The basic concept of self-sufficiency is simple enough: it means providing for your own needs. The main drawback is that it’s impossible. Nobody
can be truly self-sufficient and live anything even remotely resembling a civilized life. This doesn’t prevent us from using the term, but it does
demand some serious examination and clarification.
Most reasonable people realize that self-sufficiency does not mean trying to exist entirely on one’s own. The more complex the world becomes, the
more “civilized” we get, the more difficult it is to be self-sufficient.
Maybe, just maybe, you or I could start a fire without matches. We could probably make a crude tallow candle for additional light … but not unless
we had some hunting and butchering tools and skills to get that animal fat.
Being self-sufficient would mean we’d have to know not only how to use those tools but also how to make them from the raw materials of the Earth.
However, not many people could make a light bulb and then produce the electricity required to operate it, all from raw materials with no outside
help. Self-sufficiency at that level is impossible, but the impossibility starts at a much earlier stage of development.
We can become self-sufficient in less strict terms. For example, it’s quite possible for an individual or a nation to become self-sufficient in food, at
least to some degree. Today, many are trying. Both nations and individuals can become self-sufficient in energy, and many would like to achieve
that, too.