Outsourcing vs. insourcing

One key feature of modern society and consumer culture is our reliance on outside agencies and suppliers to provide us with the things we want and need. Though obviously useful, this also leaves people and communities vulnerable to exploitation from unscrupulous operators or those who seek only to gain at others' expense.

It's important to note that our reliance on outside agencies is not limited to consumable products. We also tend to outsource other aspects of our lives such as social decisions to government, health advice to doctors, entertainment from media, etc. This is not to say that we should never seek professional input, but that it should not always be our first port of call.

Insourcing

Insourcing is being self-sufficient, or limiting your set of external requirements to what is immediately available - in your community for example.

If we wish to create communities and a society without trade, we need to think about being less of a burden unto others. Today, there are so many great tools and information available that can help us be more self-sufficient. Youtube, for example, is a bottomless resource of tutorials that can teach you just about anything you wish to learn. This had the added bonus of upskilling yourself for the future, and a job well done that you have completed yourself tends to be mreo more satisfying than having someone else do it for you.