With the national debt at over $62,000 per capita (not including interest), it seems obvious to me that we are in for one flavor of austerity or another in the future. Well, then...let's get back to the basics:
Water.
Food.
Clothing.
Shelter.
I've noticed something interesting in Proverbs 31: the idealized "Proverbs 31 woman" does a lot of work with textiles, and clearly has built up a lot of skill in the fiber arts.
I think there are a couple of reasons for that. The first is that the basics of sewing, weaving, knitting, crochet, embroidery, and so on can be done with very little investment in tools, and a moderate investment in materials. It just takes a lot of time to learn the skills, and to practice and use them. Whereas growing food requires land and seeds, and possibly animals. Knowledge and skill are also required, but living things do want to live and grow, which is a big help.
Water and shelter are more stable things--either you have a source of water, or you don't, and if you've built your house well, it will probably stand for years.
In recent years, the price of basic clothing has come very far down. All you have to do is ignore the fact that much of it is made of plastic, and assembled by basically slave labor. And then it's hauled across the world in big ships running on fossil fuels.
When the debt party ends, that's the end of it...one way or another. So I see some wisdom in learning how to create my own textiles, even though economically it doesn't make any sense at the moment.
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