Death of the American Dream of Independance

I watched the Oscars tonight, which although a good show is nothing remarkable in and of itself. I was however quite dismayed, nay horrified at one particular ad.
It was for the General Motors car-line, in particular advertising the "OnStar' feature.
On the surface the ad is purely positive, with a fractured rush of children recounting a car accident they were each in, just different snippets from each little somber (but alive and whole, "bless the lord") face, finally culminating in all them saying how the OnStar rep came over the speaker and said an ambulance was on the way. And then, those earnest little faces, asked the viewer if there shouldn’t be someone there watching out for you - and this little caucus of freckles and dimples told us all that yes, there should always be someone there watching out for you, and OnStar put that one step closer to being the case.
I was struck dumb by this, and could only sit there wracked with horrible cold-chills for some time.

On the surface, this sounds like a wonderful idea - a safety net for everyone. But it’s not a wonderful idea.
Human beings are independent animals, built to survive on our own strengths or to die on our own weaknesses. Same as every-other biological creature on this large plot of real estate called Earth.
For thousands of years the human animal has done just that, survived on strength, died on weakness. In the "new world" (the Americas) it has only been in the last five or six hundred years that civilization, cities and the associated social supports, have come in to disrupt this process. Even thus, as recently as 70 years ago people lived hand to mouth, lived tough and died hard, during the great depression. Tough people survived, and the weak got tough or some them died. Life, well being, depended upon the independent capabilities of each person.
During these periods my grandfather was a bare-knuckle boxer when he couldn’t find manual labor jobs during this period. At that time in history boxing was a much different sport than it is now, and bare-knuckle boxing was even further removed. As the name implies gloves were not used, the men fought without any protection at all and very often without any formal ring. A circle of men around two fighters stripped to the waist, swinging blows and dripping blood over hard and dusty earth. Punches were not the only techniques used, and many fight’s involved savage kicks and knee blows, biting, open-hand smashes, eye gouging and fish hooking. It was a bloody, rough and cruel affair, but a solid enough way to make a little money, or to literally beat another man out of a good job. Not that my grandfather was a mean man, although he developed a taste for fighting and was quite good at it, he was by all accounts a caring man and good provider for his family, but he simply did what he had to do to survive in a time when the society could not support most of the people.
This is a behavior displayed in other organic organisms as well: the most successful survivors are the ones whose genetics prosper. For example, a century and a half ago Syphilis (yes, the STD) caused horrible deformity to those who suffered it, its symptoms ravaging the flesh over their entire bodies. Consequently, those who suffered from what was then the common form of syphilis did not have much opportunity to spread it around, where-as those who suffered what was then the relatively mild and uncommon form of syphilis, that did not ravage the body, had ample opportunity. A hundred years later, the syphilis that destroys tissue no longer exists in the modern, or most of the third, world. The form that survived was that which was strongest for propagation of itself in its given environment.
These little evolutions, survivals of the fittest, can be seen in many other different species and organisms, both recently and in the distant past.

The idea that we should have someone else watching out for us, taking care of us, all the time is in direct opposition to the ideas of evolutionary progress, and beyond that is in opposition to the ideas upon which this country (United States of America) was founded: Those of the individuals independent right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness. Individuals have the right to live until they die as free men and women, pursuing their own survival and happiness. But this is an individual right, and like all rights it is also a responsibility.
The individual responsibility to take care of yourself, protect yourself, and be able to rely on your self, alone, is among the highest responsibilities we have. Once we have families of our own, those responsibilities to self extend to them as well. This independence is the only sure guarantee between this world, and the shadowy slip of death. In the end, no one but you is responsible for you.
Yet, we live in a culture where we are taught completely differently – although if we look around we can see how people without a robust skill set for personal independence are left out in the cold, all alone and essentially helpless. Our culture tells us not to rely on ourselves, but to rely on other people first, foremost and in many cases always. This is the death of the American dream of rugged individualism. The one thing that has always given us our strength, our versatility and our flexibility, is our ability to survive through thick and thin, deal with change and bounce back strong and not only are we losing it, we are throwing it all away like it is a wretched piece of garbage.
It makes me sick to my stomach.