Every July 4, Americans have less independence to celebrate.

Although the country's original principles enshrined sovereignty for the individual, those ideals are ancient history in practice today.

In light of Independence Day, I think we should consider an important question:

What does real independence look like, and how can you achieve it?

It might be better to start with what it doesn't look like:

• The cumulative effect of income tax, sales tax, property tax, capital gains tax, estate tax, and countless others

• Vaccine mandates

• Travel restrictions

• Legal tender laws, which force people to use rapidly debasing government confetti as money

• ESG social credit scores

• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

• Forever wars

• The gutting of the Bill of Rights

• The need to comply with an ever-growing stack of regulations, mandates, and laws

• The politicization of the justice system

• Government and Big Business promoting cultural degeneracy

This is just a short synopsis of the current state of affairs. The list is far from exhaustive.

Here's the bottom line.