As social conditions become more equal, the number of persons
increases who, although they are neither rich enough nor
powerful enough to exercise any great influence over their
fellow-creatures, have nevertheless acquired or retained sufficient
education and fortune to satisfy their own wants. They owe
nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man; they
acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing
alone, and they are apt to imagine that their whole destiny is in
their own hands.
Which American value is described in this excerpt?