Sufficiency

My ideal is that each individual should be pretty much self-sufficient for most of their adult life, while also co-operating with others. This is in contrast to much of modern commercialized society, where people have specialized, and both depend on others and impose on them. Families, and to some extent local communities, would look after those who cannot choose to be independent -- the very young, the very old, and the infirm.

One notable difference from much of the modern world is that there would be much less trade; rather than buying things, people would make them themselves, and rather than spending their time making things for others to buy in return for money to buy things that others have made, would spend their time making and doing things for themeselves, their families and their local communities.

Obviously, there are many useful things that cannot reasonably be made in such a way, and these would continue to be made commercially, but that would be a less significant part of life than it is now.

John C. G. Sturdy

Last modified: Sun Jun 10 22:12:57 GMT Daylight Time 2007