Self Sufficiency - An Urban Myth? or Why I Don't Think It's For Everyone

"Self Sufficiency" is the buzz. Grow your own fruit and vegetables, raise chickens, eat less meat, make your own everything.

Over time we've made the progression to a greener household. We have 12 solar panels on our roof feeding into the grid. They are designed so that if we move we can unclip them and take them with us. You won't find many harsh chemicals, food additives or the like in our house and lately it has become even more so as I've discovered a passion and joy for creating more of my own foods and goods.

The reality is though we will never be self sufficient. The Hubby isn't a gardener. He's an electrical engineer. He's a thinker and he loves physics. Not everyone is born to be a primary producer. Which is why communities moved away from self sufficiency in the beginning. Someone needs to build bridges, design new technology, run the government, provide our health care, install and maintain infrastructure, fly the planes, drive the trucks, maintain law and order, a myriad of other needed functions in society and in The Hubby's case plan and manage new infrastructure for communication systems (including faster and more reliable Internet connections).

On a typical work day The Hubby is gone at 7:30am and not home until 6:00pm. He's busy. I'm busy too. I have children to raise, cooking to do, along with all the laundry, cleaning, planning, shopping etc needed to keep the house and family running smoothly. There's no spare time to grow our own food and we don't want to. That's fair enough. I've been able to source plenty of local fresh produce, eggs and meats for our needs from primary producers who DO want grow their own and sell extra to people who prefer to fill other needed functions within our society.

Self Sufficiency isn't a total truth unless you don't have modern communications, don't drive a car or operate motorised machinery and make and produce absolutely everything you need in your life including fabrics, tools, utensils and the like. I think you can see my point. Not everyone on the planet can be completely self sufficient. Most of us rely on outside supply for something and we all possess different skill sets. That's how society and community operates. We support each other. It's pieces of a puzzle slotting together to form a whole picture.

I don't think self sufficiency is the answer. I think forming, linking and working with a local community works better. Let's focus on community, supporting local business and forming relationships within that framework.