[informatimago]

First, indeed fulfulling basic needs is cheap. If you don't take into account taxes! The cost of tomatoes mainly embed taxes. The cost of housing is almost entirely taxes. But assume you move to a low tax country or place. So basically you can live good working only one or two days a month.

But self sustainability (unreliance on other people) could only be archieved with a great population reduction. Yes, ecolodoomsters are right: the planet cannot sustain 9e9 individuals. But it can sustain them, and more, with industrial and efficient systems, like modern agriculture, where only 1% of the population works on food production.

If only 1% need to work to provide food for every body, then the rest of us has only to work 1% of the time to compensate the agricultors.

All the rest is taxes and banksters.