- American Self-Reliance by J. Ollie Edmunds

"This country was not built by men who relied on somebody else to take care of them. It was built by men who relied on themselves, who dared to shape their own lives, who had enough courage to blaze new trails with enough confidence in themselves to take the necessary risks.

This self-reliance is our American legacy. It is the secret of that something which stamped Americans as Americans. Some call it individual initiative, others backbone. But whatever it is called, it is a precious ingredient in our national character, one which we must not lose.

The time has come for us to re-establish the rights for which we stand, to re-assert our inalienable rights to human dignity, self-respect, self-reliance—to be again the kind of people who once made America great.

Such a crusade for renewed independence will require a succession of inspired leaders, leaders in spirit and in knowledge of the problem, not just men with political power, but men who are militantly for the distinctive way of life that was America. We are likely to find such leaders only among those that promote self-reliance and who practice it with strict devotion and understanding."

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), October 03, 2001

Answers

Hi,I am a Chinese who is doing a research on American culture and society. My specific research field is American pioneers' spirit of independence and cooperation. I think that the pioneers' had a strong sense of self-reliance and they were indifferent to governmental control. Meanwhile, they cooperated with each other. For example, they helped each other in the wagon trail and they joined together to fight against the natural disaster. However, as a Chinese student who does research on American culture, I have little material to prove all these. Could you recommend me some materials? Thank you very much.

-- Wang Huarong (whrwly@sina.com), December 18, 2003.

I loved this, and thought I'd give some the chance to read it again!

Little Bit Farm

-- Little Bit Farm (littlebit@bright.net), September 27, 2004.