you: this great move away from rugged individualism and into collectivism or pluralism - has it worked?

Has our ever increasing dependence on Washington and independence from Heaven - has that gotten us anywhere?

Are we all one big collective community now?

To answer that question you need but go to the nearest outlet of Americana on Parade: Walmart. Everyone from every walk of life, in every type of circumstances can be found at Walmart.

We enjoy the highest level of technology and communication that the world has ever none. Never have there been so many options for communicating at one time... and its all going on there at Walmart: people texting, talking on cell phones, listening to their ipods, retrieving emails over their palm device... so many opportunities for people to share in community but we're not closer. We are all together, near one another, yet separated by our devices. We can go through a cashier line and if a human actually serves us, it is doubtful we'll ever make eye contact with that person.

How ironic that the traits that we have tried to hide in the cellar and forget about -like self reliance . . .
. . . the things that other nations complain about we Americans, things like rugged individualism that harm the self esteem of under-achievers . . .

this is actually the stuff that was holding us together. The glue that adhered us into a vast community . . . .

A nation - under God. Indivisible.

Let's bring it back.