A lot of Americans have in their heads the concept of the “self-made man,” somebody who built his entire life with his own hands. (Or self-made woman, for that matter.) They speak of the settler or mountain man who wrested a living from the wilderness. They talk about self-sufficiency even in these times. Those who harp on this idea fail to realize that “self-made” people in fact rely on hundreds of others, if not thousands.
The essay “I Am A Pencil” points out that even an object as simple as a pencil has a lot of effort behind it. The loggers who selected and felled the tree providing the wood, then removed it from the forest. The workers in the pencil factory. The people who mined and refined the metal that attaches the erasers to the pencils. The ones involved in providing and processing the rubber for the erasers. The people who collected and mixed the chemicals for the paint. All those involved in getting the wood, metal, rubber and paint to the pencil factory, as well as the cardboard and maybe plastic packaging for the pencils and the ink for the packages. The people who convey the pencils to the stores, who stock them in the appropriate places, and who work at the cash registers to sell them. And this is to say nothing of those who designed the factory, who provided the materials to erect the building, who actually erected the building; as well as those who designed, assembled, tested and installed the machinery in the pencil factory, let alone all those involved in assembling the machinery, as well as acquiring the materials to build it. Even a simple pencil involves a great deal of effort.
So, Mr. Totally Self-Sufficient, you really think you can do everything for yourself? You’ll have to start way out in the wilderness – with nothing. Nothing, but your wits. You want to bring tools? Somebody else made those tools. Other people mined, refined and shaped the metal; other people harvested the wood in the handles. Other people transported the materials to the factory, and then the finished tools to the hardware store. Sorry, you’ll have to start from scratch. Completely.
I could write a long article on what goes into all those clothes you’re wearing, as well as your shoes, your belt, your wristwatch. Those gotta go. So there you are, naked, in the middle of nowhere. Whatcha gonna do?
Do you yet appreciate just how intertwined you are with thousands of other lives?
Even the pioneer who turned a wild prairie into a productive farm relied on hundreds of others for his tools, farm implements, clothes, boots, wagon, horses, and so on. The settlers who moved in after the Native Americans were extirpated could never have established their farms and towns without an extensive support network. The Native Americans may have lived off the land, foraging and hunting, but they relied on each other and worked together.
So, Mr. 100% Self-Reliant, where are you gonna start? OK, maybe you think you can make some crude stone tools. Whoops, you just learned that’s not nearly as easy as you think. You need the right kind of rock to do that.
OK, now you have a primitive hand axe. But how are you going to get dinner with that? You think the woods are teeming with deer? You could wander around for hours and never see anything larger than a squirrel. And how are you going to avoid freezing to death without any togs or shelter? Do you know how to skin an animal and prepare its hide to be worn? Do you know even how to make a knife from rock? Do you know what sorts of rocks are best for making stone implements?
Do you know how to set traps for animals so you don’t have to spend all day hunting? And what are you going to hunt with? Bet you don’t know how to make even a spear, let alone throw it. If you decide to fish, what will you use for fishing line, for hooks, for bait? Sure, you can dig up some worms – but how do you make a fish hook from what’s just lying around in the wilderness? You’re probably getting mighty peckish by now.
Even if you know what plants are edible, you’ll have to spend a lot of time foraging before you have enough for a decent meal. And you’ll have to do that tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day. There’s no guarantee you’ll find enough every day – provided, of course, you survive the night. Making fire by rubbing two sticks together is a LOT harder than you think. Gives new meaning to “Naked and Afraid,” doesn’t it?
What if you get sick, or are hurt? How much medicine do you know? Think of all the people involved in making bandages – collecting the materials, designing and assembling the manufacturing equipment, gathering the material to make that equipment, and so on. Ponder the example of the pencil. And what about treatment? Can you self-medicate? Do you know which plants will help you fight off infection and illness? Uh-oh – you’re too sick and/or hurt to forage. So you’ll just have to lie there and suffer until you recover – and hope that you do recover. How will you manage if you need to forage for chow every day?
So, how are you feeling now, Mr. Self-Sufficient?
As the old saw goes, no man is an island. Nobody, however skilled and clever, can survive on his (or her, or whatever) own. We are social animals whose society is an extremely complex web of dependency.
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