Why Strive For Self-Sufficiency?
In the modern times of our nation, the idea of liberty has been reinterpreted by many as being left alone and being “self-sufficient”. It is assumed, for some reason, that doing things on your own is some great feat. People are praised for “pulling themselves up by their bootstraps” and becoming a “success”. Solo trips to X and Y locations are talked about as historical. Likewise, rich kids who have taken money from their parents, ethnicities who rely on the favoritism of their community and those who get welfare from the government are dismissed as leaches. A great number of people think that those who receive should be cut off from their benefactors.
First off, I would propose that self-sufficiency does not really exist. Everyone, from the rich to the poor, from the urban to the rural, gives and takes from society. You give every time to buy something and spur the economy, you give every time you pay taxes (whether it’s sales tax, income tax, excise tax or social insurance tax) and you give every time you do your job. You give every time you obey the law, every time you are nice to your fellow human and every time you try to improve the system. We all take as well. We use the schools, the roads, the police, the army, the water, the air, the food, the law, the economy, the land, electricity and even the hospital we were born in. It is arguable that some take more than others and some give more that others.
Second, what is so bad about cooperation? What is so bad about needing help and receiving aid? Cooperation seems to have been downgraded (except by the communists on Sesame Street that praise sharing). Cooperation is seen as some sort of weakness, but there is no exact reason why is should be. Why are we ashamed to ask directions? Why are we annoyed to spare a dime? Justice? I do not have the answer to this.
On the other hand, I too, seem to value doing things on my own. I would never hire maid or someone to mow my lawn (unless my house was just ridiculously big). I would never join an organized trip or have a driver. I do get angry at those who did not earn what they have yet act like they did. I hate racism, nepotism and favoritism.
Doing things on one’s own is satisfying in that it is liberating (what ever that is), but is also lonely. Anyone who has ever lived alone understands this dichotomy.
Are those who push liberty just selfish people who feel others are dragging them down? Are they just lonely people who want others to share their misery? Are they just jealous people who complain about not being connected as well? Is there some actual practical benefit to self-sufficiency? I don’t know.
After all, being dead is being self-sufficient as well.
First off, I would propose that self-sufficiency does not really exist. Everyone, from the rich to the poor, from the urban to the rural, gives and takes from society. You give every time to buy something and spur the economy, you give every time you pay taxes (whether it’s sales tax, income tax, excise tax or social insurance tax) and you give every time you do your job. You give every time you obey the law, every time you are nice to your fellow human and every time you try to improve the system. We all take as well. We use the schools, the roads, the police, the army, the water, the air, the food, the law, the economy, the land, electricity and even the hospital we were born in. It is arguable that some take more than others and some give more that others.
Second, what is so bad about cooperation? What is so bad about needing help and receiving aid? Cooperation seems to have been downgraded (except by the communists on Sesame Street that praise sharing). Cooperation is seen as some sort of weakness, but there is no exact reason why is should be. Why are we ashamed to ask directions? Why are we annoyed to spare a dime? Justice? I do not have the answer to this.
On the other hand, I too, seem to value doing things on my own. I would never hire maid or someone to mow my lawn (unless my house was just ridiculously big). I would never join an organized trip or have a driver. I do get angry at those who did not earn what they have yet act like they did. I hate racism, nepotism and favoritism.
Doing things on one’s own is satisfying in that it is liberating (what ever that is), but is also lonely. Anyone who has ever lived alone understands this dichotomy.
Are those who push liberty just selfish people who feel others are dragging them down? Are they just lonely people who want others to share their misery? Are they just jealous people who complain about not being connected as well? Is there some actual practical benefit to self-sufficiency? I don’t know.
After all, being dead is being self-sufficient as well.
posted by American Dilettante at
1:49 PM
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