“Literally no one is self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency is a myth.”
So true!! Thank you for this @Live in Love — And also thank you to @Local Food Movement which is where I found this post shared.
Most people who I hear talking about “self-sufficiency” are only focused on the material aspects of our human needs. Many people are completely ignoring community, self-expression, and other deep-seated human needs.
Yes, maybe there are a few people who could move out into the country alone and grow potatoes and survive somehow with no other people and no art, music, etc. But who would want to? If that’s all there is.
I actually think that whole trip about “wanting to get far away from all other people” is in most cases a trauma response and a white thing, but that’s a subject for another post.
(I’ve actually had some of my fellow white people in permie circles feel guilty about using resources to play music and make art, since we are supposed to be full-time focused on growing all of our own food by ourselves, right?) <scary-face emoticons>
And regarding the whole “rural” aspect, which I often hear in conjunction with “self-sufficiency” … Some people might legitimately belong out in the country, but most of us probably do not. We need to stop gentrifying and colonizing rural land, and repair the torn fabric of community reliance and human connection in our own neighborhoods!