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it s not a specific idea, the concepts of individualism and self-sufficiency are orthogonal . in developed societies, markets have replaced the social dependenc

• jlokier 7y ago
  Maybe we mean different things by self-sufficiency. By self-sufficiency, I mean capable of doing well within the context of modern developed societies and their systems. Not ruggedly off-grid sufficient. The markets don't work too well, even for individualism, when people cannot get what they need from those markets. People are often forced to conform to get what they need.
• coldtea 7y ago
  >in developed societies, markets have replaced the social dependency on each other because people want to be more individualistic In developed societies markets have replaced the social dependency on each other through legislation, gunpower, and policies that closed down communal ways of living and forced people to seek (much worse) work in towns and factories -- often against much protest from the people subjected to that. Further laws made small scale production impossible or near, and mass production mandatory. And much later (around the '30s or so) followed advertising and other means to expand this even more through constant low-intensity brainwashing. In the process people became less individualistic -- often confined for hours on end to the same cubicle, to come back home exhausted from some meaningless commute, in a meaningless job. This confuses individualistic with isolated.