Yes, you are so right.

I think part of the obstacle to true self-sufficiency is the upfront cost. Just try to imagine what it would cost to set up a totally sustainable farm, even if you're just feeding your family. You would probably have to be a millionaire!

But, families who have obtained any level of self-sufficiency possess more real wealth than anyone living inside the city, even if they "own" their condo..

When our systems fail, only those who are self-sufficient will survive. Those who depend on the city infrastructure will be forced to evacuate or perish. What do they have then?

I don't think I'm really answering your question.. so I'll try.

I think we need a society-wide shift of values. How can we teach people to value real wealth and sustainability, and to want those things for their family?

Unfortunately, I don't believe that will happen outside of the circumstances I described.

Being able to pick up and move across the country is a privilege, for sure. But true freedom is independence. Independence is securing a future for yourself through your own hard work and competence, extricating yourself from a doomed system, and relying on no one beside yourself.

See.. what I imagine is more of an architectural solution..

I think our city infrastructures are weaker for having a single electric grid. I think they are weaker for having one underground pipe system. I think they are weaker for having one water treatment center. I think they are weaker for having two large farms outside city limits, which feed everyone. I think they are weaker for having separate zoned areas for "residential", "commercial", and "industrial" buildings.

We've been building cities and buildings the same way for a long time. In some cases, it was done out of necessity. Many technologies, before they are perfected, end up being unreasonably large.. Some things are too expensive to be owned or built by individuals. But technology has come a long way..

I want every building to have electric generators. I want every building to have, if not a well, rain collection. I want every building to have a closed sewage system. I want every building and home to have hydroponic green-rooms. I want everyone to own a 3D printer to make small parts and tools. (I want patents and designs to be open-source.) I want opening a store to be as easy as opening your front door.. it's unreasonable that we force business owners purchase a second property. I want every building to provide what every individual could need, or the capital to produce it.

When there is a new theory of architecture.. then people will think of architecture differently. When you think about it.. why don't we demand such capabilities of our buildings even now?

So, we should rebuild our cities after they've been razed. But we shouldn't build them back the same way, or we invite the same weaknesses. If every building was self-sufficient, then centralized infrastructure would be a boon, rather than a dependency.

By doing this, we put real wealth back into the hands of the citizenry. Becoming self-sufficient should be as easy as buying a house..

At least, that's what I think.