Imo, true self sufficiency is all but impossible in todays society. I live on the fringes of it..would love to be offgrid too but can`t at the moment, simply because I don`t have the cash to buy the various `eco` tech substitutes to put in place because, yup, I do like having things like hot water, etc.
As a history of crofting shows, most folks who live in the country and strive for self sufficiency find themselves having to spread themselves thin in order to make ends meet, so barter (usually by skills or goods) is a small but still essential part of that life (for example, I`m hoping to barter a sheepskin for a cockerel soon) but...
in modern life, where the powers that be try to pin you down on every aspect of your life, it is easy to give up striving and just play the social game.
For centures, there have been tanners (my livelihood) and when you stop and think of the contribution leather makers and furriers have put into cultures, well....
nowadays you must jump through hoops with Defra and small governmental bodies simply to obtain the license to follow your trade!
That other bastion of self sufficiency, growing your own food, depends too on so many factors....all of it is fine if you`re young, fit and have the time on your hands to begin, often, from scratch (how many downsizers, e.g, are lucky enough to take over a cottage in the country with fully established gardens, livestock et al?) but as you get older, supposedly simple things like breaking virgin ground to establish said gardens are harder each time.
And not everyone has the small village set up of helpful neighbours...many folks live, like me, in such a remote area that it is, effectively, dying out through lack of simple human habitation...reverting to the wild, which might sound idyllic but not if you are a human trying to carve a living here or simply, exist.
I think since the recession hit (or if you`re as old as me, since the seventies) the trend for self sufficiency and simple living has increased to the point where it is nicely packaged in a form that deceives so many people into thinking it would be easy.
The producers of such shows need to visit those of us trying desperately to live in the country, a simple life, with little to no cash, fewer resources each year (can`t remember the last time I was in a supermarket and this area, like so many others, has no dental services at all...) and an isolation which can break many folks not used to it or happy with their own company.
This isn`t a rant, honestly, just, all of the simple life/self sufficiency programmes I see, and books I read, tend to be set in some idyllic English countryside with pleasant helpful neighbours, shops within striking distance, and amenities on tap.
There`s a huge amount of folks that don`t have that, about time, imo, they showed that.
