As the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was preparing its American Free Enterprise. Dream Big. campaign, we asked ourselves and many others an important question: What do we value most about living in a country powered by free enterprise? Here is our top 10 list, in no particular order:

(1) Jobs. Free enterprise is the only system that can create the 20 million jobs that we'll need in the next decade.

(2) Opportunity. Regardless of wealth, status, or background, you have a chance to rise as high as your talent and hard work can take you.

(3) Freedom of Choice. You are free to choose your own path. No one picks your profession or limits what you can do or become.

(4) Innovation. Free enterprise encourages it, embraces it, and rewards it. Free enterprise excels in developing solutions.

(5) Small Business. Almost anyone in America can start a business if he or she really wants to. The barriers are low, the opportunities are endless, and if you fail, you can get up off the floor and try again.

(6) Mobility. No other society offers so many avenues for individuals, families, and succeeding generations to move up the ladder of success.

(7) Quality of Life. Free enterprise supports a quality of life that previous generations could only dream of. We are living longer and enjoying an unsurpassed level of material comforts because of free enterprise.

(8) A Progressive Society. A strong economy, powered by free enterprise, generates revenues to educate our children, care for the sick and elderly, provide compassionate support for the less fortunate, and clean our environment.

(9) A Better World. The size and success of our free enterprise economy has given the United States an unmatched capacity to address global challenges and improve the world.

(10) The American Dream. It could not exist without free enterprise, for it is our economic freedom that enables us to achieve our dreams. It is free enterprise that breathes life into the promise of America--that a better life is always within our grasp and our country's best days are yet to come.

These are the reasons why we think that the free enterprise system is worth keeping and worth standing up for. Please tell us your reasons and take the free enterprise pledge by visiting www.FreeEnterprise.com.