(by Charles Hugh Smith | Two Minds Blog) – Self-sufficiency in the 21st century is a unique challenge because we have become too dependent on globalization and financialization.
As things unfold, the only safe strategy is to chart a path to greater self-sufficiency. There is no downside to improving self-reliance, only upside, and everyone can gradually increase their self-reliance in small ways.
Self-reliance is not the same as self-reliance. Even Thoreau at Walden Pond used manufactured tools and supplies from far away. The basic idea of self-sufficiency is to reduce our dependence on long and fragile supply chains and the hamster-wheel landfill. The economy of planned obsolescence and waste is increasing consumption and increasing what we can do for ourselves and those we care about.
Self-sufficiency is not about self-sufficiency, but about bringing together personal networks of trust as a producer and as a consumer, as a means of reducing the number of links in your personal supply chain and increasing local sources of essentials for life
Self-sufficiency increases as we acquire skills and capital in all its forms. Self-sufficiency is not the same as money; what is truly valuable cannot be bought: trust, reciprocity, integrity. These are the foundations of self-reliance.
Self-sufficiency in the 21st century is a unique challenge because we have become too dependent on globalization and financialization, not just on traditional supply chains and finance, but almost total dependence on hyper-globalized supply chains and the assets of hyperfinanced credit. bubbles that are inherently unstable and unsustainable.
There is no downside to being more self-sufficient and a huge advantage. If the landfill economy continues to chew up the planet’s dwindling resources, it does not diminish the value of being able to do more for ourselves and those we care about.
But if long, fragile supply chains break and hyper-financialization blows a joint and collapses, the self-employed will have it much easier than those with minimal self-sufficiency. We are only powerless if we cede all power over our lives to others. Self-sufficiency is about taking control of our own lives instead of relying on unsustainable global supply chains and centralized authorities to provide us with the essentials.
I address all of this in my new book Self-sufficiency in the 21st century (96 pages). I am offering it to my readers at a 20% discount for the Kindle edition ($7.95) and a 15% discount for the print edition ($17).
You can read the first chapter for free (PDF). In later chapters, I cover the self-reliance mindset and the nuts and bolts of self-reliance.
I wrote this book not as someone at the top looking down, but as someone on the path looking up. Self-sufficiency is a work in progress, not a destination. I am also constantly improving my self-reliance and have a long way to go. I wrote this book to offer some advice on how to chart your own path to greater self-reliance.
