At first glance, it may not be obvious why an economic issue like energy should be coupled with an intellectual issue like education. But if we consider these two issues from a strategic point of view, it becomes clear why they are the twin pillars of American independence.

Energy is the life-blood of our nation's economic activity. For more than sixty years, we have allowed a combination of self-interested businessmen and eco-activists to addict us to foreign oil. The predictable economic result is that tens of trillions of dollars of American wealth has been irretrievably siphoned out of the country and the American middle-class is now on the ropes.

During the same six decades, we have allowed our educational system to be taken over by cultural Marxists who propound intellectual theories that justify American's descent into third-world misery. Those so-called intellectuals have now produced two generations of true believers who have taken effective control of our culture and our media.

The strategic consequences of our energy dependence and the rot of cultural Marxism are profound. The economic anemia of the American middle class moves the people toward desperation and fear, and that makes them more susceptible to control by tyrants. The intellectual anemia of cultural Marxism erodes the people's will to be free, and that makes them more susceptible to control by tyrants.

Whether the tyrants are one-world cultural Marxists or theocratic Islamic hardliners hardly matters. They both hate the American middle-class because they know it is the principal bulwark against tyranny in America. If the American dream is not to fade into history, we must immediately move toward energy independence and begin to free our educational institutions from the thrall of cultural Marxism. America's independence depends on it.