A friend once flattered my brother and me by commenting that we were “salt of the earth” people.

When he asked about the environment in which we were raised relative to his compliment, I said the first thing that came to my mind: I told him that we were raised in a salty environment.

It was just a joke at the time, but little did I know how much I would learn about salt and how it relates to families as a result.

The compliment was, of course, referring to the words spoken by the master teacher Jesus Christ who said, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?”

Christ also makes a strange request in the book of Mark, where he directs his disciples to “Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”

These phrases and the conversation with my friend led me to research salt, with the purpose to answer the following questions:

1. What are the qualities of salt that lend themselves to Christ’s parables?
2. Why should we become like salt?
3. Most importantly, what can salt teach us about raising a family?

Putting aside your justifiable doubts about me being “salt of the earth,” I hope you’re as fascinated as I have been by my findings about the connections between salt and families.

I found that salt provides savor, preserves, balances and regulates, cleans, heals, and restores, all of which coincide with the purposes of the institution of family in society.

Provide Savor

Salt provides savor, giving bland food flavor, and toning down excessively rich or sweet foods.

Within the family bond we find the spice of life: the joy of discovery, the richness of intimate relationships, the miracle of birth and the wonder of growth, the support of compassion, the guide of loving correction, and the fulfillment of necessary change and repentance.

Family enhances the blandness of puritanism and tones down the danger of hedonism.

Preserve

Salt is the earliest known preservative, and tribal societies used it to preserve and store meat and fish.

Like salt, ideal families preserve values, traditions, ideals, history, and culture.

It is primarily in the family that we learn how to function in and contribute to society, as well as learn the things that destroy society.

Thus, preservation is necessary for perpetuation, and families provide both for society.

Balance & Regulate

The body needs sodium to regulate blood pressure, blood volume, water balance and cell function.

Families also balance and regulate society by providing a safe environment for family members to explore and create without creativity degenerating into anarchy, and to recognize order and structure, without form degenerating into tyranny.

Salt regulates and balances body fluids; family regulates and balances the societal fluid of philosophy and direction.

Clean

The chemical chlorine, used to keep swimming pools clean and treat municipal water, is derived from salt, and scientists are discovering even better and safer ways to process salt used for cleaning water and other substances.

Families, when operated effectively, also have a cleaning effect on citizens. Nurturing mothers and caring fathers safeguard children from harmful media and substances, keeping them clean and giving them strength to resist temptation when they venture into society on their own.

Heal

Salt aids in the reconstruction of blood and tissues, and is therefore a necessary element of healing wounds.

When individual family members become wounded by wrong actions, injurious habits, harsh words and other abuse, the family is there to uplift, encourage, inspire, and heal.

Restore

Gatorade has become so popular because it provides electrolytes, which help the body recover from fatigue and exertion. Electrolytes are derived from sodium, a fundamental element of salt.

Every society loses direction, stumbles, and degenerates in time.

Healthy families, who have preserved the society’s history, ideals, values, and traditions through education, become the primary factor in restoring societies who have temporarily lost their way.

Transformational families raise transformational children who are able to transform society from within.

Conclusion

The qualities and functions of salt provide an extraordinarily applicable analogy to the institution of family.

Families, when understood deeply and nurtured carefully, can be “salt factories” that produce men and women who provide savor to, preserve, balance and regulate, clean, heal, and restore society.

Is your family a salt factory? Are you providing a “salty” environment of love, trust, respect, inspiration, guidance, and cleanliness?

Strive to do so, for society depends primarily on your efforts within the walls of your own home.

The seven major societal institutions are family, community, religion, academia, business, media, and government.

Family

The role of the family is to ensure responsible citizens, preserve society, and balance the desires of individual liberty with the demands of community responsibility.

As James C. Ure, professor at George Wythe University, has written,

“The family is the bubble in which a child…feels safe enough to explore his individuality. It is also the first place a child learns to make personal sacrifices for the good of the whole.

“In the family, it is natural for a parent to expose a child to various activities or ideas to determine what unique interests the child may have and to give the child an enhanced sense of self. It is also natural for a parent to ask a child to sacrifice personal interests to benefit the family, such as to provide help with cooking or cleaning.

“In the end, this is not very different from what makes free societies tick…It is in the family that children are expected to learn the core values and beliefs that democratic institutions later draw on to perpetuate themselves.”

Community

The original concept of federalism meant that as many decisions as possible were made at the lowest level possible.

As Cleon Skousen taught, strong, local self-government was the keystone to the original American system.

Understanding that power centralizes and expands, the Founders knew that the bulk of our political decisions should be made on the community level.

The role of the community, therefore, is to prevent the centralization of power by keeping responsibility and decision-making close to the people.

Religion

John Adams wrote that,

“Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not only of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all government and in all the combinations of human society.”

George Washington affirmed,

“Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure…reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

The role of religion is to remind republican citizens of their duties to and reliance upon God. Virtue is the bedrock of free society, and religion provides a constant reminder of that fact.

Furthermore, religion serves as a venue where citizens serve God by serving their fellowman; philanthropy is enacted in large part through religion.

Academia

Academia advances culture through knowledge, helps to prevent socio-economic inequities, breaks through boundaries of human ignorance and fear, helps societies to avoid repeated historical mistakes, and serves as a check on the government by keeping citizens informed of civic affairs.

As John Adams said,

“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people…They have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge — I mean, of the characters and conducts of their rulers.”

Business

The role of business is to provide exchange, commerce, and ultimately widespread prosperity. In a free market economy prices tend to decrease through competition and innovation, the ultimate benefactors being end consumers of products and services.

In a free market economy poverty decreases, the standard of living rises, and people are able to find self-fulfillment as their subsistence needs are met.

In The 5,000 Year Leap, Cleon Skousen wrote that,

“By 1905 the U.S. had become the richest industrial nation in the world. With only five percent of the earth’s continental area and merely six percent of the world’s population, the American people were producing over half of almost everything — clothes, food, houses, transportation, communications, even luxuries.”

The occurred because of our free market economy, where business was left free to fulfill its role.

Media

The role of the media is to disseminate information, highlight important current events, and to essentially stand as a witness, an observer of cultural, political, community, and educational events.

A healthy media provides a check on the government and increases the political astuteness of republican citizens.

Government

The role of government is to protect unalienable rights. Government is the institutionalization of force, and as such should not do anything that would not be right for an individual to do (such as steal).

As Thomas Jefferson said,

“…a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.”

Why It Matters

Freedom occurs when all seven of these societal institutions are on an equal plane, with no one form being more important or having more power or influence than another. When one gains predominance, some form or level of tyranny always emerges.

For example, having family run society results in the mafia. The Dark Ages illustrate the problems of religion ruling. When business is predominant, the society is oligarchic. When the government is predominant, this usually occurs as a monarchy or aristocracy.

The best way to ensure that all seven institutions remain on a level plane is to keep the government within its proper role.

Since the government does not produce — it only takes what others have produced and redistributes — any time it favors one institution over another it does so to the aggrandizement of the one favored and the detriment of the other.

When government tries to get into the business of philanthropy through wealth redistribution, family, community, and religion are weakened.

When government stifles the press, the media is obviously weakened, and so is academia as citizens are kept in the dark on important matters.

In America today, government and business are predominant over the other five societal institutions. Furthermore, they are often joined together, forming an oligarchic structure that harms small business, decreases widespread prosperity and increases discrepancies in wealth distribution, and increases the size and scope of the government.

If America is to survive and thrive in the 21st Century, it is imperative that the power and influence of the government and business be reduced and the power of family, community, religion, academia, and media be increased.

“Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it… The foundation of every government is some principle or passion in the minds of the people. The noblest principles and most generous affections in our nature, then, have the fairest chance to support the noblest and most generous models of government.” – John Adams in Thoughts on Government

At the core of political philosophy and constitutional government is the issue of human nature; we can’t know how to govern unless we fully understand whom is being governed.

Designing and managing a polity must take into consideration who human beings are, how and why they act, and how to best promote their happiness.

Human nature is composed of two things: 1) motivations, and 2) tendencies.

Human Motivation

The Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises formulated a methodology for understanding human action that he called “praxeology.” Mises deduced fifty laws of human action, which include the following highlights:

1. Choice determines all human action.
2. Human action is purposeful; people make choices for reasons.
3. Action is the attempt to change the state of being for a more satisfactory state.
4. No person does anything except what they think will improve their satisfaction.

The core of Mises’ laws is that we act to increase our satisfaction. From getting up from the couch to get a soda, to going to church, to perpetrating violent crime, every human action is designed to bring the actor more satisfaction than he or she currently feels.

A well-designed body politic, then, will allow its citizens to seek and gain satisfaction in any way they see fit, as long as they do not encroach upon the unalienable rights of others. As the Roman statesman Cato said,

“By liberty, I understand the power which every man has over his own actions, and his right to enjoy the fruit of his labor, art, and industry, as far as by it he hurts not the society or any members of it, by taking from any member or by hindering him from enjoying what he himself enjoys.”

Human Tendencies

Are human beings good, or evil? Are we fallen beings, or are we enlightened beings of light and love? Do we seek depravity, or degeneracy?

Yes.

Most philosophers seemingly take the either/or view of human nature; some say we are good, and some say we are bad.

It seems clear to me that we are both, that inherent to every individual is the potential for divinity and degeneracy.

Why It Matters

The purpose of government isn’t to change human nature; it’s simply to allow us to be free and to prevent us from using our freedom to harm others.

It’s not–or at least should not be–a positive, offensive force employed to mold people and institutions; it must be merely a negative, defensive force used to protect unalienable rights.

If you want to change people for the better, the government is the absolute worst place to do so, since by nature government is force.

You can’t force people to be and do good; you can simply influence, inspire, and persuade through love and example. As George Washington said,

“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master.”

Inevitably, imperious dictators and benevolent demagogues end up in government; it’s the quickest–and laziest–route to “do good” and impose one’s will upon society.

The Connection Between the Human Spirit & Liberty

One cannot believe in liberty without also believing in the power of the human spirit, our capacity to transcend external circumstances, our persistent desire to find truth and virtue in the midst of violence and degeneracy.

If you don’t believe in people and their ability to succeed, you’ll eventually come to believe that you must be their guardian and caretaker.

This mindset inevitably leads to a condescending benevolence and false philanthropy using the force of government, as opposed to humble service through voluntary virtue.

If you believe that people are fundamentally evil and that you must change them, you’ll become a dictator to impose your will upon others; you’ll force them to change, believing that they won’t change otherwise.

If you believe in the human spirit, your modus operandi for enacting societal change will be through loving persuasion and humble service using private, voluntary institutions such as religion, family, charitable organizations, business, etc.

If you believe that human beings are fundamentally weak and selfish–but you feel called upon to “help” them–chances are that you’ll use the force of government to attempt to change human nature.

In the first scenario, your view of others will be from the position of a servant looking up; in the second your view will be as a ruler looking down.

Conclusion

Using the force of government is the absolute worst way to help or to change people; it leads to nothing but tyranny, bureaucracy, mediocrity, and stagnation.

The government must allow its citizens to pursue their own forms of satisfaction, as long as they do not prevent others from doing the same.

People can be both good and bad–when government stays in its proper role to protect unalienable rights it encourages the good and prohibits the bad.

People must be helped and influenced to change through voluntary private institutions.

Recommended Reading:

• The Uncomfortable Mirror: Overcoming Self-Deception Through the Study of History
• Thoughts on Government by John Adams
• Human Action by Ludwig von Mises

According to the American Founders, the Four Foundations of Freedom are:

1. Private Virtue
2. Public Virtue
3. Widespread Education
4. Auxiliary Precautions

The Founders consistently taught that, in the absence of these foundations, no society can survive, or at least maintain its freedom.

Private virtue means being a person of integrity; being honest in your dealings with others, being faithful in your duties to your family, controlling your appetites, etc.

Public virtue means to voluntarily sacrifice personal benefit for the good of society.

For example, George Washington served two terms as President even when, as he was accepting the post, he wrote that it “would be the greatest sacrifice of my personal feelings and wishes that ever I have been called upon to make.”

Contrary to our modern conception of education, widespread education to the Founders didn’t mean job training; it meant classical, liberal education designed to teach individuals how to think, not what to think (see A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille).

And finally, auxiliary precautions are a society’s forms of government that ideally protect life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Auxiliary precautions, as outlined in The Federalist Papers and other writings, include the following:

1. Legitimate Foundation
2. Legitimate Authority
3. Legitimate Role
4. Separation of Powers
5. Checks
6. Balances
7. Federalism
8. Written Constitution
9. Enumerated Limited Powers
10. Periodic Elections
11. Electoral College
12. Factionalization

Why It Matters

What matters most about the four foundations is their order of importance. The Founders understood that no free government, however enlightened, can survive unless the people that it governs are moral and virtuous.

Constitutional government is nothing but words on paper unless its principles are alive in the souls of the people; free nations get the government that they deserve.

When a free people fails to internalize and exhibit public and private virtue, no government on earth can keep them from destroying themselves. On the other hand, people who cultivate and maintain virtue and value their principles above their privileges enjoy unlimited prosperity, peace, and happiness.

As Benjamin Franklin said:

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”

James Madison added:

“We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”

In a free government, the People get the government that they deserve. The only way to maintain freedom is to maintain private and public virtue.

Gandhi was once approached by a mother who wanted him to have a few words with her son. The boy was eating too much sugar and it was harming his teeth and diet.

When the mother asked Gandhi to talk to her son he replied, “I cannot tell him that. But you may bring him back in a month.”

Obviously the woman was discouraged because of all the travel involved to see Gandhi and what she felt should have been a simple answer to a simple request to support her parenting skills.

However, one month later she returned with her son.

Gandhi tenderly held the boy’s hands and told him to not eat sugar because it was harmful to his health. The mother was pleased but perplexed. She asked him why he had not simply said this to the boy a month earlier during her first visit.

Gandhi replied, “Well, a month ago, I was still eating sugar.”

State sex and meth offender registries are clear indications that America is progressively forgetting its constitutional heritage and choosing legalistic security over freedom and virtue.

Donna Leinwand once reported in USA Today that,

“States frustrated with the growth of toxic methamphetamine labs are creating Internet registries to publicize the names of people convicted of making or selling meth, the cheap and highly addictive stimulant plaguing communities across the nation. The registries — similar to the sex-offender registries operated by every state — have been approved within the past 18 months in Tennessee, Minnesota and Illinois.”

Although the registries are almost universally considered to be expedient, they are clearly bills of attainder, which are expressly forbidden by the Constitution, both on the federal and state levels.

In Article I, section 9 of the Constitution we read that, “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.” Section 10 continues by dictating that, “No State shall…pass any Bill of Attainder…’

The word attainder comes from the Middle English atteindre, which is the act of attainting, staining, disgracing, or tainting, and from the Old French ataindre, meaning to touch upon, seize, accuse, or condemn.

According to St. George Tucker, in Blackstone’s Commentaries,

“Bills of attainder are legislative acts passed for the special purpose of attainting particular individuals of treason, or felony, or to inflict pains and penalties beyond, or contrary to the common law.”

Offender registries taint the individuals placed on them after they have suffered the penalties stipulated by common law.

The most common argument in favor of the registries is the high rates of recidivism of sex and meth offenders.

But this is yet another example of our contemporary tendency to hack at leaves while ignoring roots.

We have created a culture — through changes to the Constitution — that weakens the family.

The best, most durable, and most responsible method for dealing with the dangers posed by sex and meth offenders is for parents to supervise their children.

But our first tendency is to look outside of ourselves to the government and the power of law to solve societal ills, instead of turning inward and taking personal responsibility to find solutions.

Our sense of morality has been, by and large, removed from spiritual roots and is determined instead by mere legality. And, as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said,

“Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relationships, this creates an atmosphere of spiritual mediocrity that paralyzes man’s noblest impulses.”

Sex and meth offender registries are clear signs of a society that is straying from its roots of public virtue and constitutional government.

Ironically, we are using the power of government to solve societal problems that were created by an overzealous government in the first place.

Alexander Hamilton once wrote that,

“Nothing is more common than for a free people, in times of heat and violence, to gratify momentary passions, by letting into the government, principles and precedents which afterwards prove fatal to themselves.”

If America is to survive, her people must return to the two things that have made her great: virtue and strict adherence to constitutional forms.

Using the force of law to fix societal problems is a temporary solution at best, and at worst, a subtle yet powerful form of tyrannical dependence.

Associated Press writer Ashley M. Heher once reported that,

“Lawyers for slave descendants asked a federal appeals court…to revive a landmark reparations case that demands 17 of the nation’s insurers and banks publicize and pay for their roles in the country’s slave trade.

“The case, which names Wall Street behemoths JP Morgan Chase & Co., Aetna Inc., Bank of America, Lehman Brothers and others, says the companies’ predecessors issued loans to slave owners and, in some cases, owned, insured and transported slaves…all at a financial profit that helped ensure their success today.”

Slavery was an awful stain upon the fabric of our nation, and it continues to negatively impact us today.

Yet if we are to move beyond the suffering and heal the wounds caused by slavery, it will take voluntary heroism by individuals, not misplaced and misguided governmental force.

Everyone born into this life has a fundamental choice that determines their happiness and success, or lack thereof. That is the choice between victimhood and heroism.

Admittedly, this is easy to say relative to the issue of slave reparations for a person whose ancestors didn’t come from slavery, but the principle applies nonetheless.

If all of us were to seek reparations for atrocities committed on our ancestors, where would the chain of victimhood end?

Why shouldn’t we have groups seeking reparations from companies in Britain who helped finance the war against the colonies? Where are the lawsuits against France for the Napoleonic Wars? Should Rome sue Germany for the Germanic tribes that sacked Rome?

Gratefully, we still have commonsensical judges who recognize how ridiculous is the concept of reparations from historical abuse. Said Circuit Judge Richard Posner involved in the case,

“If you think you’ve been wronged, it shouldn’t take 100 years to investigate the conduct of Aetna, Lehman Brothers and the like. There are a lot of people living today whose parents were wealthy in the 19th century who have nothing.”

It’s also unclear how money will solve the problems of those seeking reparations.

Receiving money will do nothing to help them make the decision to be heroes instead of victims, neither will it allow for volitional charity from individuals and corporations who may have contributed to the evils of slavery and racial oppression.

Without a fundamental change in consciousness, increased amounts of money do nothing but exacerbate existing problems.

Reparations for slavery are like putting a band-aid on a gaping, traumatic wound that actually requires surgery.

Public and private virtue stemming from personal, voluntary choice in the minds and hearts of individuals is the only thing that can deeply and truly heal the pain caused by slavery.

For example, companies who have blights in their history from slavery could voluntarily create programs to help struggling black youth, and people seeking reparations must choose to be heroes instead of victims.

It sounds simplistic on the surface, yet this prescription is, in fact, the most difficult method for solving human problems.

It’s easy to look outside of ourselves for solutions, but painful and exhausting to turn inward.

As Marianne Williamson said,

“The most important factor in determining what will happen in our world is what you decide to let happen within you.

“Every circumstance–no matter how painful–is a gauntlet thrown down by the universe, challenging us to become who we are capable of being. Our task, for our own sakes and for the sake of the entire world, is to do so.”

I single-handedly saved the entire health care industry today. Okay, that might be exaggerated just a bit, but hear me out.

I arrived at my orthopedic doctor’s office at the appointed time, opened a book, and settled in for an expected long wait. A full hour later a nurse showed me to an examination room, and asked me what the problem was. I explained that I had a hairline fracture on a bone in my forearm and that I had already been to InstaCare, who had x-rayed and found the injury. I told her that InstaCare had emailed the x-rays to their office.

“Oh, well our computers have been down all day and we won’t be able to download them,” she answered.

Did I mention that this was 5:35 in the afternoon, four days after I had been to InstaCare? Did I also mention that this was something that I had told them over the phone when I set up my appointment? If they knew all day that they wouldn’t have been able to see the x-rays anyway, would not a simple phone call have saved us both a lot of time?

I own a small service business, and my common practice is to call and let customers know when I will not be able to perform any part of the agreed upon service, or if I am going to be later than the agreed upon time. Maybe it’s just me, but I consider it a matter of common courtesy, not to mention a good business practice.

The nurse then told me that we would have to take another x-ray. I asked if there would be an additional charge to which she answered, “Yes.”

By the way, have I mentioned that my wife and I pay $787 per month for health insurance? Yes, that’s right–$787 per month — another house payment in our budget. You’d think that we had spent enough to pay for several open-heart surgeries and a few chemotherapy treatments after a few months of that.

Well, now that I consider the fact that the hospital once charged us $462 for a 2-minute procedure to draw my wife’s blood, I guess that $787 is a small drop in the bottomless bucket of the health care industry.

At this point of my visit I decided that enough was enough. I stood up from the x-ray table and told the nurse forcefully, “My appointment was at 4:30. You mean to tell me that I waited for an hour for you to tell me that you can’t access my x-rays, that you’ll have to take yet another x-ray, and that there will be an additional charge?”

With that I marched out of the office determined to take care of myself.

I made it to my car in the parking lot when the nurse ran up to me to tell me that the doctor would do the x-ray for free. At the moment I was too upset to think of a clear response. I think I just muttered a defiant “No!,” or something equally as brilliant.

Had I been thinking more clearly, this is how I would have responded: “For free, you say? That translates into, “Steve, the doctor says that somebody else is going to pay for your x-ray.

“There is no such thing as free! Why would I stamp out of your office on principle, refusing to pay another red cent to a defective system, and then allow somebody else to pay for my troubles like a sniveling child?

“No, thank you, you can keep your ‘free’ x-ray and you can keep your dependent health care system. As for me, I’m going to take personal responsibility and take care of my own body.”

Now, here I am with my defiant principles on the one hand, and a broken arm on the other. Lest you discard me as an extremist, allow me to explain my position in more depth.

I am not against health care; in fact, the very doctor I just walked out on performed surgery on my knee and saved me from a lifetime of pain. My own father was saved from heart disease by the miracle of modern medicine. What I have realized, however, is that much of our health care system reflects a deep cultural problem. We live in a culture which is dependent upon experts for even trivial details that we could handle ourselves. We rely upon conveniences so much that we fail to maintain a healthy body and lifestyle. We fail to plan for the future because of our belief in quick fixes.

Let me share another example. The other morning, I went out to my car to find that it wouldn’t start. I opened the hood — a hood I have not opened myself more than perhaps twice in 105,000 miles — to find that a battery terminal was completely corroded due to acid leaking from the battery. Luckily, a friendly neighbor with a rope towed my car to a nearby shop, and I then waited for three days for a simple battery cable to be replaced for $105.

Had I taken more personal responsibility and been more self-sufficient, I would have been performing regular check-ups and maintenance on my own car, I would have diagnosed the problem earlier, and I could have replaced the battery for a few bucks and in a few minutes. But I have become dependent upon the mechanical experts to the point of passing them the buck on even the simplest of operations.

Our dependence upon specialized experts and convenience leads to destructive and short-sighted habits and thought patterns. It makes us focus on the here and now and makes us think that we don’t have to plan for the future. We run our cars and our bodies into the ground because we believe that when they break down an expert can fix them at the drop of a hat. After all, if I can cook dinner in 5 minutes in the microwave, shouldn’t I be able to take a pill to solve all of the problems that the same microwave dinner is causing to my body?

We fill our bodies with fats, sweets, and preservatives, and then we are actually surprised to find that we have high cholesterol. Even then, after the surprise, we believe that taking prescription drugs will cure us, as opposed to just living right. We pour more and more quick-fixes (i.e. money) into our educational system and then are surprised when our children fail tests or repeatedly test lower than other nations.

We regularly sue doctors and insurance companies over petty claims in order to receive the convenience of quick cash, and then complain that our health insurance is so expensive. We rely upon Social Security so much that we fail to save in personal accounts. Some of us even believe that militarily imposing “democracy” upon Iraq will actually cure the disease of terrorism.

Generally speaking, we have strayed far from our roots of personal responsibility and ownership and have become a nation of dependents. We depend upon the government for so-called “safety nets,” we depend on corporations for health care and retirement benefits, we depend on specialized experts to do things that we should be doing for ourselves, and we depend on conveniences to save us time and effort.

Incidentally, in a world full of conveniences relative to 100 years ago, why do we have so little time?

Now I don’t want to be another gloomy, self-righteous critic. I’d rather contribute to the solution instead of just pointing out problems. I propose, then, a three-part vision that will begin the much needed cultural change.

1. There Are No Quick Fixes

This simple realization will help us to work on curing the roots of social ills as opposed to hacking at the leaves. When we truly believe this, we will stop pouring money into inefficient and inoperative systems and, instead, will work on fixing the system itself. Adopting an attitude of long-term, generational change will allow us to create genuine solutions, rather than using temporary band-aids. We will understand that quick fixes only create more problems than they solve.

2. There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

When we can understand that nothing comes free, we will begin to connect the dots between “government” programs and the private citizens who pay for them. We will see that the government is the people — not some detached and self-sustaining entity, like a business. We will understand that governments cannot and do not create wealth; they merely redistribute forcefully what citizens create. We will know that any income or benefit that we receive that was not earned by our own labor and intellect, short of voluntary charity, was taken forcibly from another person. Any time we hear the word “free,” we will automatically raise a red flag in our mind and immediately begin looking for the catch.

3. Personal Responsibility

We live in a sue-happy society; everyone wants to find someone — other than themselves, of course — to blame. Fault-finding has become a highly profitable business. We have stopped doing our own research and we hold others responsible when things go wrong. If a real estate deal goes sour, we blame our agent. If our health declines, we blame our doctor.

We have got to start realizing that we alone are responsible for ourselves. Even when things happen beyond our control, such as the case with my broken arm caused by an accident playing basketball, we can still take responsibility for our responses to those accidents. In fact, that is the precise meaning of responsibility — being able to choose our responses. I can’t perform brain surgery on myself, but I can take care of a slightly broken bone by simply doing a little research and using a little common sense.

This is not an easy process; it forces us to see our true selves beyond the self-deceit, and it requires — heaven forbid — a little effort. But it is urgent and necessary for our culture to survive. We must stop looking upward and outward for answers, and begin looking downward and inward.

Our politicians can’t save us with more burdensome programs. Our corporations can’t guarantee any type or level of security, no matter how badly we want to believe that. Our doctors can’t mend lifetimes of unhealthy living, even with “miracle” pills. Our educational system cannot educate our children as well as we can. We, as individuals, hold within us the answer to any societal and governmental dilemma facing us. We must change, and as we change individually, we change the world.

The health care reformation begins when individuals walk out of inefficient hospital systems vowing to be more self-reliant. The educational revolution begins as parents take back their responsibility to educate in the home and in private institutions. The political reformation begins as people realize that there is no free lunch and stop voting for more government benefits. The cultural revolution begins and ends with one person who develops deep integrity and virtue.

I began by proclaiming that I saved the health care industry by walking out on it. A deliberate overstatement, to be sure, but can you imagine our world if everyone who was truly able simply walked out of the defective system of dependence to create a new system based on personal responsibility and self-reliance? Let’s change our culture by walking out on its defects while maintaining its healthy origins. Let’s stop waiting for someone or some institution to save us and begin seeing the savior in us all.