It is an easy question, but I think it is VERY appropriate as we meander into the 4th of July holiday. 

How can there be success without failure?

Our forefathers built a country that changed the world.  On these shores, anyone could succeed.  The Horatio Alger story could be real.  A poor man could rise to be an industrial or political magnate.  A black man from humble roots, raised largely by his grandmother could become President of the United States.  The son of a patent medicine huckster in New York could grow up to be one of the richest men in the history of the world... whose name is on hundreds of libraries because of his philanthopy. 

But, how could success like this exist without failure?  How could sweetness exist without sourness?  If all things were sweet, we couldn't recognize sweetness as a rare commodity.  If success were guaranteed in all pursuits, who would cook the fries? 

The thing is...

Freedom carries risk and requires responsibility.  Freedom to succeed carries the risk to fail and the responsibility to take care of one's self. 

Little things like making sure the family is fed... keeping up with your own health care... yearning to better one's self through growth and learning.  Those all go into being free responsibly.  And for most of our 233 years as a nation, most citizens did these things.  But in the last few decades, many have ceded those responsibilities to society... they feel that they are owed "the basic necessities" of food, shelter and medical care.  Instead of caring for themselves and their families, they are content to let the government do it... 

They aren't free, and they don't yearn to be free... they are slaves to the government and will give away any liberty in order to secure a few more "rights" at the expense of others. 

When I was a manager of a business, I had an employee that "couldn't afford" the company subsidized health plan.  It was too much of a hardship for her to be expected on her "meager" salary to be expected to pay the princely sum of $19.50 each two weeks to have health coverage.  She justified it by mentioning that she couldn't afford a car and had to ride the bus to work each day.  And yet... she had TWO cell phones with a combined bill of over $400/mo.  At the time, my wife and I had two cell phones with a combined bill of under $100/mo.  There was a flat rate company that had just started operations and offered unlimited air time for $49/mo...  So, she got a car.  I fired her because she still couldn't get to work on time and constantly needed to leave early... 

At the same time, I knew of an employee in a different location.  Her husband had been a medical doctor in a foreign country.  When they came here, his license wasn't honored... he knew that before he came.  He took a job in a car wash and she worked in a photo lab.  But they had the opportunity to be free... and the possibility to succeed far beyond what they could have elsewhere. 

We see it over and over...

People leave countries with "free" health care, "free" housing and everything else that would be "basic necessities".  Cubans strap together inner-tubes to try to reach South Florida.  Canadians and Britons and Swedes and overstay their visas.  Central and South Americans stream across the border.  All of them are in search of a better life and this is where they see that life. 

They want to opportunity that we hold up... and they are willing to risk it all to have any chance.  Meanwhile, those that have to risk nothing to be here only want someone else to take care of them. 

So...

As you lay waste to some hot dogs, apple pie and watermelon at the 4th of July picnic... ask yourself, What have I done to deserve this?