Welcome

Welcome to the Self Reliance Exchange. As founders of the site, we offer this special introduction to who we are, what we believe in, what we’re trying to do here, and how this whole thing came about.

This site is the brainchild of DDFD, a resident of New England and a man who embraces the wisdom and culture that America’s founders instilled at the start. An avid reader and experienced businessman, he is the individual who saw the need for a central location of information related to self reliance – a source of motivation and practical examples that people can put to use, regardless of where they are in their journey through life. He authors three blogs in addition to this one. His bio tells a more complete story of the man behind the initials.

Clair Schwan is the other half of this adventure in self reliance. A self-made individual residing in Wyoming and an active promoter of core American values of free enterprise, individual responsibility and limited government. His homestead life focuses on being more self sufficient and competent in a range of tasks with the help of friends and neighbors. He authors four websites and one blog in addition to the Self Reliance Exchange. His bio tells a more complete story of our “prairie commander” who battles the winds of Wyoming just outside of Cheyenne.

Both of us have a decided focus on a self-directed life. We both have a wide range of talents that range from cooking to construction, fabrication to fishing, frugal living to financial freedom, doing things ourselves to living debt free, and from planting lettuce to planning a life. Both have an entrepreneurial spirit that says “can do,” and a defiant side that say “don’t tell me what I can’t do.”

Lastly, we both have a passion for writing and teaching that teeters on an obsession.

This site is a collaborative effort between ourselves and several other hand picked regular contributors. The concept behind this site is to bring together regular contributors who have varied backgrounds, skill sets, geographic locations, and passions, and let this mix of proven quality content producers offer readers practical insights into the benefits of being more self reliant.

Through this mix of talent, the Self Reliance Exchange hopes to provide a comprehensive sounding board for information about living a more self reliant life. It’s also envisioned that readers might implement some of the things they learn here, thus making the site a type of springboard for the success of others.

We firmly believe that being more self reliant and less dependent will make us stronger as individuals. And, stronger individuals provide the building blocks for stronger communities. On the flip side, we also believe that a tendency to rely on others to provide for us will lead to dependency, and eventually rob us of opportunities to excel, achieve and succeed as we should.

In short, as founders of this site, we believe that being more self reliant often leads to higher levels of self confidence and more personal satisfaction, and that can help create individuals who are better prepared to operate effectively and successfully throughout their lives. That seems reason enough to proceed with this adventure.

We hope you agree and you’ll join us…

Sincerely,

Clair Schwan and DDFD