More and more people are waking up to the realities of the systems that support their well-being. What are some of these realities?

1) Current food and energy supply systems are short sighted, valuing short-term profits over long-term sustainability.

The model involves maximizing production while remaining hopeful that a new resource or technology will come along at just the right time to pick up where depleted resources have left off.

2) The majority of people in the developed world are increasingly dependent on these systems.

Much of the knowledge related to community self-sufficiency, such as localized food and energy production, has been lost in the past couple of generations. Our focus has shifted away from our basic needs, faithful that they will always be there.

3) We are seeing a rapidly increasing rate of cancer, depression, anxiety, obesity, and mental illness.

All of these things can be linked to our relationship with the world around us. Consciously or unconsciously, the artificiality and the fundamental flaws of the philosophies that have built this way of life trigger an instinct telling us that something is wrong. Our most basic needs such as food, water and air are poisonous and killing us.

4) These systems have become so big and powerful, fueled by special interest investment, the general public possesses little to no control over how they are run.

The best interests of funding sources are protected before those of the general public. Policy makers have realized that to get elected it is more effective to secure these large funds and use them to manipulate public opinion than to actually act on behalf of the voting masses. Once elected they are obligated to serve those who funded their campaign, almost always large corporations who operate under the model described in #1 above.

Now before we get all gloomy doomy and apathetic, let me offer another way. It doesn’t necessarily involve anything extreme. The answer to all of these problems is something I will call supply-line independence. This is the basis of a resilient lifestyle. It involves the local creation of systems that you know will deliver products created through a more intelligent philosophy; one that values overall health and sustainability first.

How can one be truly happy and carefree, free of anxiety, depression or hopelessness when dependent on a corrupt, fragile, and unhealthy system to sustain them? I will argue that one cannot. The good news is that just by beginning to work toward this goal, or by finding a way to participate in a growing effort to create such systems, you will find these conditions alleviating themselves.

Whether you decide to start a garden, join a local food co-op, invest in some solar panels or just start educating yourself, taking those first steps in the right direction is what matters now.

Check out this great resource with information that will help get you going.

http://www.permaculture-media-download.com/

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