Independence

Independence means

"that individuals are able to begin to think for themselves. To win this freedom, one must make some very difficult decisions, honor these decisions, trust them and abide by them. These decisions can be difficult because one might have to relinquish some degree of love or financial advantage or social acceptance to do something that is recognized to be correct. One must be willing to make these sacrifices and take these risks in order to gain a greater sense of well-being, inner certainty and correctness about life. It is making these decisions and abiding by them that establishes the ability to think with relative independence.

A stage of development

"Independence is only an intermediate stage; it is not the final resolution."

"At the level of the individual, at the level of relationship, at the level of nations, this movement through these three stages—dependence, independence and interdependence—is the natural evolution and flow of life."

"Generally, there are three different stages of development in communication. The first stage is the inability to express yourself. The second stage is when you feel you have to express yourself. And the third stage is when you do not need to express yourself except on rare occasions to certain people. These three stages represent the three stages of development in a human being: the stages of dependence, independence and interdependence."

"When people first meet, they may be very dependent upon each other emotionally. They do not want to spend a day apart. And when they have children they are dependent upon each other, too, but they become more independent as their children grow. And beyond this, they may become more independent at a higher level, at a more spiritual level. But this often does not occur."

"To be independent, you must be very responsible. You must assume a certain degree of authority in your life. You must manage your affairs. You must manage your thinking and behavior. You must face often difficult decisions. You make yourself vulnerable to grave errors in judgment. It is not an easy stage to be in if one is to enter it completely. But it is a necessary prerequisite to entering the greater stage of interdependence."

"There is relationship at the level of independence, where people are together, but they are trying to still assert themselves as individuals, so there is a competition for power. There are problems dealing with authority. There are problems dealing with how much is shared and how much is still the providence of the individual. Many people are in this stage, of course. They want to be together but only to a certain degree. They are unwilling to unite with each other. It is more of a collaboration."

"People who are at the stage of independence are afraid of interdependence because they think it represents a loss of their personal power."

In the Greater Community

"The emphasis in most advanced societies is on social cohesion. They regard with suspicion and even hostility the idea of the uniqueness of the individual, the idea of independent thinking and the idea of following a greater but mysterious power. These things are threatening to a highly developed social order."

"The greater the development of Knowledge in the world today, the greater will be the possibility for humanity’s successful emergence into the Greater Community. This will assure your independence as a race in the Greater Community. This will assure your ability to learn from the Greater Community and to defend yourself against it when that becomes necessary."

See Also

• Dependence

• Interdependence

Further Study

• Interdependence (July 4, 2008)

• Wisdom from the Greater Community, Book 2, Chapter 7: Discretion