Book Review

Love Many - Trust Few and Always, Always Paddle Your Own Canoe

The Economic Dependency Trap:
Breaking Free To Self-Reliance
by Calvin Helin
Ravencrest Publishing | 352 pp | $22.95 USD
ISBN: 978-1-932824-08-7

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Entertainment. Join the Discussion of this Book Here »

I must admit, the book cover for Calvin Helin’s “The Economic Dependency Trap: Breaking Free to Self-Reliance” with a dollar bill with the word “free” on a mouse trap caught my attention. Then as I determined the theme of the book, I was trapped.

The Economic Dependency Trap:
Breaking Free to Self-Reliance

In his latest book, Helin poses the question: how would an Olympic gold medal be valued if it were simply given to a recipient without having to work for it? Imagine being awarded the most prestigious prize without ever having to train for it; never having to sweat and exert your all. Helin contends in this scenario, the value of the gold medal would be next to meaningless.

I am sure people who live on social security or recipients of aid to dependent children would argue the money they get each month cannot come close to being the top prize, but you get Helin’s point.

He makes his point about getting something from government without having to work for it. He continues his theme from his best selling book, “Dances with Dependency: Out of Poverty Through Self-Reliance” in this latest book.

The theme for both books is self-reliance, which translates into: too many people have become too complacent in relying on government to take care of them.

The self-reliance theme made me recall a saying an Ottawa elder once told me:

“Love many; trust few and always, always paddle your own canoe.”

At the end of the day, each one of us should work hard to control our own destinies. Dependency leaves us, well, dependent.

Helin, a member of the Tsimshian Nation, is a successful attorney and businessman in Canada. With both books, he seems to be on a mission. A mission if completely absorbed and adhered to would transform behavior patterns of people.

While “Dances with Dependency: Out of Poverty Through Self-Reliance” concentrated mainly on Aboriginals who reside in Canada, “The Economic Dependency Trap: Breaking Free to Self-Reliance” take the theme to a different level. The book is really for everyone.

Helin discusses the reliance corporations have on government. He cites the bailouts afforded corporations during the global recession in 2009. He realizes the problem of dependency on government far exceeds Aboriginals in Canada or American Indians, living in the United States.

He also acknowledges wealthy children often are dependent on their parents and some never really learn to be self-reliant.

The Book is for Everyone

As in his first book, “The Economic Dependency Trap: Breaking Free to Self-Reliance” is illustrated by master artist Bill Helin of the Tsimshian Nation. He is a cousin of the author.

Both of Helin’s books provide great reasons why there should be a discussion on people becoming more self-reliant. From newly elected tribal councilors to teen-aged tribal members should read Helin’s books to think about a world free of dependency of governments based in Washington DC or Ottawa.