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Self-sufficiency

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Self-sufficiency' (also called self-containment) refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or (in hardline cases) interaction, for survival; it is therefore a type of extreme personal or collective (group-based) autonomy. The term self-sufficiency is usually applied to varieties of sustainable living (WP) in which nothing is consumed outside of what is produced by the self-sufficient individuals. On a large scale, a totally self-sufficient economy that does not trade with the outside world is called an autarky. Examples of attempts at self-sufficiency in North America include voluntary simplicity, Luddism, homesteading, survivalism, and the Back to the land movement. The term is also applied to more limited forms of self-sufficiency, for example growing one's own food or becoming economically independent of state subsidies or (in the case of larger political entities) foreign aid. Practices that enable or aid self-sufficiency include autonomous building, permaculture, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy.

Self-sufficiency is a lot like DIY, only where DIY may be applied as a solution to individual tasks and projects, self-sufficiency is a lifestyle; it tends to be more full time and with fewer other economic interactions.


Planning[edit]

The ideal is that all needs are fulfilled at a level that will support a high level of quality of life. High motivation from the pursuit of this ideal is a useful talent. Alternatively or in addition, the ability to create within oneself an actual desire, rather than merely an acceptance, of making do with less. The term self-sufficiency has a positive connotation and refers to the fact of not needing others' help, advice, knowledge. Compiling a hierarchical assessment of needs to be fulfilled progressively is a useful step.

  1. Housing and land for necessities production e.g. including entertainment, sporting and agricultural considerations.
  2. Water and waste management e.g. rain, grey and brown water .
  3. Energy including household, transport and capture and processing agricultural consumption e.g. fuel cell plant and equipment.
  4. Means to produce marketable goods and services e.g. home call-centre to support highly specialized or skilled industries globally.
  5. It is expected that all needs are fulfilled at a level that will support a high level of quality of life


Innovation[edit]

“there is nothing really new in the search of “self-sufficiency”. The pioneers who first colonized the New World, Australia, and parts of Africa were self-sufficient because they had to be and, in this context, the term suggests a kind of rugged independence associated with mastering a new and rather hostile environment.”-Michael Allaby and Peter Bunyard, [1]

This brings up points at issue. One imagines that the authors were addressing criticisms of faddishness and novelty with this quote- the practical principle behind it, its tried and true performance, are “nothing really new”. However, with regards to whether it is innovation and a new cultural phenomenon, as the authors themselves point out, settlers and other past peoples were self-sufficient because they had to be. Self-sufficiency advocates and practitioners propose a life-changing decision, an adopted virtue rather than a necessity.

Post-modern self-sufficiency[edit]

The term ‘post-modern self-sufficiency’ or ‘escape capitalism’ refers to a mode of life that seeks to exist outside industrialized non-agrarian ‘western’ norms. This mode of life-style is usually seen as alternative because it seeks to rely on cutting edge technology to eliminate or greatly reduce the reliance on a capitalistic structure i.e. wage labor.

Paradoxically, escape capitalism usually begins inside the capitalist framework where highly skilled and highly educated labor is exchanged for capital which is then progressively invested into long-term self-sufficiency. The key focus of the movement is the use of modern technology to create a significantly high level of quality of life rather than sacrificing quality of life for non-participation in capitalist society.

Most individuals who proscribe to escape capitalism work greatly reduced hours in highly educated ‘contract’ roles that require great expertise. This income supplements their life style for areas like travel, health care and building passive income investment streams.

  1. Long-term residential and transport energy provided by investing in automated solar/wind/fuel-cell plant and equipment for the home.
  2. Long-term residential and agricultural water provided by investment into automated well/dam/rain & grey water systems.
  3. Long-term residential investment into automated hydroponics/green house/orchard fruit and vegetable production.


Extreme self-sufficiency[edit]

The existence of an effectively closed system makes self-sufficiency a necessity for any form of Wikipedia:space colonization, and to an extent Wikipedia:ocean colonization. An extreme experimental example of self-sufficiency, with implications both hopeful and cautionary, could therefore be said to be the Wikipedia:Biosphere 2 project. Biosphere 2 gave evidence that the balance of soil microorganisms, with their consumption of oxygen and excretion of carbon dioxide, with plants that do the reverse, was not fully understood. Similarly, any self-sufficiency project may encounter the unforeseen; Biosphere 2 was designed to operate fully independently and never gave itself the option of interacting with outside resources, but other self-sufficiency projects are not limited in this way.


See also[edit]

"Self-reliance", A personification of self-reliance as represented by a Wikipedia:statue in Wikipedia:The American Adventure in the World Showcase pavilion of Wikipedia:Walt Disney World's Wikipedia:Epcot

Influential People[edit]

  • Wikipedia:Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi-advocate of freeing India from dependence on other countries' economic monopolies and secondary manufacturing sectors
  • Wikipedia:Juche in the same sense as Gandhi's economic plans, North Korea's economic policy contains elements of self-sufficiency, broadly speaking
  • John Reynolds - ?

External links[edit]

citations[edit]

  1. ↑ Allaby, Michael and Peter Bunyard. The Politics of Self-Sufficiency. Oxford: Wikipedia:Oxford University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-19-217695-1
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