As a homesteader, there is great emphasis on becoming self-sufficient. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. Today, it has become impossible to only rely on yourself for all the resources and answers.
We cannot go days without getting one thing done from external sources. Thus, it is crucial to rely on the community to get the job done. It is where community sufficiency comes in.
What Is Self-Sufficiency?
The concept of self-sufficiency is the ability to cater to your individual needs without requiring any external assistance. To be self-sufficient, you need to be extremely solid, independent, efficient, and competent enough not to rely on anyone but yourself.
As a homesteader, it is not easy to be self-sufficient, no matter how hard you try. You have to double the effort and work towards living a debt-free life.
You will need to learn all the useful skills, develop your water and power sources, get food supplies, plant your food, etc. It is not easy to begin, and you will require help from others. There will be a lot of dependencies on others that will lead to reliance on the community.
What is Community Sufficiency?
When you start looking past what you’re doing, you can only consider the community. To become community sufficient, you must start supporting local/independently owned stores.
You can support small businesses online by shopping for your daily essentials from them. In addition, if you are looking for something local but are having trouble finding it, make sure to search for it regionally rather than getting your orders shipped from the other end of the world.
When you work as a community, you tend to share your resources with others, so the best way to become a part of the community is to do the same. You can borrow and lend things to others, which will help everyone.
Comparing Self And Community Sufficiency
While self-sufficiency is an excellent concept, it makes you feel alone and responsible for everything that you have to do. It is hard to maintain that attitude, but sometimes it’s tough to get the basic resources and look out for yourself. It is why community sufficiency is important.
The beauty of community sufficiency is to be there for one another and ensure everyone has the adequate resources they need to live a healthy life. Both self-sufficiency and community sufficiency need to fit your lifestyle. If being self-sufficient works for you, you can adopt that lifestyle. If the idea of community sufficiency fits your lifestyle best, you can begin by searching for the resources you need and the ones you already have.
Community sufficiency and self-sufficiency are lifestyle choices. You must consider how you live and what value choosing one of them will add to your life. Think about how you’ll benefit from either and vice versa.
