Self-sustainability

Self-sustainability:
– Sustainable living where only self-produced items are consumed
– Examples include simple living, food storage, homesteading, off-the-grid living
– Practices include autonomous building, permaculture, sustainable agriculture
– Measured by grid independence of an electrical installation
– Closely related to sustainability and availability

Examples:
Political states:
– Autarky enables an entity to survive without external assistance
– Not limited to economic independence, can also apply to military defense

Labor:
– Self-sufficiency defined as family income exceeding 200% of poverty level
– Idaho Department of Labor sets criteria for self-sufficiency

Peer-to-peer swarming:
– A swarm is self-sustaining if all file blocks are available among peers
– Excludes seeds and publishers from the criteria

Discussion:
Self-sustainability and survivability:
– Self-sustainability relates to independence, survivability to maintainability
– Some believe self-sustainability leads to higher survivability, others argue for specialization
– Social ties are as crucial as self-sustainability for happiness and success