10 Reasons to Become Self-Sufficient and 10 Steps to Help You Get There

We are now three to five generations removed from the rural backbone that strengthened America. The world at large has undergone a similar transformation as the promise of easier work has created a migration to big cities. These mega-cities could be seen as an experiment gone awry, as general well-being has declined. Crowded conditions and economic strife have led to rampant crime, pollution, corporate malfeasance and a dog-eat-dog type of competition that can be described as a temporary insanity.

The economic crisis we are living through has been the final straw for many people, as promises of a better, easier, and more creative life seem to have been sold to us by carnival-style tricksters who are laughing all the way to their bank.

Here are the top reasons for becoming self-sufficient; these are based on fundamental, systemic concerns for why undertaking this lifestyle change will not be a fly-by-night fad, but rather a long-lasting means for personal independence.

10 Reasons to Become Self-Sufficient

1. Freedom from Market Manipulation – The traditional market-driven investment vehicles are more and more obviously controlled by traders and banking institutions. The debacle of the private Federal Reserve Bank is just the icing on the cake to a previous decade full of Ponzi-type schemes, including JP Morgan manipulating silver prices, RICO investigations, Wells Fargo admitting to drug money laundering, fraud charges at Bank of America and an insider trading ratio of 4,000:1 compared to Joe Citizen Investor. Now, the institutionalized looting of retirement money is being planned amid municipal bond collapses and bankruptcies.
2. Hedging Against Inflation – Have you noticed the price of goods lately? Even Wal-Mart is silently raising its prices. People might have a choice whether or not to buy stocks or gold, but people have to eat — the current increases in basic goods portend hyperinflation, and will not ease anytime soon. Food shortages could make the problem exponentially worse.
3. Increasing Health and Wellness – It has now been revealed that some “organic” items have been falsely labeled. In addition, a host of “GMO-free” brands have been exposed as deceptive. GMO food lacks the nutritional value of what can be grown in the average backyard. Bio-Tech Terrorist and GMO-CorpraGod, Monsanto, has a sordid history and has continuously trampled on our trust. It is time that we do the work ourselves, and educate ourselves and loved ones about the dangers of consuming GMOs and highly-processed chemical-laden foods.
4. Building Community Strength – We constantly hear people say, “I don’t even see my neighbors, let alone know anything about them.” Of course not: 80-hour workweeks, American Idol and grabbing meals-to-go doesn’t exactly promote community interaction. With such little time to interact with our immediate community, it is no wonder why many people report feeling disconnected. In these trying times, it is a local community that can offer the best support.
5. Working for Yourself – Working hours are increasing, pay is often decreasing, and corporate executives are taking bigger bonuses than ever. This is leading to a prevailing disgust, as people are being forced to admit that they are living lives of near-indentured servitude. Even for those not working in corporations, working for someone else is rarely as satisfying as creating and working for something where every minute you spend is yours alone.
6. Having More Free Time – We have been taught to believe that life on a farm is arduous sun-up to sun-down drudgery where you collapse at the end of the day. This is not so much the case anymore. Sure, the setup of any farm or self-sufficient endeavor is often time-consuming and laborious, but new technologies and new skills of manufacturing food via permaculture and aquaponicsare offering low-cost start up and minimal maintenance, as these techniques serve to create symbiotic systems that are remarkably self-governing.
7. Generating Food and Energy Security – The planet is running out of food and traditional energy prices continue to climb due to to either demand or price manipulation. Climate volatility, market forces, GM foods and rising costs of harvesting and transporting food are all conspiring to create food shortages even in the First World. This trend will not reverse. And our oil-soaked way of life is being threatened by constant war, politicians and greed. We should be looking to the air, sun, geothermal and tidal/wave power to wean us from the energy grid.
8. Acquiring an Appreciation for Life – As one gets closer to life-giving forces, there is a natural appreciation for how things come into being. When you have created your garden, toiled there, selected the best for harvest and have prepared that food for your family and community, the significance of what you have taken part in can be transformative.
9. Restoring Balance – Nearly everything in our society is at a peak, or is drastically out of balance. The systems and governments to which we have looked for balance restoration are missing in action. We must take it upon ourselves to restore our own financial and environmental balance sheet. The best way to do that is to reduce our overconsumption or simply adapt a more minimal/downsized lifestyle. Tiny homes are becoming much more mainstream as people begin to awaken to the idea that less is sometimes more.
10. Becoming a Producer, not a Consumer – This is the best way to reduce your cost of living and increase your self-sufficiency. In the U.S. over 70% of the economy is based on people buying things. This is a clear sign of imbalance and, by extension, it is not sustainable. Furthermore, we also have seen corporations race to the bottom to find low-cost production on the backs of desperate people. The exploitation of the Third World to clothe, feed and entertain the First World is something that most people do not want to think about, but it is abominable. Again, new technologies are making it easier than ever to produce your own food, and even your own clothes.

As the cliche goes: Freedom is never free. But it sure beats the alternative.