Self-Sufficiency Defined

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (presumably the most recent version, they're usually pretty good about updating it), self-sufficiency is defined as being able to maintain oneself or itself without outside aid.

So, in layman's terms (or in plain English, however you want to call it), to be self-sufficient, presumably, you wouldn't need to look anywhere outside the boundaries of your property or house to  acquire or maintain what you need. Personally, to me, the definition of "outside aid" is a little fuzzy. If you own your own cow but need help butchering it to make steaks, are you still self-sufficient? The definition would seem to suggest that you are not, yet you have done 100% of the work towards getting your own beef with the minor exception of 50% of the actual slaughtering work (messy business for some). Even in pioneer times, it was a frequent occurance of farmers to 'trade work' for butchering season - did that make them any less self-sufficient? Not in my book.

We all know, of course, how hard it can be to be self-sufficient in today's day and age, at least for those of us living in urban or suburban environments. Many even choose their living environments because of the abundance of easy, available resources to fit their needs - from the grocery just down the street to the workplace not too far away. It's sometimes hard to believe just how much of this country was founded on the principle of giving a man 160 acres to farm for 5 years, since most of us now live on tracts of land that are far, far less than that. For city dwellers, some may not even have a "tract of land" that measures any larger than a standard-sized balcony in an apartment.

I also find it interesting in the dictionary that a synonym for self-sufficient is "independent", which in all honesty, I find to be...well, wrong. I don't think that to be independent is to be self-sufficient, or the other way around. The words share similarities, but I don't think that they are interchangeable, which the dictionary seems to suggest.

I guess, to me, self-sufficiency means that, from start to finish, I can do something without having to ask for help - I am self-sufficient in that subject. For example, I can make pickles from the cucumbers in my garden without having to ask anyone for assistance. However, I still have to go to the store and buy the vinegar, as to my knowledge there are no vinegar trees or shrubs around to grow on the property. I also must (at this time) go and buy the garlic, as well as the jars and lids for preserving them properly, as I am a fan of being self-sufficient but not a fan of death by food poisoning.

Does having to buy a few things make me not self-sufficient in the subject of pickles?

Not really, at least the way I see it. I have done my level best to preserve my harvest through the winter and feed the family, and in this house, that's what counts.

The moral of the story, at least to me, is that while the definition of self-sufficiency may say one thing, it must be interpreted to mean whatever it means. It is highly unlikely, unless one spent their entire life learning all trades and skills, that one would be able to make everything from start to finish needed to preserve and enhance their entire harvest through the winter. But are they still self-sufficient? In my eyes, yes. They have planted the harvest, tended the harvest, reaped the harvest, and preserved the harvest to the best of their ability. Even if they had to trade for jars to preserve the harvest, or buy sand and straw to store the harvest, they still took care of things themselves. Best of all, they now have a harvest they know the exact location of and the day-by-day notes of its care, from start to finish.

What, ladies and gents, could be more self-sufficient than that? :)