In my view, independence is the worst nightmare for liberals. The liberals face the very real possibility of extinction when threatened with increasing independence of their clientele. The liberals have created a seamless net of public policy to insure continuing dependency and thus job security. Most conservatives, on the other hand, search for ways to increase independence and therefore represent a real threat to institutionalized liberalism. Both the deer and the downtrodden would fare better if they were left to their own devises with a comprehensive safety net to prevent real catastrophe.
Conservatives are in no way innocent of playing the dependency card.
All of us use dependency to further our interests. Employee benefits are the most common form of business dependency. The employee s right to their pension is fettered by vesting schedules requiring them to remain employed by the same company for long periods to maximize benefit. All of us have acquaintances who have wanted to change jobs or start their own business but were discouraged by the prospect of losing health insurance coverage. In many instances, a measure of dependency is required to maintain solid relationships.