The value of independence...

From political scientists to family therapists, many are those who seek to analyze the value of independence.

From a geopolitical standpoint, it means that a specific nation has found a voice and sovereignty in the international community as it breaks its ties to a former colonist, regime, ruler, etc. From a childhood development perspective, it means that one was given the power to act independently from parental overview. As well documented in this picture, or as obvious in the rising of new nations, either process is messy and can cause great chaos.

In this example, our son, of only 2 years of age at the time, is experimenting with eating without adult supervision. To us, his parents, it became painfully obvious that there was a price to pay for the great blessing of free agency. Here, a bath-full of water and a batch of laundry were sufficient to minimize the effects of this experiment- In the case of newly emerging democracies, the blood of warring factions engaged in human kind's most primeval form of conflict resolution is not so easily washed. Tears of longing and a debt of gratitude by those whose freedoms were assured is often all that is left behind.

The question becomes: "When does freedom ever become too expensive?"