Self-sufficiency is generally defined as a 'state of not requiring any outside aid or support for survival, and is thus also referred to as personal autonomy' (i.e., personal independence). Though we all necessarily depend on one another for our own survival (of the individual and the whole), wise and frugal individuals would draw a line where fair exchange ends and subjection begins.

Environmentally sustainable, economical, self-sufficient living can reduce or even eliminate the time, labor and/or money needed to pay others to provide us with what we could instead obtain for ourselves, fairly and directly from nature. Self-sufficiency empowers us with the flexibility to choose for ourselves what to do with our time, earnings and lives, as well as when, where, who and how we spend them. If we fish for ouselves, we can reap the true rewards of our own time and labor (rather than just a small piece of the pies we ourselves make). Self-sufficient living helps remove the middle-men between us and what we work for, which inevitably cuts the strings between puppet and puppet master.

Self-Sufficiency Is Independence

Independence is nearly, if not synonymous with freedom, which is generally defined as 'liberty from the rule, control, restraint or regulation of another or others'. Freedom itself is not free of course, but must be gained and retained by taking personal responsibility for ourselves, our own needs, desires and lives, becoming self-sufficient, and thereby independent of others providing us with what we could provide for ourselves.

Every choice we make today has its effects on tomorrow. We feed and support the systems we live in, by way of the choices we make, and the lifestyles we choose to live. It is up to each individual to choose a lifestyle that either supports or suppresses ecological sustainability, frugality, self-sufficiency and thus independence, and thereby to support or suppress their own freedom.

Nothing motivates those in power more than more money and more power. Government is supposed to serve the People, not rule over them, serve themselves and the wealthy at the expense of the People, who are thereby made poor. To prevent ourselves and future generations from becoming homeless poor slaves, we must change America from the oligarchy that it has become, to the truly free America it was meant to be.

Rather than paying for our own dependence on and thereby subjection to human providers, we can instead skip the middlemen, become and remain truly free, by choosing an environmentally sustainable, economical, self-sufficient, independent lifestyle. We can instead depend on nature, personal time and effort to provide for ourselves and future generations directly.

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