Totally so.
Consumption is what keeps rich nations alive. It is too late to get away from consumption. In my country there is neither the ability nor the will to return to an agricultural country. It would also no longer be possible because farmers own too little land and have gradually given up their estates.

A workers and farmers state is basically better off than a consumer state, I agree with you. Dependence on the resources of other countries and continents is thus increased and the mineral resources must be negotiated across borders. Every consumer-driven nation knows this and acts accordingly. This development did not only begin fifty years ago but began far earlier and it shows its exponential power with the advancing mechanisation in my country.

It seems too late for today's government to make the land attractive to farmers and to maintain or even subsidise it. The farming industry has long since missed the train and no longer has a lobby. The population is only marginally interested in how one can see the permaculture movement and the eco-villages. How little people are interested in gardens or the soil at all can be seen very nicely in the single-family house settlements. I grew up in one of those and there may be one or two gardens growing fruit and vegetables or rich plants and blooming flowers.

The remaining gardens are the necessary evil that comes with the acquisition of a home of one's own. It is extremely difficult not to be angry about this, but societies like mine are not trained to counter consumerism because the power of the masses is very strong and governments cannot be held fully responsible for what began long before their legislative term. The knowledge of plants and animals, even if I have acquired it, I cannot use as a citizen of a town. It is therefore useless knowledge if I cannot use it in practice.

The problem with self-sufficiency is that it takes a lot of time. This time remains unpaid. If I want to live on the fruits of my work, I am dependent on the season, the climate, the growth of the plants and that I have helpers at harvest time etc. But if I had a house and a garden, I would actually grow my own vegetables and fruit and make a start by inviting neighbours and the people around me and teaching them the things they need for gardening. Before the Second World War, almost everyone had a vegetable garden. People would have felt weird not having one. My parents continued for a long time to get the meat from the farmer in the shape of a pork half and then process it on the kitchen table.

People have become really comfortable and it makes them feel so useless. But you need physically accessible role models who still know how to do things themselves. This knowledge must not be lost, but the inevitability of a development can hardly be stopped. We must not despair of this. And do what we can.