she taught them it was not so much about education, but that "you must learn to do something, you must have a 'transportable skill'...it's about digging in, doing your best and not complaining." She further went on to say that the loss of her father at a young age, made her realize "you had to be self-reliant ...at the end of the day, you have to rely on yourself, because that is who is with you all the time," although she does follow that by saying she is a "big believer in the power and support of the family and close friends."

At this time in our country's history, we are in danger of losing that self-reliance that fueled our parents, grand-parents and the generations before them that built this country. When we should be imbuing our children with critical thinking skills, encouraging their imagination and ingenuity, and helping them learn by doing, we've become a society that has over-swung the pendulum of "collaboration", the current buzzword synonymous with endless committees, commissions, councils, and teams.

Yes, one can point to the age-old proverb, "no man is an island," or, the one year anniversary of the success of Seal Team 6. But I would respond to the latter, with a response given by a Special Forces member to Mike Huckabee during a weekend interview, "each man brings a particular skill set to the team." While those combined skill sets enable the team to complete its missions, I would offer, that in the event of an unforced error, each individual member would be able to survive on his own until rescued.

I am not against "teams" or "team spirit"; there is a time and place for everything and everyone. In a country as diverse as ours, there is certainly the need to learn how to get along and work with people of different cultures and lifestyles. However, what I have noticed becoming more ascendant in the last several years, whether in the workplace, school, politics, sports, etc. is the acquiescence of the individual to the majority consensus, or as Mill once wrote, "the tyranny of the majority." Are we Americans becoming a nation only capable of group think?

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/05/the_power_of_self-reliance.html#ixzz1uG6SjwCs